2022 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533

It's been more than a year since his last post. Anyone know what's up?

I find there is something indescribably fascinating with mechanical timepieces. I'm more of a clock guy than a watch guy, though I've had plenty of watches apart, and the two disciplines merge in many places. I've learned so many new mechanical skills in my now six year journey to be able to repair these things, and to learn to repair them is to learn to make them, as you need to know how to fabricate every single piece in order to be able to repair any movement, thus why clock and watch repairers are called clockmakers and watchmakers.

Ineffably magnificent... no words may express how simply ingenious and incredible both the website work and such the marvel the work is attributed to...

What if schools would provide children such marvel? Yes, that requires a sufficient time to achieve, but dear... it's just... a miracle...

Related: https://ciechanow.ski/archives (Bartosz Ciechanowski...)

Relevant YouTube channel for a deep dive:

https://www.youtube.com/@chronovaengineering

I recently bought the book 'Watch Repair for Beginners' for reference (a project I slightly unwisely agreed to do).

It has some great diagrams, but obviously nothing on these interactive animations (er, naturally, since it is a book).

However the author (Harold C. Kelley) has descriptions for the diagrams similar to a maths proof - like "Warning lever W is raised in position to engage the pin P ... The unlocking lever U lifts the drop lever D ..." - not easy to follow, but maybe if you have the mechanism in front of you!

(2022)

I also recommend this demonstration from 1949, in that excellent style they used back then with large scale physical models and stop-motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMW-QWPZEm0

On-demand ciechanow.ski caliber articles are a pretty good AGI indicator. All the work on that site is wonderful.

As a teacher I understand how difficult it is to explain complex topics in a simple step by step way.

The site has some really impressive technical aspects, but the educational angle is the most rare and special! The simplicity of the language and explanations disguise how difficult this is to do.

This is the original use of the internet- giving away free knowledge to people, perfectly suited for the medium of a website.

This piece made me kind of fall in love with mechanical watches. The Orient Bambino I’m currently rocking on my wrist probably wouldn’t be there without it!

Mechanical timepieces are endlessly fascinating. Six years into clock repair, I've learned that fixing them means making them—you have to fabricate every component. That's why we're called makers.