If you ever have reason to go to the IMTS show in Chicago it is worth the trip. Anything that has anything to do with making absolutely anything in the known universe is there, live and showing off. If you are blazing through and not spending too much time gawking it is an easy week to see the biggest part of it. It’s been twenty plus years since I last went. I can only imagine how processes have improved.
Watch Rebuild – OSA Member Owned – U.S. Contract Pilot's Watch Issued In Vietnam – LONG POST - PIC HEAVY
- Thread starter thor447
- Start Date
Yep. You need at least several days to take it in. It's best to have an agenda for yourself all laid out before you show up. And if it's still like it was when I went, every hot woman on the face of the earth is at that show. I'm pretty sure they fly them in. They were everywhere you looked! Getting invited and showing up at some of the bigger machinery distributors hotel suites is quite the experience. Drinks, caviar, all manner of eats, and hoochies abound.
I'm not real sure how much processes have improved over 20 years though. I'm sure some areas have but I follow a couple of machining groups on FB with American Machinist being one of them. I see videos explaining and demo'ing canned cycles for CNC (threading and such) and I don't see anything different at all really. They are basically identical to what I started out with in the '80s. I think these may go to how much manufacturing we've lost in this country, but they are portrayed as state of the art. When I see these I'm disappointed because I thought I'd see something cool and new.
The last thing I saw that really blew my skirt up was air cooled full hardness machining at warp two feeds and speeds. Like Samuel in the temple, I thought I had seen it all and could unass this AO.
Then again there’s the flash Bainite process, but that’s for a different thread jack.
Mine was a Leica laser tracking portable CMM. It had a precision ground ball that went with a mating receptacle and the laser tracked wherever that ball went and logged points in 3d space. You could check hole circles and locations, bore diameter and circularity, tons of different stuff. The boss damn near bought one for checking and leveling our 5 axis gantry mills. It was cool as hell. Think of a FARO Arm on steroids but no arm.The last thing I saw that really blew my skirt up was air cooled full hardness machining at warp two feeds and speeds. Like Samuel in the temple, I thought I had seen it all and could unass this AO.
Then again there’s the flash Bainite process, but that’s for a different thread jack.
Nice work @thor447 here’s a watch that was used in WWII and Vietnam, this watch was considered out of specification if it lost over 7 seconds a week and used on mission critical assignments.
This one is an 8 position watch, an unadjusted watch while fine time piece for a consumer grade watch, those watches were not used on the railroad up to the late 1890s
The accident that changed it alll.
On the 19th day of April 1891, there was a collision of two trains in Kipton, Ohio. The accident resulted in the death of engineers of both trains. From the official news, an engineer’s watch stopped running for four minutes before restarting which led to the accident. After that day, the people of the era started to acknowledge the importance of proper time standardization for rail transport. In addition, an accurate standardization of watches was necessary to be used by rail transport’s workers. That was the beginning and the birth of Ball railroad watches.
The Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railway employed Webb C. Ball as the Chief Time Inspector to examine the watches and set a new standard of watches used for rail transportation. After a thorough investigation, Ball decided to set an official RR Standard (RR stands for the railroad) to ascertain the right timekeeping devices for railroad workers. Then, the workers should bring their watches to be checked regularly at the Ball Time Service once every two weeks.
Since punctuality is the key to every sort of rail transportation, it’s essential to make sure that the watches have no difference in telling the exact time. After such an accident, now it’s very much clear that having the right timepiece on the wrist decides the matter of life and death. As it’s a must for the train employees, strict criteria must be maintained to produce the reliable Ball railroad watches.
Here’s a watch I went though about 20 years ago.
Hamilton, 4992B, United States Air Force Navigational Master Watch GCT, 22 jewels, adjusted six positions. 16 size, Elivar extra hairspring. Made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Hack setting (stem pulls out to stop second hand). Military nomenclature on back.
The 4992B is based is a slightly modified version of Hamilton’s famous 992B which was developed for use in the railroad industry in the United States and is probably one of the finest mass-produced pocket watches ever produced. It was introduced in 1940 and billed as “America’s finest and most accurate railroad watch.” The 4992B is the same design but modified with a sweep second hand that could be stopped for synchronization and had a 24-hour dial which was important when operating in areas all around the globe.
These timepieces were used by the navigator and pilot as the airplane’s master time source during World War II through Viet Nam era (today’s Navigational timepiece can be found here: Marathon Navigator Watch). It was intended to be set to Greenwich Civil Time (GCT) as a reference timezone. Late 1950’s pieces were carried by Navigators aboard B-52 long-range bombers as seen in the Movie, Dr. Stangelove.
This one is an 8 position watch, an unadjusted watch while fine time piece for a consumer grade watch, those watches were not used on the railroad up to the late 1890s
The accident that changed it alll.
On the 19th day of April 1891, there was a collision of two trains in Kipton, Ohio. The accident resulted in the death of engineers of both trains. From the official news, an engineer’s watch stopped running for four minutes before restarting which led to the accident. After that day, the people of the era started to acknowledge the importance of proper time standardization for rail transport. In addition, an accurate standardization of watches was necessary to be used by rail transport’s workers. That was the beginning and the birth of Ball railroad watches.
The Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railway employed Webb C. Ball as the Chief Time Inspector to examine the watches and set a new standard of watches used for rail transportation. After a thorough investigation, Ball decided to set an official RR Standard (RR stands for the railroad) to ascertain the right timekeeping devices for railroad workers. Then, the workers should bring their watches to be checked regularly at the Ball Time Service once every two weeks.
Since punctuality is the key to every sort of rail transportation, it’s essential to make sure that the watches have no difference in telling the exact time. After such an accident, now it’s very much clear that having the right timepiece on the wrist decides the matter of life and death. As it’s a must for the train employees, strict criteria must be maintained to produce the reliable Ball railroad watches.
Here’s a watch I went though about 20 years ago.
Hamilton, 4992B, United States Air Force Navigational Master Watch GCT, 22 jewels, adjusted six positions. 16 size, Elivar extra hairspring. Made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Hack setting (stem pulls out to stop second hand). Military nomenclature on back.
The 4992B is based is a slightly modified version of Hamilton’s famous 992B which was developed for use in the railroad industry in the United States and is probably one of the finest mass-produced pocket watches ever produced. It was introduced in 1940 and billed as “America’s finest and most accurate railroad watch.” The 4992B is the same design but modified with a sweep second hand that could be stopped for synchronization and had a 24-hour dial which was important when operating in areas all around the globe.
These timepieces were used by the navigator and pilot as the airplane’s master time source during World War II through Viet Nam era (today’s Navigational timepiece can be found here: Marathon Navigator Watch). It was intended to be set to Greenwich Civil Time (GCT) as a reference timezone. Late 1950’s pieces were carried by Navigators aboard B-52 long-range bombers as seen in the Movie, Dr. Stangelove.
We used one of those by an outfit I can’t think of offhand. It was blue so I know it wasn’t Leica, but I loves me some of their industrial tools.We were rebuilding some of the handful of slant axis hydro turbines. 38 foot diameter at the runner and mapped that janky POS to three places and could have done tighter but that would have been showing off for no reason.
I love it. I am now the custodian of my great grandfather's Ball Railroad pocket watch. I really appreciate you posting that Hamilton.
What a fantastic thread with amazing photos and descriptions of the work performed.
I’m seriously in awe that you have progressed so quickly.
I’m also unabashedly waiting until you feel confident to tackle this watch bought from that same era in a PX.
It does me no good sitting in my memory box not working.
I’m patient. Thinking your going to say let’s tackle this new challenge soon when the desire to take on a chronograph gets stuck in your mind and you can no longer deny me.
My ex FIL that I had a great relationship with for 20 some years after the divorce of his daughter owned an engraved Hamilton pocket watch that used to be carried by Zach Miller of the 101 ranch that is near Ponca City.
https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MI029
I've been wanting to find a Seiko Bullhead chronograph for myself for quite a while. If I were to get one for myself, that'd be the one. It's got my name written all over it. We have similar tastes!What a fantastic thread with amazing photos and descriptions of the work performed.
I’m seriously in awe that you have progressed so quickly.
I’m also unabashedly waiting until you feel confident to tackle this watch bought from that same era in a PX.
It does me no good sitting in my memory box not working.
I’m patient. Thinking your going to say let’s tackle this new challenge soon when the desire to take on a chronograph gets stuck in your mind and you can no longer deny me.
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@dennishoddy, I'd really feel a lot better about it if you'd let me just buy it from you, that way I can take it apart and rebuild it without the worry of messing something up!! (joking)
I'm good on about 90% of that watch, the other 10% that I haven't messed with yet is what worries me. Is it running at all at the moment? I really wish you hadn't shared that picture, now you've got me thinking!!!
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