Re: Watch finishes, by CNC

Chuck,
If that hundred year old railroad watch is anywhere near original or
restorable condition please dont't screw with it. Reguardless of how
nice it turns out the value will be reduced to zip. Been there, done
that and regretted it.
al
--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Chuck Knight
<chuckknight@h...> wrote:

>
>
> http://mywebpages.comcast.net/timconnor/ham922/ham922_07.jpg
>
> I want to do this type of finishing to a watch movement, just as an
> experiment...isn't it pretty? This style of decoration is done by

using

> a rotating emery disc, and a watchmaker's lathe...lots of tedious
> handwork. I'm thinking of attaching an emery disc onto the end of

a

> dowel, and chucking it into a router. Needless to say, there is no
> pressure involved, but only light contact and a precise and

slightly

> overlapped toolpath. Given a small, reasonably accurate CNC

router,

> this should be simple to achieve. FYI: This watch is from the turn

of

> the last century -- one with this level of decoration would cost a
> minimum of $2500, and most are closer to $4000, in today's market.

This

> one cost >$100, 100 years ago...this is one of the super-accurate
> railroad watches that kept the trains on time.
>
> Back to CNC. As I see it, once I have a tool made, it should

simply be

> a matter of programming the toolpath. Does anyone have a program

that

> would automatically generate a spiral, concentric circles, straight
> parallel lines (cotes de geneve) and other simple "filler" patterns
> which I could use for this purpose? I don't want to "reinvent the
> wheel" if I don't have to. I already know that the dust generated

will

> require me to clean the movement afterwards, but for the purpose of

this

> experiment, I'll happily do it. I could probably do it myself, but

I've

> never programmed in G-Code.
>
> I know there are simple "pocketing" programs floating around...what
> types of paths do they generate?
>
> -- Chuck Knight