hi everybody. just finished taking apart and cleaning a PW for the first time. i am ready to put the mainspring back into the barrel but my winder is a lot smaller than the barrel and i only have the one winder. is there any risk in using a winder that is too small? i have noticed that many sets have various sizes. is it worth investing in a set like this?
thank you in advance
loving this
Todd
totally excited noob

hi again,to be more specific,
what i mean by is there a risk of using a winder that is too small. can i damage the spring?
will it pop out of the barrel when i insert it?
etc. etc.
thanks
todd

It is dependant on how much smaller your mainspring winder is then the barrel. It is possible and if you are very careful to wind them in by hand, please note that springs are easily put out of shape doing it this way.

The best solution before you work on more pocketwatches is to buy a dedicated set of pocketwatch mainspring winders, usually come in sets with 6 different size attachments.

Sometimes if the mainspring is in a retaining ring you can drop it into the barrel and get it secured. This works well with T-end mainsprings and some double brace mainsprings.

Rob
www.pocketwatchrepairs.net

If the winder barrel is too small, the only danger I can see is that the whole length of the spring might not fit.

William

thanks everyone, William was right i just tried to wind it into my winder and it gets quite stiff with about two inches left. gently backed it out and am going to order a proper set. now i am going to put the watch back together before i forget how without the mainspring.
thanks again
Todd

sorry i took the mainspring out. was told it is optional in a cleaning, but i wanted to do a complete job.