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Mechanical Watch

ciechanow.ski

141–150 of 425 posts

Re: Mechanical Watch

#141
post #12
post #3

This man is marvelous. Even though I know how top-notch he is at writing interactive blog posts, he surprises me with his quality every time I open his new blog posts. Bartosz is a huge inspiration for me.

He’s elevated technical explanations to a delicious art form

same with https://www.youtube.com/c/3blue1brown

Re: Mechanical Watch

#142

I couldn't quite figure it out from the (excellent) writeup but when you wind up the watch, you wind up the barrel AND the balance wheel, right?

Same question. The balance wheel/hairspring has to be losing energy overtime to friction (however miniscule). Otherwise we have ourselves a perpetual motion machine

Re: Mechanical Watch

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want absurd accuracy in a watch powered by mechanical energy (without just resorting to a battery-powered quartz), look into Grand Seiko's spring drive. It's super interesting technology, and the result is a smoothly sweeping second hand (as in it's actually continuous, not merely a higher number of beats per second).

yep, i've considered that one; insane engineering for sure. but the watch's aesthetics don't do it for me. also, it does feel a bit like cheating ;), if an EMP were to go off, i dont think the Spring Drive would come out okay like a purely mechanical watch would. another crazy one is Zenith's all-silicon oscillator: https://masterhorologer.com/2017/09/14/zenith-defy-lab-the-w... https://monochrome-watches.com/zenith-…

To be clear, there are literally hundreds of different models of Grand Seiko watches that are powered by spring drive that have been produced over the past two decades plus, with wildly varying looks across the range. It's not just one watch I'm talking about here.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#145
> when we pull the crown all the way out to enter the time setting mode, that stop lever blocks the balance wheel, which stops the watch in an action known as hacking

whoa, is this the origin of the word "hacking" in the "throw something into the wheels to make it work" sense? very interesting.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#146
post #21
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.

True multimedia is a lost art. We had it back in the 90s when software came on discs and it was a high-density, polished product that combined text, audio, video, and interactive elements on the same page. The internet taking over turned everything back into text, and then as bandwidth grew the only thing we thought to use it on was higher and higher bitrate video. When I was a kid I thought the future was going to b…

Like I would be able to pause a movie and click on anything I was seeing to get more information

I remember the cable companies promising this when everything went "digital."

I also remember when the movie studios promised us one of the big advantages of DVDs over VHS was that we could watch the scenes of a movie from any angle?

Yeah, that never happened.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#147

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…

My favorite video series of this sort is this guy building Antikythera Mechanism from scratch, including making his own era-appropriate tools.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZioPDnFPNsHnyxfygxA0...

Re: Mechanical Watch

#148
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True multimedia is a lost art. We had it back in the 90s when software came on discs and it was a high-density, polished product that combined text, audio, video, and interactive elements on the same page. The internet taking over turned everything back into text, and then as bandwidth grew the only thing we thought to use it on was higher and higher bitrate video. When I was a kid I thought the future was going to b…

Last time I used Amazon Prime Video, around 2017, it would show info that Amazon deemed relevant for that bit of the show (apparently it's called X-Ray). Back then at least, it wasn't on the same level as what you described but still something. The danger was it made me want to pause all the time in case I missed something interesting, but by putting the user in control of what they get info on, you could avoid that.

Last time I used Amazon Prime Video, around 2017, it would show info that Amazon deemed relevant for that bit of the show (apparently it's called X-Ray).

X-Ray still exists, but the only way I've ever seen it used is to tell you what the background music is, and the names of all the actors in a scene. But even then, it is often incomplete.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#149
post #142

I couldn't quite figure it out from the (excellent) writeup but when you wind up the watch, you wind up the barrel AND the balance wheel, right?

Same question. The balance wheel/hairspring has to be losing energy overtime to friction (however miniscule). Otherwise we have ourselves a perpetual motion machine

This is mentioned in the article. The pallet fork gives the balance wheel a small push after unlocking, giving it a tiny bit of extra momentum.

Re: Mechanical Watch

#150
post #21
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.

True multimedia is a lost art. We had it back in the 90s when software came on discs and it was a high-density, polished product that combined text, audio, video, and interactive elements on the same page. The internet taking over turned everything back into text, and then as bandwidth grew the only thing we thought to use it on was higher and higher bitrate video. When I was a kid I thought the future was going to b…

There is a movie player that would highlight the character/actor on screen at the moment you hit pause. There is a link to find out more that would take you to the appropriate web page with the info.

I want to say it was google play, but not completely sure.

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