2017cnc10-11

CNC WEST October/November 2017 www.CNC-West.com 45 a really complicated machine and it is very helpful for them to know what it is that we manufacture.” It was important to decide on machine tools with a lot of versa- tility without sacrificing any qual- ity on the more complex parts. “The repeatability, scalability, and quality control is fantastic off our machines compared to a hand turn lathe,” explains Cameron. “Being able to scale a part with close enough tolerances for assembly to take place is how we are able to keep the prices so low. The companies I used to work for would basically rough out a part and it was up to their watchmaker to get the parts within spec for assembly. It is very time consum- ing, therefore very expensive. We appreciate that artistic value, but for us we want to make a lot of mechanical movements and expose people to the joy of owning a me- chanical watch.” Tooling and workholding is a major endeavor for these parts. You can’t just drop watch parts in a generic vise and go at it with an end mill. They require special- ized tooling like half a millimeter boring tools and fully customized workholdings. “There is a set of challenges in each part we manufacture,” tells Grant. “Remember, these parts can’t have tabs on them so how we hold them is dif- ficult. Each fixture is designed from scratch. Tolerances in watchmaking are very tight. We have to hold + .002 and – nothing on most pieces.” Bridges and main plates are at the core of the watch assembly. Everything mates to those pieces. One part might have 50 or 60 critical di- mensions on it. Most are two sided so they have to ma- chine it, flip it, probe it, machine the back side, and check their work under a microscope. One of the hardest things about holding small parts is pressure. Too little pressure, part goes flying. Too much pressure, you get potato chip The Weiss team: Lisa Odland, Christy Broderson, Whitney Weiss, Bennett the dog, Cameron Weiss and Grant Hughson It is very difficult to see features under .005” even after a full night of rest and a microscope. Weiss have built many microscope fixtures to give them the ability to visually inspect (looking for features not dimensions) the parts. Lisa Odland hand assembles the 150+ parts that go into each Standard Issue Field Watch timepiece.