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Making a watch case (part 18), putting on the strap

Making a watch case (part 18), putting on the strap

I've been a bit worried about how to put on the strap for some time. I don't want to drill a hole all the way through the lugs and it seems impossible to get a drill access to put in a blind hole on the inside of each lug.

But, as with nearly all of this project, I don't want to think about it too much! I'll just do what I can and, by experimenting and making mistakes, the solution should present itself. It's rather like thinking with my hands.

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Making a watch case (part 17), tapping some holes

Making a watch case (part 17), tapping some holes

The base fits snugly into the middle watch section but it's going to need some screws to make sure it stays fixed. I'm using the middle watch section to position the mill table, using the previous holes as guides and a wiggler to centre the spindle.

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Making a watch case (part 16), adding some curves

Making a watch case (part 16), adding some curves

I'm going to curve the back section to get rid of the right angled edge. I've written this g-code routine already for the top watch section so I'll use it again. Strictly speaking the back section is not supposed to be an ellipse shape, but if I tweak the parameters then it becomes a very shallow ellipse and will be fine for this initial design.

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Making a watch case (part 15), fitting the back glass

Making a watch case (part 15), fitting the back glass

I'll be using a flat watch glass for the back section which is quite a bit smaller, in diameter, than the front watch glass. First, though, I cut the back ring diameter to match the middle watch section.

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Making a watch case (part13), preparing the back section

Making a watch case (part13), preparing the back section

I make a recess in the middle watch section to take the back piece. I'm cutting down 2.0mm into the back of the middle section to leave a 1.7mm thick shelf inside the middle section. This gives strength and acts as a border between the top and bottom watch sections but I think it could be slimmer in future.

The middle section wall thickness is 0.5mm, so it's important to make sure the middle watch section is properly centered on the lathe before making this cut.

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Making a watch case (part 6), soldering the lugs

Making a watch case (part 6), soldering the lugs

To solder the lugs onto the centre watch section I'm using hard solder and borax flux. The helping hands make things a lot easier as the watch ring needs to stay in the same position. The lugs fit well enough in the ring not to fall over.

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