Making the MK2 dial

Part 2

Last week we left you at the point where the CAM files were uploaded to the mill, the cutting tools loaded, and we were ready for action.  However, before we hit the start button, we need to step back in time for a moment. Making a watch dial out of Grade 5 Titanium is a complex but well defined process. The end result is not a mystery.   However the guilloche 'scribing' in the centre of the dial is something that is rarely done in Titanium. Actually there are only two other watchmakers who have released Titanium guilloche dials in the past.  The challenges are numerous. Guilloche is a scribing process - the tool does not rotate, like a drill or an endmill might. Obtaining a perfect cut is difficult even in soft materials like brass or gold. At the beginning of our project, we really had no idea if making a Titanium guilloche dial was even possible on our mill. Also, not every guilloche pattern produces an eye pleasing dial. The depth of the scribed line, the 'modulation' of the waves, the surface finish of the cut, and especially 'generation of the chip' are just some of the known unknowns.  There was only way to figure it all out: to start doing test runs and test cuts, then to tune the process and learn as you go. The very first step: the making of our own scribing tool.

The tool 'holder' is made from tool steel and the cutting edge of our tool is a detachable tungsten carbide tip. What you are seeing is a bunch of tools, making a tool to hold a tool to make a dial. The tool is made on the same milling machine that makes all the dials (the Kern!), starting from a sketch, design drawings, CAD and CAM files. But there is a twist: while the tool itself is made on a CNC machine, the tungsten carbide cutting tip, the part that actually does all the work, is sharped by hand and lapped on ceramic disc with a diamond slurry. Guilloche tools are definitely not off the shelf items, and this is not something we could order from Switzerland. If you can't make your tool, hand profile the cutter, make your own slurry, and sharpen it, no one else will do it for you. As an even more technical aside: The surface finish and edge sharpness of the tool itself directly correlate, 1 to 1, to the final surface finish of the guilloche. If you can sharpen and polish your tungsten carbide cutting tip to a mirror, then your guilloche will also be a mirror. Lapping the tool on a ceramic disc is the only way to do this. This is actually an incredibly difficult process to automate, and the fine feel and constant visual checks of a talented (human!) operator are the only way to achieve perfection. For example, the slurry on the ceramic disc needs to be constantly monitored- too much slurry, and the hydrodynamic forces take over and you end up "skating" over the lap, too little slurry and you run the risk of chipping the ceramic, or the tungsten carbide! Our toolmaker James is an expert at this process now, and after lapping many many cutting edges it takes about 30 minutes for him to achieve a perfect mirror on the tool. Once we had made the cutting tool, the first step was to cut a simple, straight line in a Titanium blank. If this was possible, and if we could achieve a good surface finish in just a straight line, then it would be highly likely that the next steps would be feasible! Below, you can see the first ever cut, and chip, of Titanium grade 5 made through a scribing process in our workshop, and I think it would be safe to say in all of Australia! With the know how of Titanium scribing safely in our pocket, we could start experimenting with guilloche patterns- to save prematurely wearing out the tool we did many of these tests in brass. Not every guilloche pattern is beautiful, in fact it's quite easy to make rubbish! But once we saw what we are calling "Curl Curl waves", maybe 20 or 30 test coupons in, it became clear that we had found our pattern!

Scraping: ready to cut test patterns in brass

As said before, not every pattern is eye-pleasing. The good patterns are those which are mysterious; patterns where the tool path is 'hidden' and difficult to work out. A pattern which makes the viewer wonder how in the world such pattern is even possible to make!

We settled for a wave pattern, which we immediately named 'Curl Curl waves'. Curl Curl is the closest beach to our workshop; and the name is said to come from an Aboriginal word meaning "river of life".

The moment of truth

The next phase we were ready to move to Titanium. The preparation starts with creation of dial blanks. A round bar stock is sliced in discs 4mm thick and 50mm in diameter on our Makino EDM wire cutting machine. Makin is 'the cutting edge of cutting': each cut provides the higher levels of precision and surface finish. The blanks undergo a heat treatment cycle to relieve the stress in the material. The exact parameters are something we constantly tweak, but in essence that material sits at 600 deg C for the better part of a day, slowly being brought back to room temperature.

Here is the shot of the first scribed line under the microscope. And even more important than the line itself is the chip: it's length, shape and surface finish tell us if our scribing tool is shaped and lapped correctly and whether the speed and depth of the cut are optimized for Titanium. Yay!

Dial manufacturing

The machining of the watch dial starts from the back side. One very special feature of the MK2 dials is that we make integral, or monolithic dial feet. Traditionally, dials are made from thin sheet, and have dial feet that are soldered onto the back. Having integral dial feet is a far superior method of making a dial: the feet are stronger, more rigid, and more accurately located. The trade off is that it's far more difficult to make a dial like this without it warping like a potato chip, and it's quite time consuming since you have to mill off quite a large amount of material.  Broken dial feet are a common problem for watchmakers and there is no practical way to solder back on a broken dial foot. Not with the MK2! Our feet will stay on the dial forever! In this photo you can see the back sides of the dial blanks being processed. Lots of material gets removed! Oil in the machine serves three purposes: to lubricate the cutting tool, to keep the workpiece and tool cool and stable in temperature, and to flush away the removed chips.

We make six dials at the time. The plate which holds Titanium discs is called a 'jig'.  Yes, we design and make our own jigs, in our workshop, specifically for the MK2 dials. Note that this particular jig is called 'number 7'.  When the back side is completed, the dials are now transferred to another jig for top side machining. In this step, we work on one dial at a time by milling away all but the raised section for the guilloche and the recess for the nameplate. The 0.2mm holes that will accept the numerals and hour markers are drilled as well.

After glass bead blasting to get a super smooth, even surface, the dial is then brought to the Kern Micro HD to do the ultraprecise, CNC guilloche of Titanium.

Part 3: Topaz blue, Curl Curl waves. Manufactured in Australia. To be continued...

MK2

 

A week or so ago, we released the first photo of the Nicholas Hacko MK2. You could call it a 'soft release'; no fanfares, no marketing fluff. A number of subscribers and NH faithfuls responded with their congratulations, and some eagerly have placed their orders without even asking for the price. Humbling indeed. Others asked: why do you talk about Seiko and Swiss brands all the time, yet rarely about your own watches? Why don't we get more frequent updates? One enthusiastic customer even requested 'daily production news' from the workshop. The answer is simple: I find it very difficult to "spruik" our own watch. Firstly, our time is yet to come. Secondly, we live in times when branding is far more important than the substance behind it- the product itself. If I can speak honestly, we would prefer to be discovered rather than to be force fed down to watch enthusiasts. Haute horology - especially one practiced by a small independent watchmaker, (in Australia nonetheless!) - is not mainstream. It is a tiny segment of the market so mass marketing would make very little sense.  Yet I do agree that more effort should be put into explaining the intricacies of the design and manufacturing process, if for no other reason then to help us all appreciate the effort that goes into the actual making of a watch - regardless of brand! Back to the MK2. Today, we are starting a short four part pictorial series with the intention to share with you a step-by-step process of how we manufacture our dials and hands, as well as some intricacies of guilloché process.

Prologue Contrary to the opinion held by many: there is no such thing as a ‘watchmaking machine’; a piece of machinery which inputs raw material, and outputs a watch. A watch mechanism is a complex sum of parts where each component is designed, manufactured and finished to perfection. Even the most basic watch contains 100 or more parts. Actually, there is not even a machine which makes one single component ready to be directly installed into a mechanism. Each component undertakes a series of operations on multiple machines, and passes through various stages of post machining and finishing. Turning, hardening, polishing and blueing even a single screw takes time, complex machinery and very specific knowledge. In saying that, the dial and hands are the most demanding and most exquisite parts of a watch were the watchmaker is pushing himself to perfection, which is rarely attainable. Sum of components Watch dials and hands are often referred to as a ‘set’ containing not just the base dial and hands but numerals, batons, name plates, dial feet and fasteners as well as any other components. The MK2 dial set is entirely made from grade 5 Titanium, meaning every component in the set is made from Titanium. Grade 5 Titanium is used prolifically in the most advanced engineering applications, everything from bone implants and screws, to the blades of a jet engine, to Formula 1 piston rods! Starting with a sketch The design process starts with a notebook and pen. It could take weeks – or months- to refine an original concept or idea. Every component in the set is expected to work in visual harmony with the other components, like a finely tuned orchestra. Artistic skills are essential, and dial design is really a job for a professional designer. We are not professional dial designers, but our advantage lies in the fact that we are fully aware of a simple fact that not all designs can be translated into a reality. A designer without tangible manufacturing knowledge is a dreamer, and CNC operator without watchmaking expertise is just a machinist. Design is hard!

CAD design In the next phase, hand drawn sketches are translated into computer-aided-design (CAD) software and given three dimensionality- we start calling the sketches and individual components "solids". Interestingly, our CAD software is the same one used by Patek Philippe. (We invested in this particular software after watching Patek's YouTube videos!) The digital model now undergoes countless iterations. At this point, we are able to get some idea of how the dial and hands will look like in real life. All the mechanical and physical parameters are defined: height, thickness, clearances, tolerances, angles and radii. Often changing one parameter causes a chain reaction of revisions. This is the time where creative input from all the team members is welcome and all options are considered. Heated discussions are unavoidable, and a part of the process. The design phase could take weeks, in fact, the MK2 dial took many months to refine. Over 20 iterations!

CAM - Computer Aided Manufacturing Once the dial set design is locked in, the next step is to transfer the files into CAM software. This piece of software creates another set of files which are the actual 'tool paths'.  Simply, it is the CAM software that tells our machines how to make a part. This phase is purely engineering and programming.

We tell a machine which tool to use, and also we tell the tool what to do, where to travel, how to remove material, at what speed. The blue lines below show the path of just one tool.

Multiple tools doing a variety of operations are required to manufacture each and every component, so you can imagine the complexity of the CAM tool path file...A single base dial contains requiring 13 different tools with 29 different operations would have over 800,000 lines of code. While our CNC machine is physically a huge piece of equipment, the actual cutting tools are tiny. A wrong 'move' - a mistake in a tool path - would immediately result in a broken tool, broken part or even serious damage to the machine itself. CAM programming keeps engineers awake all night long. With machine programming there is zero room for mistakes.  To put a things in perspective: a single tool costs anywhere form $30 to $300 and one tool can only be used to make a dozen or so parts. For titanium which is difficult to machine: multiply the tooling cost by a factor of 2.

Here above is a 0.2mm drill that is used to drill holes in the base dial. Those holes accept individual hour markers and batons.

Once the CAM files are completed, they are transferred into our milling machine - a state of art Kern 5 axis mill.  But we are still some way away from making an actual part! (to be continued)

The proper way

 

Horology is the study of mechanical watches. And today, you will learn how to answer the most important horological question: what makes a watch horologically important in a traditional, true-watchmaking sense?  When you figure this out, you will be able to 'judge' every mechanical watch the same way a traditional master watchmaker like Breguet would. You would simply see the watch through Breguet's eyes. The concept is simple, yet fascinating: the more complex the watch is, the more valuable it should be. A 'time only' watch is the starting point. A watch with a calendar is more complex, therefore more valuable. If a watch can measure lapsed time (like a stop watch) then such a timepiece is even more valuable. The more 'complications', the better. Each additional feature requires more complex engineering, more parts working together and a reduction in size. An automatic stop watch displaying day, date and month, as well as a 24 hour format is a very complex piece of machinery. Indeed, the most famous watchmakers of all time like Louis Breguet or Alfred Lange, have spent their entire lives squeezing more parts into a ever smaller cases. For them, complexity was the most important matter. Here is a practical example:

Can you tell which one of the two watches is more horologically important? Which one would Breguet buy? In a true horological sense, watchmaking is not about branding, colour scheme, size or even water resistance. Unfortunately, rightly or wrongly, our perception of what should be valued is a result of relentless marketing by megabrands, shaped by online influencers.  As of this moment - and forever on- when handed a watch, the first thing you should do is assess the watch for what it does. Ignore everything else.  Triple calendar chronograph. Moon phase chronograph. Dual time alarm. Or, just a humble 'time only' piece. Because this is what it is.  Only after that, you can move forward: to assess the quality of workmanship and design. Then, the maker and brand name. Always in that order.

We are here to serve you

 

With a number of new subscribers recently joining this mailing list, it is time for a friendly reminder of what we stand for and how we are set up to serve you. 1. No cash We have been a cashless business for more than two years. Direct bank deposit is our main form of payment, and when mutually beneficial, we accept credit cards. Equally, if you have a watch to sell, you will be paid into your bank account. Strictly no cash. 2. No discount The price advertised is the best price. Please don't ask for a discount: we offer premium quality watches which are all priced correctly: to sell. 3. No one is exempt from paying GST Asking to have GST circumvented, removed or avoided would result in an IMMEDIATE REQUEST TO LEAVE THE PREMISES. While many other watch dealers are more than happy to deal in cash to avoid goods and services tax, our policy is clear: no one is exempt from paying tax so don't even joke about it. 4. Your time is precious. So is ours We are not a classic retail shop and we are not set up for browsing. We don't keep any stock on the premises- our business is strictly 'by appointment only'. Time is extremely precious so please limit your visit to 15 minutes or less. Here is an important statistical detail: in our experience of face to face dealing, 90% of watches are sold in less than 3 minutes. 5. First in, best dressed Premium quality stock is hard to find and easy to sell. We are seeing an unprecedented demand for fine watches so almost every watch on offer attracts multiple buyers. First in, best dressed is a fair policy giving everyone an equal chance to snatch a deal. For that reason, we cannot hold watches, or accept partial payment or holding deposit. The buying process is simple: once the payment terms are understood and accepted, and we shake hands over the phone or via email, an invoice will be issued. Once you pay the full amount, the watch is yours. Obviously, failing to pay the invoice within the agreed time means that we will offer the watch to the next buyer.  We are here to serve you.

Big issue

 

The prototype of the yet-to-be-released Mark 2 was assembled last night, and I took it home to show it to Tanya. The second person to see it was Eddie. This morning, on the way to work we literally bumped into each other- and I couldn't resist to share my excitement. "Big Issue!" - he said. "Real watchmaker? I do know a guy who is a REAL watchmaker: that dude from Anthrax! What's his name...?" "Dan Spitz" "Yes, Dan Spitz. Do you know him?" "Of course I do - actually, there is an hour long video of Dan and I talking about watchmaking!". Eddie was completely blown away that we, two people standing on George street in Sydney have a common friend, Dan Spitz, a watchmaker from California. "That is one fricken small world. What do you want me to say to your subscribers?" "Nothing really, A photo of you holding my watch should say it all". "So true, we are the legends". You gotta love Sydney.

Nicholas Hacko Mark 2 features Titanium guilloche 'Curl Curl' waves dial, crafted from a single piece of titanium, as well as titanium hands and hour markers. Manufactured in Australia.

The Circle of Time

Alice: “How long is forever?” White Rabbit: “Sometimes, just one second.” Here is the strange thing: we have no option but to think of time as both linear and circular. Linear, meaning days, months, and years could be presented with an arrow which travels in one direction. And indeed, this is how we perceive our own travel through time, from birth to death, always in one direction, unsymmetrically and irreversibly. Yet if we remove ourselves from the picture, days, months, and years marked by the rotation of planets are just simple circular events. With the sun rising from the east, and setting in the west; with the moon phase cycle never changing, and seasons coming and reappearing in ever circular motion. Symmetrical and reversible - because a change of rotation would make no difference to time whatsoever. Subconsciously, we feel both comfortable and uncomfortable with the duality of those two concepts. What makes things even more complicated: we are constantly confused with the rate of passage of time itself. Time flies when we are excited, and drags forever when we are bored. This is why we wear watches - so we can all, together, as the human race, march along. Without watches, we would all be trapped in the world of Alice in wonderland. I am not sure about you, but I find comfort in thinking of time as a circle. The rotation of a seconds hand is calming, the minute hand matters, but the hour hand doesn't really matter that much - it is always somewhere on the dial, near the same place it was yesterday, same as it will be tomorrow. Above all, I find watches with the circular calendar hand extremely pleasing because once you hit a certain age, you start measuring time in months. "Next month is her birthday" or "next month I'll be travelling on a holiday”. Because that 'next month' is just one rotation of a calendar hand away, with a glance, I can easily tell how far I am to that point in time, which really matters. The great watches keep seconds. The best watches keep months. Seiko SSA449J 'the circular calendar' with power reserve: the time is what you make of it. NOTE: this is a latest release of Japanese made Presage, just released. Price: $995. Newsletter subscribers price TODAY ONLY $895 including free delivery. We have only 2 watches in stock. The 'Daytona' colour scheme will impress you. Model reference: SSA447J Boutique price: $995 Your price: $895