Diagram of an Elgin Watch
Cut of an Elgin 18s Model 8 Watch
(Click on the image to get a larger view)
The following article is from the January 1931 Elgin Watch Word
employee magazine.
Remarkable Drawing Work of Wm. A. Gabriel
Magnitude of Work Involved Described
This large scale drawing of the eighteen size three-fourths plate
Elgin watch is the work of William A. Gabriel, chief designer of the
company, who also designed the watch itself. The casual observer of
this drawing usually considers that it is a large photograph of an
actual watch, but a closer inspection, particularly of the manner in
which the parts have been cut away to reveal the inner mechanism,
shows the impossibility of accomplishing this by any known photographic
method. Realizing the educational value of such a picture if
accurately made to scale, Mr. Gabriel undertook the project and
carried it to completion entirely during spare moments at his home,
requiring more than two years . Mr Gabriel decided to have the final
drawing show the watch as it would appear as though turned to an angle
of thirty degrees from the observer. The magnitude of the work
involved in making this drawing can be better understood from the
following brief description of the method by which it was produced.
Large scale drawings of forty-nine different details in addition to
those of the plates and the damaskeening were first made in pencil to
a scale 20-1 from the working drawings of the watch.
Next each separate drawing was projected to appear as if seen at an
angle of thirty degrees. This involved the transference of thousands
of points by the usual methods of descriptive geometry. To obtain
exact projection of circles an especially constructed ellipsograph was
designed and built.
These forty-nine separate drawings were then assembled into one
drawing showing the entire mechanism of the watch except the plates.
This was done by superimposing the forty-nine separate drawings on
their exact centers and in their proper relation and then making a
tracing in ink of the entire assembly.
After the plates were drawn to the thirty degree angle, the necessary
sections were blocked out in order to show the essential parts of the
movement. These plate drawings were then transferred to the bristol
board on which the final drawing was to be made. This transference
was accomplished by means of an especially built pantograph which
reduced the scale of the working drawings 2-1 making the finished
drawing 10-1.
The drawing board containing the bristol board and the board
containing the preliminary sketches were mounted side by side on a
large table with the pantograph between them. With this method it was
possible to lay out the finished drawing without using any working
lines and thus the smooth surface of the bristol board was preserved.
This was necessary in order to obtain smooth shading in the India ink
rendering after the drawing was completed.
In order to transfer the parts of the watch to the finished drawing,
the large tracing of the entire mechanism was placed on the auxiliary
board over the sketches of the plates. Next, such portions of the
watch mechanism as were not covered by the plates were transferred by
the pantograph to the finished drawing and were inked in lightly as
this transference progressed.
The 20-1 projected drawing of the ornamenting lines or damaskeening
was next placed on the auxiliary board and such portions as would be
seen in the final drawing were then transferred by the pantograph to
the final drawing in pencil. Pencil was used here in order to retain
the desired smooth effect in the final India ink shading.
A thin India ink wash was applied with a camel's hair brush, the
desired degree of shading being obtained by repeated applications of
this wash; for the very deep shading a heavier India ink was was
used.
--Frank D. Urie.
Diagram of an Elgin 18s Model 8 Watch
(Click on the image to get a larger view)
Items numbered on this picture:
1 | Main Wheel. |
2 | Main Wheel Washer. |
3 | Main Screw. |
4 | Ratchet Wheel. |
5 | Ratchet Wh. Washer. |
6 | Jewel Setting. |
7 | Barrel Arbor. |
8 | Barrel Arbor Hub. |
9 | Barrel Hub Screw. |
10 | Barrel Hub. |
11 | Barrel. |
12 | Main Sp. Hooked. |
13 | Main Spring. |
14 | Recoiling Click. |
15 | Click Screw. |
16 | First Wheel. |
17 | Center Wheel. |
|
18 | Center Pinion. |
19 | Third Pinion. |
20 | Third Wheel. |
21 | Fourth Wheel. |
22 | Fourth Pinion. |
23 | Escape Pinion. |
24 | Escape Wheel. |
25 | Second Hand. |
26 | Fork. |
27 | Pallet. |
28 | Pallet Stones. |
29 | Roller Jewel Pin. |
30 | Safety Roller. |
31 | Table Roller. |
32 | Banking Screws. |
33 | Breg. Hair Spring. |
34 | Hair Sp. Stud. |
|
35 | Hair Sp. Collet. |
36 | Balance Staff. |
37 | Regulator. |
38 | Balance. |
39 | Index. |
40 | Reg. Adj. Nut. |
41 | Hour Hand. |
42 | Minute Hand. |
43 | Minute Wheel |
44 | Hour Wheel. |
45 | Setting Wheel. |
46 | Winding Arbor. |
47 | Wind & Sett. Clutch |
48 | Bevel Pinion. |
49 | Pendant Bar. |
|
First Wheel |
78 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 6 Hours, 30 Minutes. |
Center Pinion |
12 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 1 Hour. |
Center Wheel |
80 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 1 Hour. |
3rd Pinion |
10 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 7 1/2 Minutes. |
3rd Wheel |
75 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 7 1/2 Minutes. |
4th Pinion |
10 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 1 Minute. |
4th Wheel |
80 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 1 Minute. |
Escape Pinion |
8 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 6 Seconds |
Escape Wheel |
15 Teeth |
1 Rev. in 6 Seconds. |
Balance Wheel |
|
Vibrates 30 times in 6 Seconds,
300 times in 1 Minute,
18000 times in 1 Hour,
432000 times in 1 Day,
157680000 times in 1 Year. |
Diagram of an Elgin 18s Model 8 Watch
Courtesy Wynter Sturtevant
(Click on the image to get a larger view)
If you want to learn more about how a watch is put together and works,
the TimeZone web site has an
excellent
Illustrated Glossary of Watch Parts.
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