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Mechanical Watch

ciechanow.ski

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191–200 of 425 posts

Re: Mechanical Watch

#191

Post by duderific »

soheil wrote: post #90
aliljet wrote: post #4

This may not be the most valuable comment, but my goodness, the quality of this writeup and it's interactive descriptions of complex mechanical components AND their interactions is radically impressive. The treatment of complex topics in deeply visual and partially interactive ways, for me at least, is a remarkably helpful way to learn.

To be 100% honest I found it very intimidating to even begin reading it. It's such a time sink (no pun intended) and a huge wall of text (with figures and interactivity nonetheless).

I usually get about half way through his posts, see how much is left and just give up. Nonetheless I get a lot out of them.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#192

Post by javajosh »

phailhaus wrote: post #186
panzerboiler wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He does it "the right way™". Use the platform. Don't use any framework or generic library. Go straight to the point and code what you need, when you need it. Don't minify or bundle anything, and let the people who are learning and courious a straightforward way to connect the dots, without forcing them into a github repository with 90% of the code unrelated to the thing and existing just to glue 1000 pieces written b…

The tradeoff is that there is basically nobody else that has the expertise or time to do the same thing at a similar level of polish. We're not going to see more Ciechanowski-level posts unless new libraries and frameworks make it more accessible.

Maybe, maybe not. We should do the experiment, though.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#193

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

That's very cool.

One of my favorite memories, as a kid, was visiting a museum in Toronto (I think it was the Science Museum).

Many of the exhibits had buttons that you could press, to make them go.

I remember a giant steam piston. That was cool.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#194

Post by smusamashah »

All of articles from this blog are worth archiving and putting in a library in this exact interactive form forever. I never understood mechanical watches before. Now I know exactly how they are made possible. Thanks for explaining it visually while interaction with the visuals.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#195

Post by karolist »

iamben wrote: post #7
_fat_santa wrote: post #2

There's something magical about mechanical watches. Maybe it's just knowing that you have this perpetually winding machine on your hand (in the case of "automatic" mechanical watches). Also knowing that the thing will last forever, take care of it and it will probably outlive you. Can't say that about an Apple Watch. If you want a good mechanical watch that won't break the bank I suggest picking up a Seiko SKX (thoug…

Agree with you so much. It still feels absolutely magical wearing one. The SKX007 was my first automatic watch and I wore it daily for 10 years. Incredible thing.

Still love my SKX007J though I don't wear it as much once I got in the habit of step counting, maybe I should start wearing two watches...

Re: Mechanical Watch

#197

Post by badindentation »

erikig wrote: post #166
sillysaurusx wrote: post #139

Does anyone know how the author supports themselves? They have a patreon, but it’s not enough to make a living: https://www.patreon.com/ciechanowski The hardest part for me when doing open source work full time was giving it up and getting a day job. I was fortunate that my wife was the breadwinner, and that I got to see what it was like to be a stay at home husband. I’ve often wished to go back to it. Did the author…

A cursory search indicates that he's a game developer in the UK which explains the WebGL chops.

I think that's a different guy because his twitter profile (from the website) says he lives in California.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#199

Post by JohnBooty »

bmj wrote: post #182
JohnBooty wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They last longer if you wear them, say, several times a month - i.e. if you have a rotation with several quartz watches and several mechanical ones. They definitely will last decades that way. As others have noted, if you own a well-known brand like a Seiko you can easily purchase an entirely new movement for $50-$75 and this should take a watchmaker no more than one hour of labor or you can DIY. (Many non-Seiko bran…

Will Seiko provide parts for older watches? I just got stuck with a bricked Swiss Army quartz watch because no one can get parts for it (it's 20 years old). I'm very tempted by some of the more affordable Seiko mechanical/automatic models, but I'd like the watch to last at least a decade or so.

Sadly, I'm not aware of any specific "we will continue to manufacture parts for X years" guarantees from Seiko.

Still, though - keep in mind that entire Seiko movement can be bought for like $50-75. And many of their most common movements are interchangeable. For example, an older 7S26 can be replaced with a new NH36 that sells for about $50. https://chronometercheck.com/seiko-7s26-movement/

It's not entirely unfeasible to imagine buying a spare movement or three if you were, say, planning on doing sort of a heirloom thing and wanted to ensure a supply of parts N decades into the future.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#200

Post by technothrasher »

boesboes wrote: post #72

Wow very comprehensive & well done. If mechanical watches tickle your fancy, there is a ton of watch repair video on YT. I particularly enjoy wristwatch revival ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD80T1s2Za4K682CQDGwEKQ ). A warning though, if you consider to get into that hobby. I tried, it's really hard, expensive (I spend close to €1k and that is with b-quality stuff. Good stuff is 5-10x more expensive.) and can b…

> A warning though, if you consider to get into that hobby. I tried, it's really hard, expensive

Wrist watches are pretty hard and expensive. Pocket watches are less so. When I was interested in getting more intimate with watch repair, I went to eBay and bought up a whole bunch of old pocket watch movements. I've got about 150 of them in various condition, most of them Waltham (easy to get, inexpensive, and I happen to have spent the first 25 years of my life spending a lot of time in the old Waltham Watch Co factory building because my father's company leased out space in it).

Basic tools aren't too bad, just a nice set of tweezers, screwdrivers, and a good magnifier is enough to do a lot of repairs. But you can fall down the rabbit hole pretty quickly with the desire for increased quality tools and things like a staking set so you can replace balance wheel arbors.

I tried to move from the pocket watches into wrist watches, and while the technology is largely the same, the reduced size and increased complexity made it less enjoyable for me. Instead I ended up moving the other direction and now have a nice collection of 18th and 19th century 30-hour and 8-day clocks (more commonly known as "grandfather clocks").

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