How to make a watch stem the traditional way - a beginner's guide (work in progress)

Preface

Traditional watchmaking information is unfortunately hard to come by on the internet and is mostly available either through old books that are expensive or hard to find, full time, extremely expensive formal education or is passed down from master to apprentice.

Unfortunately these sources are either not available, out of reach or do not really tackle the subject from a hobbyist beginner point of view. As a hobbyist you don't have someone next to you who can tell guide you and maybe show you the right way. Sometimes videos help but these are really too few and far between. Internet forums help but you need to know what to ask. Hobbyists also don't have tool knowledge or know where to get tools, or which tools to get.

All of the above make watchmaking extremely frustrating for a hobbyist trying to learn the ropes on their own for a few hours a week.

This guide will try to help with that. I am a beginner with some experience but there was a lot of effort, money spent and frustration along the way. Too much frustration.

 

How to make a watch stem the traditional way - a beginner's guide

This will be the guide I wish I had. Step by step with a bill of materials, where to get them, etc and with no assumptions of previous knowledge. I will try to explain the issues I had. These are not advetisments and I am not sponsered in any way but if anyone who's mentioned wants to sponsor me I will happily have a conversation (please, Schaublin/Levin/Boley).

 

Required tools and materials

 

1. A lathe. There are several options for the hobbyist at home.
1. A watchmaker's lathe.
1. Options for purchasing new are very limited. As far as I am aware the choices are:
1. CZ50. Made by Michael Chung. https://www.lathes.co.uk/chung/ Reports indicate that they are very well made, accurate and come with a whole host of accessories. It seems that the quality of chucks and collets is lower than the lathe itself which probably indicates that these are made by other Chinese manufactures. The lathe itself seems to be superb.
2. Vector lathes. https://www.lathes.co.uk/vector/ It seems that these are made in China and finished in Europe (deburred, etc, who knows). Very limited information about these.
3. Leinen WW83. https://boley.de/en/shop/4584.leinen-ww-83/2102.lathe These are the same as old Leinens but...modern. Full compliment of accessories is available, made new. I'm told that quality is not what it used to be https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/36951-just-found-out-that-boley-still-sell-new-leinen-ww83-lathes/ and prices are about EUR 8000 for the lathe and EUR 12000 for the complete accessory set. Not including tax.
4. Horia https://www.lathes.co.uk/steiner/ https://horia.ch/en/categorie-produit/tours-dhorlogers-en/ I do not know anything about these but if they are the same quality of the Horia jewelling tool they will be absolutely superb. All accessories are available new.
5. Schaublin/Levin. I'm not even going into these. They're hilarously prices even for professionals. But you probably get what you pay for.
2.  Old/second hand. There are many such lathes. Anything from an American or European manufacturer would be good to start but an 8mm, WW pattern Boley/Leinen/Lorch seems to be the best choice. A lathe with as many accessories as possible is ideal since they can be hard to come by and expensive. I have not purchased one but would love to. A 40+ year-old lathe a beginner with no experience, costing multiple thousands of euros with no guarantees, and not being able to inspect/use it in person is scary to me. But this is generally the best way to get a watchmaker's lathe at an approachable price. This is a deep rabbit hole; read and ask before making a choice.
2. A small, benchtop engine lathe. These are small lathes generally targeted towards the model engineering market. The specs will not reach watchamaker's lathe specs when it comes to precision and runout. They are made for different types of operations but these are within financial reach of the hobbyist. They also have a guarantee of matching the specs and buying them sight unseen is just like buying any other new tool from a reputable seller. Plus they can be used for non-watchmaking purposes.
1. Sherline. https://www.sherline.com/product-category/lathes/ These lathes are quite precise, small and versatile due to the huge amount of available accessories which include watchmaking collets, a TRest and all of the accessories one would expect for an in-production engine lathe. This is the lathe I own and went with this choice because they are new and the accessories can turn it into a basic watchmaker's lathe that one can use to learn the ropes. My thinking was that me having no experience or knowledge of lathes and the inability to inspect/use an old lathe before purchasing it it would be safest to get the one that's new, with new accessories. I have my gripes with it but the machine is capable. It is not built to old watchmaker's lathe quality and precision standards but it doesn't claim it is. Will I be able to make staffs on it? Time will tell, but in the meantime I actually have a lathe that I can use and learn on. Can also be used to make small tools and parts that a watchmaker's lathe just isn't designed for.
2. Proxxon. Similar to Sherline but European. As far as I know there are no watchmaking accessories for them.