How to make your own Hand Levers

[Irishcain 0]

I’ve read quite a number of posts about what the best tools to buy are and I constantly find myself amazed at the prices some of the tools we use daily cost us, and those costs keep going up. As an aspiring watchmaker though, I've had to make more than a few of my own tools. Since I can make them to suit my needs, they’re ALWAYS the best tool for the job at hand. So I thought I’d share how to make some simple tools. If you’re handy, they’ll take a short time to knock up. If you’re not, I hope I've made the directions easy enough to follow so that you won’t have had any difficulty in doing so. Either way, there’s a tremendous sense of satisfaction when you’re working on a watch with tools you've made. I thought I’d walk through making Hand Removing Levers (these were the first tools I had to learn to make). Most of the tools necessary you may already have around the house. If you don’t, it never hurts to have them. Top of the line aren't necessary in either case. I’m also going to try to use metric and imperial measurements when I can so you can use either one you’re familiar with.

 

For hand levers you’re going to need 5mm (3/16in) diameter by 150mm (6in) Silver steel rod (called O1 Drill Rod in the United States), a file, and a vise to hold your work.

 

1. Cut the rod into two equal lengths (75mm or 3in), to make identical levers. The work you’re going to do is to be done on both of them. You can make them longer if you want to, however I find 75mm to be about the right length to allow multiple grips when working.

 

2. File both ends flat and square. Make sure there’s no burrs on it that might catch your hand.

 

3. (This step can be skipped, but I find that the more effort put into a project, the better I feel about it and the better it looks) File a small bevel at one end of the rod (JUST ONE END, NOT BOTH). Do this by clamping a block of wood in the vice, with top just peeking above the jaws. Hold the rod on the wood at a 45 degree angle and file a small flat on the end. Turn the bar an eighth turn and do it again. Do this until the entire top is beveled. With a combined filing and turning action, the entire top should be blended smooth.

 

 

4. Now we’re going to taper the other end before turning it into a lever. Mark the bar up 30mm (1.2in) from the non-beveled end. This doesn't have to be exact here, but it has to be identical on both bars (35mm on one bar means 35mm on the other). Clamp the rod in your vice (make sure to protect the rod from the vice, use duct tape or a couple pieces of wood or a couple of softer pieces of metal like brass or aluminum) at an angle that half the diameter of the rod will also be level with the top of the vice jaws.

 

 

Now, file flat to make the tapered surface. When done on one side, turn 180 degree and do the other side too. Make sure that the ends meet properly to form a straight edge. Polish the flats with an emery cloth or a really, really fine wet/dry sandpaper (1200 grade or better). BE CAREFUL. At this stage, you can make the ends of this razor sharp (I keep mine very sharp so they easily slide under ANY hands. If you decide to do this, you’ll have to remember to touch them up once in a while).

 

 

5. Next we curve the tip to give it a lever edge. Place the tip of your newly filed rod into the vice approximately 10mm (0.4in) and bend down to a 45 degree. Bending slightly more or less is okay, but you want to keep it as close to 45 degrees as possible. MAKE SURE BOTH RODS ARE BENT TO THE SAME DEGREE! I found this was better ensured by bending them both at the same time (side by side). Once you've done that, make a small groove in the center of the tip of the lever and remove any burrs by polishing with a fine wet and dry sandpaper (1200 grade or better). Now you can re-polish the whole lever with the fine wet/dry (1200 grade or better) for a better all over look if you want.

 

 

6. Enjoy your new levers.

Bergeon currently charges around $57 dollars, Horotec charges $40. Your levers didn't cost anywhere near that, and you made them.

[PickledBeetroot 3,096]

pics of the finished levers??

 

 

I bought mine from ebay, all i had to do was file them a little thinner when they arrived, change outta 4quid.

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...2-/300723525342

 

 

 

save all that pissing about time for trolling this place and generally making mischief :lmao:

 

 

 

to which i think i'm pretty good at now

Edited February 10, 2015 by pickledbeetroot