American Watchmaker And Jeweler by Henry G. Abbott, 1896
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR THE HOROLOGIST, JEWELER, GOLD AND SILVERSMITH
"Containing hundreds of private receipts and forlumas compiled from
the mest and most reliable sources. Complete directions for using
all the latest tools, attachements and devices for watchmakers and
jewelers. "
This 1896 book clocks in at 350 pages jammed full of for
the working jeweler and watchmaker. An incredible resource, almost
three hundred engraved illustrations and literally hundreds of
recipes and tips. This one is worth its weight in gold: it is a
‘must have’ for any serious goldsmith. The view is of the American
entrepreneur, passionate, open to new things, breaking with the
European past, embracing new technologies. As well, the American
watchmaker needed to know a lot about everything, not just watches,
as in the frontier you had to be able to fix everything, all sorts
of machinery, from sewing machines to optical instruments. It is
arranged in the form of an encyclopedia. If you are a watchmaker
this is a really essential book, for the rest of us it an excellent
addition to our library. There is a lot about watches and clocks,
but enough extra for a working jeweler.
The book is filled, totally filled with tricks, tips, recipes and
that is new again or has been forgotten. Very cool
stuff. An example: When using a broach to enlarge a hole vertically
stick it through a cork at ninety degrees to the flat end, and now
you can make a perfectly vertical hole in the metal.
There are wonderful short biographies of important thinkers and
innovators in the history of time-keeping, giving an insight into
the field. Surprising how much is still the same, and inspiring to
glimpse passionate lives. These little stories are scattered
throughout the book and make for really interesting reading,
illuminating history, giving a sense of the meaning of time, watches
and clocks.
Lots and lots of alloy recipes and constituents,
including gold alloys in blue, gray, red, green and various yellows.
Many gold and silver substitutes are described. Many hard solder
recipes for silver, gold and soft solders are explained in excellent
detail. Even an aluminum solder recipe is given.
Ok, there is a lot of watch, clock, gearing and mechanical
most of which is mysterious to me, but there is lots of
other stuff that makes the book worthwhile. I would say about a half
is watch/clock related. Amongst this is a great deal of excellent
about using lathes, alloys, metal coloring, tools for
lathes and more. Ancient water clock design is covered, and I have
not seen this elsewhere. All sorts of ancient clocks,
Chinese, Japanese and other culture’s clocks are looked at so this
is also a very in-depth history of time and how it was recorded. A
whole lot of clock As a non-watch person it is a
wonderful, exciting understanding of the slow, committed building
that humans have done in the timekeeping world. There are odd
things, like black porpoise oil being the best for watches. The book
is also a glossary, with dozens of terms, tools and names I never
heard of. The discussions on time are unique, and philosophical in
nature as well as practical. There is a huge section on cleaning and
repairing.
There are lots of patination and metal coloring recipes and
procedures. Dozens of patination recipes are described. Tons of
glues, lacquers, sealers and metal finishing recipes are detailed.
Depletion gilding and pickles are extensively covered. A number are
clearly taken from German sources.
Polishing methods and compounds are looked at in depth. Polishing
compound recipes are fully dealt with. Scratch brushing too. Odd
things like renewing chamois cloths are described.
There is very good on electroplating in various metals.
This covers batteries, recipes, all kinds of metals and more. Quite
thorough. It even touches on electro-less mixtures that plate by
rubbing on or dipping.
There is a section on testing metals and making testing solutions to
identify silver, various golds and more. Hardening and tempering is
addressed deeply and in detail, with many odd tempering materials
and media.
This book is very interesting, has lots of and is
really worth having in your collection.
File Size: 80.10MB, 350 Pages
Download the full eBook at the ridiculous price of $5.