Making a Brocot Escape Wheel using Fusion 360 and Tormach PCNC440 CNC milling machine

A Steep Learning Curve

My wife has presented me with a sign that has just got JSN written on it.  It is to remind me when I answer the phone to a ‘can you just do’ enquiry…… to Just Say No.

I try my best to live up to her expectations but sometimes something comes along that should really be a JSN job but which scratches an itch.   You know what I mean.   You think about it and you do all the right mental arithmetic in your head and the answer keeps coming back to the same – don’t even think about it.  But the the other side of my brain is screaming at me … what a challenge, what a learning experience, what fun to have a go at it.   Providing the asking party is aware of your thought process or lack of it and accepts that it might just go belly up and never come to fruition then why not ?

Back to the story – 10 days or so ago I had a call from David Pawley who is a turret clock expert extraordinaire to say someone he knew was after an escape wheel for a turret clock and was desperate.   David passed on the details and a couple of days later the potential customer arrived on our driveway.  After a suitably socially distant conversation and a rubber gloves inspection of the old damaged wheel …. I got sucked in and turned the JSN sign over to face the wall.

Brocot 30 tooth escape wheel
The original Brocot 30 tooth escape wheel that needed a new one making

As you can see it is not an ordinary escape wheel and I had to delve into one of my favourite books ‘Wheel and Pinion Cutting in Horology’ by J Malcolm Wild FBHI in order to learn about Brocot Escape wheels.   Malcolm is a great guy and his book should be on any clock experimenters bookcase.

The Brocot is no ordinary escape wheel.   In fact it is a real challenge.   Not a simple fly cutter job.  Traditionally it would be cut in an indexing device such as a lathe with two different cutters, one for the curve and one for the notch.  I didn’t have these so I thought I would probably upset the traditionalists and try to use CNC.

Read all about the adventure and see the result in this pdf download …….

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New Microscope

Technology Upgrade

Quite some time ago I mentioned a really low cost simple microscope that I think John Saunders had recommended from Amazon.   The device has served me well even though it was quite basic.

I recently had a job to do where I needed to see and measure a very small part I was making.   The simple microscope was struggling to cope or at least I was struggling to cope with it. Looking on the net to see what the current technology could offer I spotted a device on Amazon that looked interesting.

KKMoon Microscope from Amazon

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VL44TJT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was a bit more expensive but nowhere near a ‘proper’ professional optical product. Having taken delivery it is very impressive. 

It can act as a simple standalone viewer using the built in screen or can be externally connected via HDMI to a monitor or (and this is the impressive bit) it can be connected to a PC via a superb application that has so many bells and whistles it will take me ages to understand all the functions.  The sensor is a 16 Megapixel Sony CMOS 1/2.3″ HD device and video output can be 4K/2k/1080P.  Magnification is up to x300.

So I am well pleased with the investment and  it will certainly earn its keep.

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Microscope Addition to Assets

I often have a look on Banggood for tooling items for the workshop but the other day a low cost microscope caught my eye.   I regularly get thin slivers of brass and steel in my hands and fingers and they are a real pain to find never mind remove.   I thought for the price being asked this microscope might make a low risk purchase to help my failing eyesight.

It arrived today, looked really cheap and nasty out of the box yet I am staggered by what it does.   The screen is HD and there is a card slot for local storage.   You can record stills or video.   Have a look at the following link : –

https://us.banggood.com/Wholesale-Warehouse-Mustool-G600-Digital-Portable-1-600X-3_6MP-Microscope-Continuous-Magnifier-with-4_3inch-HD-OLED-Display-wp-Usa-1119592.html?rmmds=myorder

I will be using it for media shots on my blog that’s for sure.

Microscope set up out of the box showing part of a US 1 cent piece

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