1945 Brevet Hamilton Watch Co. Pinion Cutting Machine

sjkeul · Jul 18, 2016

I recently acquired a vintage 1945 Brevet pinion cutting machine. It came from the Hamilton Watch Co.

I'd love to get this restored and working but I don't know where to begin, as I know little about this machine. I don't know where I can get replacement parts or even how to test it, as there isn't a motor with it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I live in CT.

Thx,

Scott

JRIowa · Jul 19, 2016

Couple of things:

1. This will probably get moved to the antique machinery forum
2. Brevet is French/Swiss for patent
3. Restore and test???

Clean the best you can, mount to a nice butcher block table, and cover with a clear, acrylic box. Tell everybody its a rare, Swiss made machine for making watch parts.
JR

Screwmachine · Jul 19, 2016

That really looks a lot like an old Strausak (Swiss). There are some definite similarities, but I've haven't seen a ton of the older ones. The indexing system and the general look of the work and toolholding section are darn close.

While I know for a fact Bulova made quite a few copies of small Swiss machines, I don't know if Hamilton did, though they did make some of their own stuff. As it's marked Brevet the possibility of it being internally made is about zero.

Have a look at this vid, it's a Strausak. Some of the dealers here have these old ones from time to time but they don't get listed on their sites due to lack of market, you have to go there and dig in the back rooms and storage areas. Parts will be next to impossible to get. The real pain is it needs index plates for each tooth count- plates, as there is the positioning plate and the ratchet plate with same tooth count. If you want to use it for watch work it would be worth looking into adapting a simple electronic indexer. If you want to display it, just clean it up.

gwilson · Jul 19, 2016

Stupid video never did show the actual pinion cutting!!!

JRIowa · Jul 19, 2016

About 1:42

JR

L Vanice · Jul 19, 2016

Few people have any use for such machines. Those that do will want the best, as far as condition, completeness, and modern design. Most such machines that escape scrapping end up as displays in museums or collectors' homes.

The NAWCC clock and watch museum in Columbia, PA has a few really great machines along with vast numbers of clocks and watches. The Henry Ford has a few machines from Waltham.

Larry

sjkeul · Jul 19, 2016

Thank you all for taking the time to reply...looks like it might be best as a display

Jim Williams · Jul 19, 2016

Back in the 1970's, some of these Hamilton pinion cutting machines were circulating at the regional shows of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. The prices asked were dirt cheap, because they were not practical to use without tooling. I was tempted to get one due to my love of machinery, but did not succumb.

Jim

Screwmachine · Jul 19, 2016

Scott, do you mind if I ask where you found this? It's something a friend of mine would have had, he worked for Hamilton and Bulova in development and prototyping and bought literally hundreds of tons of equipment out of those companies as they closed and auctioned off. We lost touch and he's (is, I hope) quite old.

L Vanice · Jul 19, 2016

Jim Williams said:
Back in the 1970's, some of these Hamilton pinion cutting machines were circulating at the regional shows of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. The prices asked were dirt cheap, because they were not practical to use without tooling. I was tempted to get one due to my love of machinery, but did not succumb.

Jim

I joined NAWCC in 1962. I recall those machines, and others, but cannot say they came from Hamilton. I think one member displayed his with a motor running it. In the 1990's, a friend went to a machinery dealer closing auction in Mishawaka, IN and bought two Swiss Mikron automatic pinion cutters as a surprise for me. He called me and said I owed him (forgot the price) and come get them. They had US Navy tags on them. I did nothing with them and sold them to a clock repairman in Lima, OH who may have actually used them. He may be interested in buying another machine.

http://gregsclocks.com/

Larry

Screwmachine · Jul 19, 2016

L Vanice said:
I joined NAWCC in 1962. I recall those machines, and others, but cannot say they came from Hamilton. I think one member displayed his with a motor running it. In the 1990's, a friend went to a machinery dealer closing auction in Mishawaka, IN and bought two Swiss Mikron automatic pinion cutters as a surprise for me. He called me and said I owed him (forgot the price) and come get them. They had US Navy tags on them. I did nothing with them and sold them to a clock repairman in Lima, OH who may have actually used them. He may be interested in buying another machine.

http://gregsclocks.com/

Larry

I met Greg back in 2000 I think, sharp as a straight razor and really nice guy (heck of a clockmaker too). And serious about watch/clock machinery.

redlee · Jul 19, 2016

If you were to restore ,take a bunch of pics.
I love seeing how things work and I think it would be fun to have a thousand parts wondering how the hell does this go back together.

sjkeul · Jul 19, 2016

Hi, I purchased this at a flea market...young guy said his dad had it stored for about 30 years...didn't know anything more about it.

sjkeul · Jul 20, 2016

any idea what type of motor I could buy to see it 'sort of' work? Thx

L Vanice · Jul 20, 2016

Start slow. Figure out which direction the input shaft is supposed to turn. If you get that wrong, you may break something. If you have a variable speed reversing electric drill, see if you can grab the input shaft of the machine in the chuck and gently start it up.

Once you have an idea of what speed the input shaft wants to turn, shop for a motor. You may need a gearmotor if there is no reduction gearing built into the machine. There is no need for variable speed once you have the right motor output speed.

Larry

sjkeul · Jul 20, 2016

Great idea...thx Larry.

And thx to screwmachine for posting the video...very helpful!

timejust · Jan 6, 2017

sjkeul said:
I recently acquired a vintage 1945 Brevet pinion cutting machine. It came from the Hamilton Watch Co.

I'd love to get this restored and working but I don't know where to begin, as I know little about this machine. I don't know where I can get replacement parts or even how to test it, as there isn't a motor with it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I live in CT.

Thx,

Scott

View attachment 175964 View attachment 175966 View attachment 175962 View attachment 175965 View attachment 175963

Dear Scott,
This is a Bechler pinion cutting machine. I used to sell these at the NAWCC marts years ago.(as mentioned by Jim Williams) I do have parts for these and can explain how they work. I also live in CT so gettting together is not a problem. I still have one of these machines which I will be setting up this year as I moved my shop.
Please let me know if you still have this and need further help.
Sinserely, Timejust

Billyum · Jan 6, 2017

I like that watch gear cutting machines are so compact, and the way the cutting/lube oil is run to the right and sump.

olsonnat · Jul 10, 2017

Hello everyone, i just picked up a machine identical to the one on this post. I have the machined cleaned up oiled and everything moving smoothly. I have a couple questions, does anyone have prints of the index plates and photos of the pullys. Im having a hard time understanding what the leaver on the back of the machine towards the bottom is for. It pushes a pin up and moves the pullys. Thanks all for the help

Reid Zeigler · Jul 11, 2017

I agree that this is a Bechler. Parts won't be available and most tooling was made at the point of use. They had very limited application, but it would be fun to get it running and just preserve it. All of this type of work is now being done on more flexible Swiss machines. I picked up an ex-Hamilton factory gear cutter that still had DOD inspection stickers. The previous owner said it was used for making ship's chronometers, but I haven't reverse-engineered the index plates to confirm that. I've been using it for small gear cutting work. A future restoration project.

1945 Brevet Hamilton Watch Co. Pinion Cutting Machine

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