Balance staff repair - The Easy Way

Broken pivot of the balance staff? Here are some tips and ticks.
Learn all there is about balance staff repair for vintage watches.

Look through the eyes of a watchmaker and share the passion of Kalle Slaap from team Chronoglide!
Tutorial on watch repair by watchmaker Kalle Slaap from Chronoglide, Vintage Watch repair specialists near Amsterdam.
@ChronoglideWatchmaking

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[daverostad]

Kalle,
All of your videos are from your heart ! And so we'll produced .
Now,
what is the name of the
tool to hold and check the balance wheel straight ?
Dave

[simonclegg]

Thanks Kalle. Always great to be reminded of basic principles, especially for amateurs such as me, who do not regularly carry out such tasks. Thanks again. Enjoy your weekend.

[popeyewatch]

However, knocking the balance staff out might damage the arm of the balance wheel by enlarging the hole for a new staff. I have witnessed it happened before. The old staff has to be removed by undercutting using watchmakers lathe or by grinding off using Bergeon Molfres tool or a similar approach.

[ElderPinto]

Bedankt kalle weer een belangerijke les!

[WatchRestorationCottage]

When I replaced my first balance staff, I watched this video multiple times. Thanks Kalle!

[clive.r]

Such a brilliant explanation Kalle! To be a Master of what you do is good to be an educator of the principles involved, is superb! Thank you using your pencil and notepad drawings, they make understanding easier.

[rdpple]

Hello first of all thanks for this video. Can you add collet and double roller placement video please.

[philiproche]

Great video – as always!! Here’s some “Inspiration” for you as you asked for. What I would like to see you do a video on is replacement of Incabloc or Kif settings. The whole setting. No one has done this yet in print or video that I could find. Lots of stuff on jewels, nothing on settings. Specifically for me my wife’s Rolex 2135 movement has Kif jewel shock absorbers and the bottom spring (in the plate) for the escape wheel was stuck a bit I think because the gold plating on the spring was missing in a couple of spots so I think it might have corroded or electrolysized itself (I made that word up) to the brass setting just a bit (no other signs of water). So it popped loose and snapped. I got a new one and put plastic over it to not fly away like I saw elsewhere on YouTube then used a screwdriver through the plastic to work it into place ruining the soft brass of the Kif which holds down the little end of the spring. Then I ordered 6 more springs and a microscope like yours. But the brass that holds the common end of the spring was ruined. I did not know how replacements were sold at first (just setting, with chatone, with end jewel, the whole thing – what’s a Chatone?). what are the common names for the pieces? I bought the whole assembly – very cost effective I think. How to push it out? Bought Horia clone screw down (not lever – just like you advised) jeweling set from China – you were right – Chinese seems OK. But wait the anvil (bottom) that the Kif setting can drop through can’t fit into the machined relief in the plate. So do I need Incabloc pushers? But it’s a Kif???? Are Incabloc anvils thinner? Oh look the OD dimension of the Horotec MS13.153 Incabloc anvil that the kif setting could fit through is smaller than the regular pusher anvil and a regular pusher anvil of that OD will fit in the machined relief so I need the Incabloc set which I have ordered. So an Incabloc set has thinner walls – is that because the brass Kif setting pushes through easier so thinner walls can handle the pressure? And Incabloc kit is for Kif too? Can I push it on the spring side or will that kill the raised parts – there is some mention of that online. Do I still give it an extra 1/1000th of a millimeter push to compensate for screw gear slop? Sorry long winded but wanted to cover all the questions – took me hours of YouTube driving home and reading as well to figure this all out over weeks and i'm still not quite there. Thanks – PJ Roche in New York.

[andal]

Remind me of a brake disc when you test it.

[carlorobazza]

That's a great demonstration and saved for future reference! Quick question: Is it ok to remove the balance staff from the balance wheel and then insert it again (for practice) or is the balance staff pretty much ruined when it is removed?

[cgnicolis]

So I tried this for the first time a few months ago on an Elgin 18s pocketwatch. I followed the same steps you demonstrated but at the end the balance wheel was still loose on the staff and could spin a bit. I tried using the round stake a second time but this didn't help. I stopped at that point. Is there anything I can do to salvage the staff or must I start over? Also any idea what I did wrong?

[standolfo]

Seriously? That's not the way to remove a staff, sorry.

[JesusChrist-izfl]

Didn't even show yourself removing it...