ten10 Projects

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Good Things come in Pairs

Having made the first watch winder, I was eager to improve the aesthetics and the circuitry. The picture on the right shows most of the raw materials that I’ve been using. The housing here was a concept sample I’m building for a customer.

The new unit (pictured below) has a pair of winding rotors that takes care of individual watch’s winding needs. This is a much preferred method of pampering your luxury watches as oppose to two watches on a winding head. In my previous blog post, dated 20th Nov. ‘09, “Two Heads are Better than One” you can see the pros and cons of it.

I’ve since used a new circuit and it now has 2 TPDs (Low and High) but 3 Directional (CW, CCW and Alternating) Settings. I’ve also included a Low Battery Indicator and made a much better-looking housing. It runs on both Mains-power or 4 C-size batteries. I’ve also replaced the Belt-driven assembly with a Direct-drive System on two Portscap motor which obviously has more motor torque and longer life-span; I’m not worried about the belt giving way.

Learning to sew was the greatest challenge here. Having to breathe the glue was a high experience. Constructing the housing was physically and mentally exhausting, even the pressure holding a hack-saw wears out after a certain time. Manually sanding it was tedious and getting blisters is another story altogether. However, it was very satisfying building a unit with my own hands.

Selector Switches and LED indicators are located on the front panel within the housing. The power switch is at the rear of the unit. Main materials used are MDF and PU leather. The viewing window is Plexiglass, 2mm thick.

The battery compartment is below; the unit uses 4 C cell batteries.

Here is the close-up of the controls.

Specifications: -

2 watch winder Winds two watches individually
Winding Mode Controller stops winding when set TPD is achieved, and then sleeps till next
Cycle; built-in 24hrs timer.
Command Board Microprocessor controlled
TPD selection Individual Low 650TPD and High 900TPD
Winding direction Individual selectable CW/CCW/ALTERNATING
Power switch Individual OFF-ON
Drive system Individual Direct-drive with Portescap Gear-motor
LED Indicator Individual Triple-mode Green LED – Power/Winding, Pause and Sleep
Battery Monitor Low-power Battery indicator, Red
Power source 6Vdc; AC Adaptor or 4 C-size Dry cells
Dimensions L245 x W190 x H175mm (approx.)
Materials Black Faux Leather exterior, fine micro-suede interior

Each winding cup can fit a large diameter dial of up to 55mm comfortably. In this case, even large Panerai buckles can be slotted in without squeezing or damaging the winding cup. I wonder if winders in the market currently handle this.

This project serves to test my new circuit, the winding sequence and the tilt angle for my future winders. More importantly, if it keeps my timepiece wound. Well, it’s just the beginning.

Labels: d.i.y. watch winder, homemade watch winder

posted at 1:42 AM by ten10