Update from the workshop

 

This week we had a flurry of activity in our Brookvale workshop. Our Kern Micro HD had it's first field-service upgrade. It's difficult to describe how complex and engineered this milling machine is, but I'll give it a shot. The Micro HD has at least 7 discrete, but interconnected systems. The control/software, kinematic structure, pneumatics, hydraulics, tool changer, cooling circuit and measurement systems. Each of these systems operate in harmony with each other. They talk to each other, give feedback to each other, influence how and when they need to be switched on, off or change. The easiest analogy is the human body. Just like a person, the Micro HD has a skeleton, nerves, a brain, muscles, a digestive system and so on. This week, we did some major work on updating most of these systems, and introducing new features. This happens very rarely for machines in the field. The higher the complexity of these systems, the greater the risk that an update or upgrade could degrade the stability of the system. So, for most machines in the world, they never receive "upgrades". They leave the factory in a stable condition, and you hope that nothing changes in the life of the machine. Because of this risk, we had to get the top guy at Kern to come and install these options. Enter Alex Stauder, the Head of Applications at Kern. With 23 years of experience (Kern is his first and only job!), he has worked in nearly every department. From actually building the machines, to building the software, to tweaking processes for customers. Alex flew in from Germany to install and upgrade our machine, and there was no better person to handle the task!

Our upgrade wasn't mechanical, in fact not one screw on the machine had to change. Our upgrade was deeply rooted in the software of the machine. It's really difficult to describe what the upgrade was in words- the best way is to show you: Here is a video of what our milling machine can now do. https://www.instagram.com/p/C2gQ7soPz6g/ Our 5 axis machine became a 6 axis machine. The rotating tool you see in the video, with the yellow tape attached to it, usually spins at 42 thousand revolutions a minute. This is amazing for using tools that are meant to rotate, but it's binary. Either the spindle is spinning, or it's not. With this upgrade, we now have complete control of the direction that the spindle is facing at all times. So, instead of rotating super super fast while moving, we can now rotate incredibly precisely while moving!

The big benefit for us is yet to come. A lot of testing and trials are coming soon, but if you let your imagination roam, I'm sure you can see in which direction we are heading! Josh

Update from the workshop:

 

It’s well known that things move. Buses move people, you move the objects you interact with, and you move yourself around. Being in control of what, when and how things move is a superpower. Controlling the bus timetable allows you to improve, or diminish the productivity of Sydney… controlling how quickly you raise your coffee cup to your mouth can make the difference between a gentle wakeup, or a miserable morning cleaning your shirt… The list goes on. In manufacturing, the more you control, the better your results become. The easiest way to visualise that is that manufacturing parts is like having a chain. The more demanding the parts, the stronger the chain needs to be, and the chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Controlling each link in the chain is the first step to identifying the weakest link and improving the strength of the chain. Practically, this involves purchasing high quality equipment, software and measuring tools. It also extends into monitoring your workshop environment, your vibrations, your temperature and secondary things like humidity, cleanliness/dust control. Temperature is one part of that chain that is a deep deep rabbit hole. Just like a scheduler can move buses around, or how you can move your coffee cup, temperature moves everything. Shifts in temperature cause materials to grow or shrink. This is what engineers call the “coefficient of thermal expansion”, or CTE. It’s measured in microns per metre per degree. Most steels have a CTE of around 11 microns per metre per degree. This means that if you had a 1 metre long rod at 20 degrees Celsius, left it our in the sun so it was around 40 degrees Celsius, it would expand and be 220 microns longer! That’s 0.2mm, or about the thickness of two sheets of paper. For some more perspective the height of the Sydney Harbour Bridge can move more than 100mm on a hot day, as all the steel expands! Every material has it’s own CTE. Teflon, for example moves 100 or so microns per metre per degree, so if my rod was made from teflon, and I left it out in the sun, it would end up being 2 whole millimetres longer at 40 degrees C! This has always been a problem in horology. The moment of inertia of an oscillator, such as the pendulum of a clock, is strongly tied to the distance that the mass is from the pivot point. The moment of inertia in a clock directly dictates the time keeping accuracy. So, maintaining a stable moment of inertia, and therefore a stable pendulum length is critical. Once horologists knew this, they started the hunt to identify materials that had very low CTE’s. Bizarrely, wood has a fantastic CTE if you measure it’s expansion along it’s grain. About 3 microns per metre, per degree, or about 3x better than steel. Unfortunately, humidity changes have disastrous effects for wood’s expansion, so it was quickly ruled out for most applications. Glass was then explored, with fantastic environmental stability, and relatively good CTE (around 6um). Glass was improved on as a pendulum rod material by using fused silica, or quartz, which has a CTE of just 0.55um! This technical exploration was then transferred to watchmaking, where companies have been using very special materials, such as invar, silicon, and even diamond to improve the chronometric accuracy of their timepieces. In the summer of 2023 and 2024, NHW has a different problem with temperature… As Sydney warms up, our workshop goes through very large temperature shifts. We do a few things to combat this, insulation, air-conditioning, and the most extreme, limiting machine usage. The machines in our workshop all consume electricity, and generate heat. That heat is then extracted either passively by our air-conditioning, or actively by chilling units and refrigerators. Our Kern Pyramid Nano, the first milling machine we purchased, has an active temperature management system that cools the machine down to a stability of +-0.5 degrees. The newly purchased Kern Micro HD also has a similar system, but it’s 10x as powerful, cooling the machine down to a stability of +-0.05 degrees! Both of these systems consume a very large amount of energy, and even more energy when they have to fight against 35 degree days… It’s a vicious cycle. As the outside temperature increases, the machines need to use more energy to cool down, which generates more ambient heat, which our air-conditioning systems need to fight against, which uses more energy… The limit is our available current draw to our industrial property. At one point, our distribution board taps out and we can no longer effectively run the workshop. The only choice? To turn off the machines and do other tasks. Cleaning, organisation, manual work, decoration of components, etc. But there is a clincher… and it’s a particularly nasty one. Our newest milling machine, the aforementioned Kern Micro HD. The Micro HD is the most accurate 5 axis milling machine in the world, and we have the only one in all of Asia. It’s a fantastic achievement, but this machine was designed to be run in a very specific, very controlled way. This is to a drill press as what a chicken is to a velociraptor. One of main differences between this machine and a machine in a lower price bracket is it’s fundamental construction. The machine is made from a mixture of aluminium, granite and iron. The moving components, such as the X,Y and Z axes are made from aluminium, but those aluminium parts are actuated with powerful magnets made from iron (linear motors). This effectively creates a bimetallic strip. One side is iron, one side is aluminium. Iron has a CTE of around 11um, and Aluminium has a CTE of around 22um. The baseline temp for the machine is 20deg- When the machine is “on” it is being actively cooled down to 20 deg within 0.05deg. But when the machine is off, it normalises to whatever the room temperature is. This can cause some serious issues… If the ambient temperature rises to above 28 degrees while the machine is not being actively cooled (off) then the iron-aluminium construction of the machine bends to a point where it causes permanent damage to the machine frame. The ultra-technical explanation is that as the machine is warming up, the frame bends in a predictable way, but as it cools down, the friction forces between the iron and aluminium mean that it deforms in an unpredictable way. The bottom line? If the machine reaches 28degrees or higher, it needs to be completely recalibrated by the manufacturer. A cool 30 thousand dollars in airfares, travel time, and recalibration costs. To make a long story even longer, the obvious solution: keep the machine on all the time, doesn’t really work… It costs approximately 40 dollars in electricity and consumables per hour to keep the Micro HD on in a “idle” state. We work an average of about 50 hours per week, which leaves 118 hours per week of idle time, which is 4720 hours per year, which is about 250k a year running cost to keep the machine “idle”. Turning the machine off, doing manual work and allowing our poor little factory to breathe unburdened during a hot day is the lesser of two evils… In our precision chain, some things are easier to control than others. As we continue down this path of manufacturing in Australia and go deeper down the rabbit holes, we are slowly realising that the things you thought were the least conspicuous (temperature!) cause the biggest problems. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. I don’t expect all of you to listen to technical rambles like this, but if you have, I hope you appreciate another little peak behind the curtain of what it takes to make watches in Australia. All this makes your decision easy… why would you buy a watch made anywhere else? Josh

The Kern Micro HD - An update from the NH workshop

For those that have been following along with our Manufactured in Australia journey, about 14 months ago we placed an order for the most precise 5 axis milling machine on earth - the Kern Micro HD. Now we are home to the most accurate milling machine in Australia, again. This machine would give us a capability boost - with it, we will be able to bring the manufacturing of our cases in-house! Our current milling machine - the Kern Pyramid Nano - was able to prototype cases quite well, although serial production of those parts would be a challenge with that machine. On top of cases, the new machine is still able to manufacture many of the internal/movement components of our watches. Undoubtedly, cases do not need to be the most precisely made parts of the watch, so why purchase one of the most precise milling machines available? Well, during the last four years we have been approached by many parallel precision industries; including but not limited to the medical, space, optics, and high end science/research fields to name a few, to manufacture parts for them. About 1 year ago, the work we were receiving from these external industries grew to a point where we had to formalise a distinct business arm to cater specifically to "contract manufacturing". The skills we have in manufacturing watches, and making complex, tightly toleranced parts filled a gap in the market. Very few people in Australia manufacture things precisely. Undoubtedly within these industries, there is a need for things to be made precisely. All this ultimately led to the establishment of "NH Micro" (https://www.nhmicro.com/) with the mission statement - "Ultra precision manufacturing in Sydney, Australia" The start of our year revolved around preparations for this new machine from Kern Microtechnik. We had to renovate our electrical, compressed air, and air conditioning systems, as well as completely change the layout of the factory! We also had to do some major structural reconfiguration of our factory. Cutting open our mezzanine and strengthening the second floor. Many of the displaced machines and equipment would need to be moved upstairs. Thank you Peter! The first quarter of this year involved a period of constant moving, packing, shifting and reshuffling. The new Kern has a fairly large foot print (about 1.7m wide and 3m long) and weighs around 6 tonnes. Shifting it into place is a one-time project that requires precision and planning, albeit on a very different scale than we are used to! By mid March, our new machine arrived in Brookvale. This marked the beginning of the last chapter of a 14 month long project. 9 months of building this special machine, and then a long journey across the world.... From "Upper Bavaria" to Bremerhaven, through the English Channel, down to Durban, then across to Perth (where port congestion delayed the vessel which had so far been spot on time, by 10 days), past Melbourne and finally into Port Kembla. From Port Kembla the ship was unloaded, and the individual crates were trucked up to Brookvale.

Above: Precious cargo arriving at Brookvale Below: The precision machine placement equipment

Below: Andrew next to the main body of the machine

The "install day" started at 0400, when we began taking machines out of our factory into the common area, preparing the final route for the new machine to enter, and waiting for the low-loader truck, the forklift, and the "riggers" - specialised tradesmen who are experts in moving and managing heavy loads. By 0700 everything was in place - just waiting on the crates to arrive! 0700 to 1700 was a blur. Forklifts moving precious cargo, old machines being skated out of the way, new machines being unboxed, and the wooden crates being disposed of. At one point it also started to rain, which caused a mad rush to protect all the machines that were still sitting outside... but finally by some time around 6pm, the new machine was in place and ready to be properly installed.

Above: Andrew liberating the machine from its box and Jonas making sure nothing is broken. Below: Jonas assisting the precision forklift driver in lowering the machine onto its three feet

Above: All hands on deck to push the machine into place. Below: The Eagle has landed!

Our Kern install technician - Jonas - flown in from Germany, would for the next two weeks complete the install, calibration, and commissioning of the Micro HD. After the commissioning, Andrew, James, and I, had a week of training and applications support on the machine. This involved learning how to do basic maintenance (as well as some higher level stuff because we are so far away) and programming. Most importantly, Jonas shared some tips, tricks, and general advice on how to chase the micron from his years of experience - he actually did his apprenticeship at Kern! We all knew the capabilities of the machine on paper, but seeing it hit and surpass those specs in our workshop, was truly mind blowing. The mis-alignment of the spindle to the rotating c-axis was measured to be 0.08 micron (yes you read that right) over 1 metre. To put that into perspective, that is 80 micron (a human hair) over 1 kilometre. Just one of the many points of alignment and positional accuracy.

Above: Jonas installing the machine (no, we didn't squash him) Below: Left to right - James, Jonas, Andrew, and Josh, after finishing the training.

So if you've been wondering why Brookvale has been a little silent, the controlled chaos of importing the most precise milling machine into Australia was the reason! We can't wait to show you what we've been working on. Within a month of the machine being in our factory, we have the first prototype of a new NH watch case in our hands.. exciting! Once again, a big thanks to everyone who was involved in the process from start to finish. We could not have done it alone. Josh

New Zealanders - you are good people

Straight to the point: we love you.  Kiwis are fantastic customers. Over the years, we've sold and shipped hundreds of watches across the ditch without a single incident. Realistic expectations, prompt payments, meaningful conversations, mutual respect. Exactly as business should be conducted. One of my all-time favourite watch events was a presentation to fellow watchmakers at their Annual Conference in Nelson. We promised to return, and we will. New Zealand is like Australia, just a bit better. Yesterday, during the installation of our new machine, I had the pleasure to work shoulder to shoulder with a really cool rigger. A Kiwi wearing a red shirt with a rather powerful logo: "Nothing is a problem". He moved around our machinery like matchboxes, cracking jokes, and making the difficult, complex, and stressful job look too easy. Priceless. Our Seiko rep, Aaron, is a New Zealander too. We have been working on this Seiko project for a year and a half. He has proven himself as trustworthy and someone you can rely on. An asset to Seiko. There is one thing I really like about him: he does not even try to sell; the Seiko watches sell themselves. The other day we called him well after business hours; he replied at 6:59 in the evening. I mean, seriously, who does that? Yes, it is so shallow to generalise, to 'box and label' an entire nation, but I am yet to come across a New Zealander I don't like.  As Australians, we should be grateful to all hard working migrants who came here - permanently or temporarily - to help us build our nation.  And today, on my own behalf, and yours too, I salute New Zealand. Cheers.

Important. Please read.

As I type this, our Kern Micro is to be loaded on a ship at Bremerhaven port, Germany, to start its voyage to Sydney. It is expected to arrive in March. Once installed, it will be the most precise 5 axis milling machine - not only in Australia, but in the entire Southern Hemisphere. Our machine was commissioned in March 2021, built per our specification and paid off in full last week.  We shook hands with the Germans over zoom, and they delivered as promised, on time, as per specs. Now, it is all in God's hands; we pray for calm seas and a safe voyage. Yes, the machine is fully insured as well, just in case. However, once the new mill arrives, we are still not done. Here is the timeline: March: GST payable on import (100K), transport costs (21K), local installation (10K) April: German engineers arriving; installation and calibration (50K) May: tooling (50-75K, initial setup) July: 10 days training in Germany (25K) First parts to be machined: September 2022. Clearly, we are not there yet. The next 10 months are going to be packed with action, the acquisition of tools, and learning how to get most out of this demanding 'Ferrari' of precision manufacturing. And we will continue to bleed cash.  I am not sharing all of this just to brag about it. I am sharing the excitement because we need to plan for the future. Together. There is no better way to support Australian manufacturing than to invest in an Australian watch. Here is the deal: today, I am happy to offer Mark 1 (40mm automatic watch) on 10 monthly instalments, at $360 per month. And because our business is based on trust, I am happy to ship that Mark 1 the moment we shake hands on the deal.  I trust you will do the right thing and pay off your watch over the next 10 months.  While a $360 monthly instalment is not that much money, your continued support will mean a lot to us. It will provide us with the peace of mind and enable us to complete the project, on time.  As a very special 'thank you for your support' I will throw in a 10 year guarantee on your Mark 1. That will include a complete overhaul when the watch is due for one, in 5 years time - completely free of charge.  To place your order now, and have the watch shipped today, reply to this email and Gemma will get back to you ASAP. $360 per month, that's all. You will love your Mark 1 and you will wear it with pride. Guaranteed. I will leave you with the below feedback on this very watch, received over the weekend. "Hi Nick I am sure you meet many people and may not remember me, but I vividly remember the day we met at your shop. Your story inspired me so much that I insisted to Gemma that I see you when I came to collect my MK1. She was reluctant and with my persistence got her to get you to see me. I am glad you did and for releasing your lucky serial number 88 to me.  I am continuing to tell the inspiring story of the Aussie Made watch movement to the younger generation. The MK1 has found a new home on the wrist of my son, on his first day of work. I told him that the watch represents hard work, a will to win and most of all a lifetime of dedication to excellence in watchmaking, and for him to reflect and live by those values each day he works. The watch has not left his wrist and I thank you for continuing to stand for your passion and not giving up on a dream. Your humble supporter, Karl"

Manufactured in Australia update:

 

This week the "Manufactured in Australia" project made one of the most important decisions for its future. On Monday we have commissioned the delivery and installation of a KERN MicroHD – which is the latest generation of 5-axis milling machines by German manufacturer KERN, the world leader in micro machining. For the last six months, our precision machines and fully equipped watchmaking workshop have been getting a lot of attention from the broader manufacturing sector. Australians do some amazing manufacturing work, and some of the companies and institutions that do this work have been searching for reliable and capable manufacturing partners. Medical devices, space-borne devices, tools for precision assembly, satellite parts and parts for other watchmakers have all recently passed through our workshop. When we started the project of manufacturing watches in Australia from the ground up, we fully expected that our capabilities would get this attention, but the scale and growth of that interest surprised us. So much so, that we were actually very quickly swamped with work. This had some fairly large implications - Our own watchmaking production became stop-start, the momentum we would gain in making a few parts was lost when large customer projects came in, it also meant that our production schedule also filled up really quickly. Currently the next 8 weeks are completely booked out with work for our clients. What a nice problem to have!  Our first mill, a Kern Pyramid Nano, which is capable of operating at sub-micron levels, is running to its maximum capacity leaving us no choice but to expand. The Kern MicroHD is Kern's newest machine, with their most advanced technology - it is more accurate, precise, stable, reliable, dynamic and productive than our current machine, possibly even by one order of magnitude. When we imported our previous machine, it was arguably the most accurate machine in Australia. The HD is not only the most accurate machine in Australia, but is also the first machine of its type in all of Asia. This is absolutely massive news for Australia. Not once in the history of this country have we had the capability to manufacture parts with a machine of this precision. Machines like this are not sold to small businesses, only to large companies (Rolex, IWC etc.) that use them solely for internal use. However our plan is to make this machine available to parallel precision industries, which demand a high level of accuracy. For the first time, this capability has been made available to the Australian Engineering industry, on Australian soil. Our MicroHD is now being built in Germany - the build process takes 7 months - and it is expected to be delivered by the end of this year. Final installation and calibration is scheduled for March 2022. MicroHD brochure: shorturl.at/oIKX2 Josh Hacko, Brookvale

A bit of good news...actually two! (Timascus Project)

Firstly, over the weekend a photo of Timascus NH2 J14 received over 500 likes on our Instagram page (as of 11th May 2020). This is a huge compliment, especially so because the majority of our Instagram followers are machinists, watchmakers, and makers in general - those who make things with their hands. The Timascus project is generating interest for a number of reasons, but clearly the irresistible colours of the three-component alloy have real pulling power.

The second bit of good news: after a rather long wait we received our delivery of a diamond flycutter - a special, one-off tool made for our Kern mill. After installation, we recorded a video of the laser calibration of the tool and sent it to the German manufacturers. To our surprise, they posted our video to their Instagram page - a massive tick of approval.

Here is the link to the Kern page: https://www.instagram.com/p/B__VaE3Jyvz/
Watch the laser beam measuring the height of the rotating tool.                         

Cool kids

Imagine you were the only kid in the entire suburb with a PlayStation! There would be no quiet moment, no shortage of friends - and every day would be just pure fun.

The word about our machining capabilities is spreading fast and our watchmaking workshop in Brookvale is attracting all sorts of cool kids who want to play with our toys.  Here is just one of a few of the most recent cases: 

Andrew: "A car builder knocked on our door with an aluminium part that he had sub-contracted out to a machine shop all the way down in Campbelltown. An issue occurred during the manufacturing process rendering the part an oversized paperweight. Either the mechanic in question could drive down to Campbelltown and have the machine shop fix the error, then drive back the next day to pick it up, or dip his toe in the waters and ask us if we could help. Sure enough, after a rapid design brief and outline, we set to work designing and programming the solution whilst not changing the structural integrity or important features of the aluminium strut. We asked him "When do you need this done by?" "Yesterday" he replied. "Best I can do is tomorrow" we said. He was ok with that as it did not involve him participating in northern, central, western, and southern Sydney traffic.

The component was promptly modified and finished in the Makino EDM wire cutting machine within three hours. Under promise and over deliver, I always say. The coolest part about the whole experience is knowing that we contributed to their project. A 1960's matte black Mustang body with an Australian made v12 engine squeezed in. An interesting fact, the cast for the engine block is 3D printed, and then the actual cast is made for the molten metal to be poured into. That is cutting edge technology in the performance automotive industry. This car, once finished, will truly be a testament to Australian craftsmanship. Come to think of it, we should have used a 0.1 engraving tool in the Kern to write sneakily beneath the part: Andrew n Josh was 'ere. An opportunity missed but definitely noted for next time."

The second 'can we play with you guys' request came from a silicon extruder with a challenging part geometry. The part is 12mm thick steel disc requiring a perfect slot just 0.75 mm wide, 80m long. The slot is so thin that it would barely accept a paper business card. Yet, the inside walls of the slot would have to be perfectly finished to almost mirror finish. This is a serious challenge and a big ask - drilling the starter 0.5mm x 12mm hole was a nightmare. Again, Makino wire cutter did the rest of the job perfectly, and the part was completed same day. I am not using the term 'perfect' lightly - think of this 'fit' as what you would expect to see on a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso case.  

Clearly, there are many engineering businesses out there who are more than happy to pay handsomely for machining services and machining capabilities provided by a watchmaker. Indeed, one of our challenges in the months to come will be to ignore 'easy money' doing third party services and remain firmly focused on our watch manufacturing project. As we say, you cannot run before you learn how to walk. 

Major Milestone

Major milestone: we've planted the watch winding stem! 0.6 mm drill travelling 20mm down to create 1.2mm deep hole. The action is at half speed and quite frankly nerve wracking. Next step: dial feet fasteners then some fine tuning. Yes, out of all places- watch made in Australia!

Setting the kinematic point five axis on Kern