The Mainplate - Making A Tourbillon Wristwatch

This is the start of the most important piece of work that I have embarked on to date. I am producing a series of Tourbillon wristwatches and I'm filming the process of making the prototype! In this episode I tackle the body of the watch that every other component interacts with. The Mainplate!
My email - [e-mail]
My instagram - @jppalmerwatchmaking
My website - jppalmerwatches.com

[@antony0599]

wonderful video, waiting for the next one in this series

[@DMTiffanyTimepieces]

Outstanding work, James!

[@kevinrblodgett]

Fantastic to see so much detail on camera, much appreciated!

[@russtdodd]

Great video. I am not a watch maker but really appreciate the work holding and alignment processes you use. This will help immensely on some of my projects.

[@RTegelaar]

Next level Clickspring

[@modelistvv]

Great job! Thanks for sharing your experience! Can you show the process of threading the base plate?

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello JP, An enjoyable video... and pleased to see the BCA is still with you and earning its keep... See you on the next one. Take care. Paul,,

[@smalcstein]

Amaizing work!

[@TheVIndings]

Beautiful work, and inspiring to watch .. very well done, looking forward to videos to come

[@RocketSailing]

Exellent work! Looking forward following this!

[@RTegelaar]

So inspiring to watch! Keep up the good work!

[@nhwworkshop2644]

Well done!

[@julesdepoisier2836]

Nice work !

[@ReubenSchoots]

I liked this video so much I watched it twice!

[@WeCanDoThatBetter]

Incredible work! Just found your channel and subscribed immediately. I`m really curious how it progresses. Thanks for sharing!

[@Aleksandar_Sladic]

Great job and beautiful video mate! Keep up going! 👏

[@juyfjgfjhgfjugf4702]

this is really cool ,thank you

[@danielowens4789]

Nice work and attention to detail. Could you not use a live center in the tailstock to locate each hole and use a little pressure to push your main plate up to the face plate and then secure your piece? That would center a hole just as you center the plate on a jewelers staking tool. It would save loads of time locating those holes, IMO.

[@JimbobPalmer]

Hi Daniel, thank you! Using a live centre does get the hole in the right region, but it never perfectly centres is so you will always need to use this method to get the hole running perfectly concentric.

[@ebaystuffandothers4398]

Amazing job!! just amazing. One question please, what milling machines are you using?

[@JimbobPalmer]

Thank you! For the milling of the hand setting pocket I was just using a BCA jig borer so not a full on milling machine. The rest of the drilling was done on my Leitz jig borer

[@bobvines00]

James, amazing work! I look forward to seeing at least one jewel being installed in this watch because that's something I've wondered about for a long time. One unasked for recommendation though: Please lower the volume of the background music! The music itself is nice and "soothing," but is simply too loud in many places in the video. I'm sure this is simply part of your videography/editing learning experience though. ;)

[@danmenes3143]

What tolerance do you hold on the hole coordinates?

[@joewalish297]

Thank you for posting this! What alloy of brass did you use for the main plate?

[@JimbobPalmer]

I use CZ121 brass, works a treat 😁

[@joewalish297]

@@JimbobPalmer Thanks!

[@wilkosoft]

Jaw-dropping work, JP - thanks for the work you’ve put into this! How do you avoid cumulative error, or is the machine just Very Very Accurate? The thought of making a mistake 2/3rds of the way through…ugh….

[@JimbobPalmer]

In my experience there will always be cumulative error on machines like this, it’s just when you get up to the fancy CNC machines they’re able to account for it with magic! On this Leitz the cumulative errors are still within my tolerances so they’re nothing to dwell on!

[@aaronmarkstaller]

This is sweet. Is the design based on an existing one? Jaeger bregeut or seagull

[@JimbobPalmer]

Thank you! The design is based on the George Daniels 4 minute tourbillon watch, though I put my own spin on it in certain areas.

[@flimz5199]

i dont understand something, how do you know where to drill without marking anything?

[@Krug85]

Hi James. Really Outstanding... May I ask what is your magnification on your PJ-3000 ? Love from France

[@JimbobPalmer]

Thanks! I use 10x and 20x the most, 50x comes in handy for some things but you can get by with just the first two for 99% of jobs.

[@ryanpagoria-qb9vd]

Make a video how to lay out the holes and everything please

[@bfx8185]

Nice! What kind of lathe you have?

[@JimbobPalmer]

I have a Schaublin 70 lathe 👍🏽

[@skydernet]

What lathe is that?

[@Jack51435]

The 8mm lathe (the small blue one) is a cowells 90CW and the lathe at the end of the video where James is inline milling is a Schaublin 70

[@jonka1]

Be aware that music, especially loud music, replacing the natural sounds of your work is unnecessary and not why your viewers are here. When that same music is relentlessly repeated it becomes very irritating and imo ruins the experience of watching your skilled and interesting work.