91–100 of 168 posts
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Consider something like a Whoop or Oura Ring which monitors health metrics but doesn’t rely on a watch? That’s what I’ve settled on so that I have the best of both worlds.
Those are subscription based though.
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Pocket knives! Nice modern pocket knives should be disassembled and maintained regularly.
I have a Kershaw Leek, which while it isn't particularly expensive, is easily on the "cost exceeds direct utility" side of things, is easy to take apart, and I can't imagine what I would regularly take it apart for.
Kershaw leek is really a great knife.
Also keeping your pocket knife sharp is another example of it being directly maintainable and repairable. I often spend several hours a month sharpening my pocket knives though I probably have a few more than the average person.
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For me it's the opposite. Notifications and payments are my main benefit. I would never wear a watch that shows only the time (hence I never wore one since the late 90s until mid 2010s). Sleep tracking with SpO2 is a big thing for me too though. I think mechanical watches are much more about being jewellery than function, even though it's impressive engineering. But I'm not a very flashy guy (I don't even own any shi…
I'd like a watch that does two things: - Shows the time (and possibly date) - Vibrates when I get a call (or maybe other notifications) Other than that I'd like it to be small and have a long battery life. Is there anything like this? I currently use a Garmin smartband, but there are so many features I don't use.
I have a relatively inexpensive Seiko 5 mechanical watch that I really like, but as much as I love the idea of mechanical watches I simply don't have the patience to tend to it. Accuracy is a big problem (at least with my specific watch). Half of the time it's magnetized and running a few minutes fast per day, and the other half (shortly after de-magnetizing it) it's running a few minutes slow per day, meaning I need…
Even though my mechanical watch wasn't as inaccurate as yours (mine was only a minute or two off a week), the act of regularly adjusting it to match the true time slowly changed my impression of it from a "serious timekeeping device", the image cultivated by marketing, into "this is a silly hobby for people who have too much time and money". Doubly so when you look how much it costs to repair a mechanical watch. This…
1 second/day is 10 PPM. Reaching that accuracy with only mechanical means in a device small and robust enough to be worn on the body is something to admire, not to fault for its limits.
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3D printers have very little mechanical complexity. It's all in the software. If it wasn't for the computing power/software complexity required, hobbyist 3D printers could probably have been a thing in the 70s or 80s
While 3d printers aren't necessarily complicated they are fun to watch. They are like an inside-out machine. Most machines are hidden in some sort of casing or under a hood. 3d printers are exposed, so you are able watch the gears spin, belts turn, and the print head extrude.
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Even though my mechanical watch wasn't as inaccurate as yours (mine was only a minute or two off a week), the act of regularly adjusting it to match the true time slowly changed my impression of it from a "serious timekeeping device", the image cultivated by marketing, into "this is a silly hobby for people who have too much time and money". Doubly so when you look how much it costs to repair a mechanical watch. This…
It's also the only timekeeping device that will still work after three days away from an electric plug, and the only one you would wear all you life . 1 second/day is 10 PPM. Reaching that accuracy with only mechanical means in a device small and robust enough to be worn on the body is something to admire, not to fault for its limits.
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Yes, it sounds a degaussing and calibration. My simple Seiko 5 with 7S36C is within +/- 4 seconds per day, and I never adjust it except short-month skipping.
Given that is minutes off even after demagnetizing, makes me wonder if there has been water intrusion, or it is old and the oil is starting to gum up.
Oil age maybe a factor, but maybe it’s dropped? I had a Swatch with an ETA movement (with shock absorption nonetheless), and I somehow managed to damage its balance wheel assembly by dropping to a soft carpet from ~80cm, because it started stopping when it was not in dial up position. They even opened it and recalibrated and oiled it, but it’s dead.
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Even though my mechanical watch wasn't as inaccurate as yours (mine was only a minute or two off a week), the act of regularly adjusting it to match the true time slowly changed my impression of it from a "serious timekeeping device", the image cultivated by marketing, into "this is a silly hobby for people who have too much time and money". Doubly so when you look how much it costs to repair a mechanical watch. This…
It's also the only timekeeping device that will still work after three days away from an electric plug, and the only one you would wear all you life . 1 second/day is 10 PPM. Reaching that accuracy with only mechanical means in a device small and robust enough to be worn on the body is something to admire, not to fault for its limits.
I use the Garmin to track my exercise - I don't care if the mechanical watch will last all my life if it doesn't do what I want it to do, and it's not even that great at the one thing that it does do.
There aren't a lot of normally-priced mechanical watches that get 1 second/day accuracy. That precision can be admired in mechanical watches, but as I said, it becomes a fun expensive hobby.
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Even though my mechanical watch wasn't as inaccurate as yours (mine was only a minute or two off a week), the act of regularly adjusting it to match the true time slowly changed my impression of it from a "serious timekeeping device", the image cultivated by marketing, into "this is a silly hobby for people who have too much time and money". Doubly so when you look how much it costs to repair a mechanical watch. This…
It's also the only timekeeping device that will still work after three days away from an electric plug, and the only one you would wear all you life . 1 second/day is 10 PPM. Reaching that accuracy with only mechanical means in a device small and robust enough to be worn on the body is something to admire, not to fault for its limits.
Quartz watches go years on a small battery, and keep better time.
Sure, it's admirable engineering, it's just most obsolete. And that's ok!
The role of watches as jewellery has kept mechanicals going far more than practicality.
There are semi-electric versions of mechanical watches based on "tuning fork" movements. They are cheap and accurate, and are a stepping stone between mechanical and quartz from the 60s/70s I don't have the skills or machinery to make a wristwatch sized version, but I did make a _big_ sized version: https://www.secretbatcave.co.uk/projects/electromechanical-c...
For a clock, could a worm drive provide the necessary reduction without the microscopic teeth? Tamiya sells small drives with a 150:1 reduction ratio.