3D Printing

Tourbillon 1000% brings 3D printing to watches ... sort of

Tourbillon 1000% brings 3D printing to watches ... sort of
The Tourbillon 1000%
The Tourbillon 1000%
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The Tourbillon 1000%
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The Tourbillon 1000%
Tourbillon 1000 % in case
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Tourbillon 1000 % in case
The Tourbillon 1000% was printed with a
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The Tourbillon 1000% was printed with a
Tourbillon 1000% support being printed
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Tourbillon 1000% support being printed
Symmetrical co-axial escapement from the Tourbillon 1000%
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Symmetrical co-axial escapement from the Tourbillon 1000%
Free-sprung Daniels balance from the Tourbillon 1000%
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Free-sprung Daniels balance from the Tourbillon 1000%
3D printed screws from the Tourbillon 1000%
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3D printed screws from the Tourbillon 1000%
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Buying a mechanical watch with a finely-crafted tourbillon movement can set you back tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, but if you don’t mind one made out of plastic and a bit larger than usual, 3D printing may be the answer. Computer scientist and watchmaking enthusiast Nicholas Manousos has created a printable version of the famous watch movement called Tourbillon 1000%. Fabricated from thermoplastic and ball bearings, it may not be practical, but it's certainly eye catching.

The tourbillon movement was invented by French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1795 and patented in 1801. It counters the effects of gravity by encasing the balance wheel and escapement in a rotating cage, and is frequently shows up in upmarket mechanical watches – often designed to let the wearer admire the mechanism in action.

The 3D-printed version gets its name because it’s a 1000 percent scale model. The Tourbillon 1000% is a model of just the escapement rather than the entire watch movement, but needless to say, a plastic watch ten feet across is not exactly practical.

Tourbillon 1000 % in case
Tourbillon 1000 % in case

The result of three years work, the Tourbillon 1000% isn’t a practical time keeper either, because of plastic’s poor thermal properties. Instead, Manousos says that the purpose of the model is educational. “It allows people to hold the usually too delicate tourbillon in their hands, see clearly every single part at work, and therefore fully comprehend the mechanics.”

The Tourbillon 1000% was printed using a Delta Kinematics Robot with a 200-micron resolution. It’s made of additive layers of Polylactic acid (PLA), which is a biodegradable thermoplastic filament made from a cornstarch base. The only parts of the mechanism that aren’t printed are the ball bearings used instead of the jewels found in proper watch movements. Manousos says that he experimented with printed bearings using high-strength polymers, but concluded that ball bearings worked better.

The Tourbillon 1000% is available in a limited run with each bespoke piece made to order. Price is available on request from Manousos.

The video below introduces the Tourbillon 1000%.

Source: Nicholas Manousos via A Blog to Watch

Tourbillon 1000%

View gallery - 7 images
4 comments
4 comments
Mel Tisdale
There used to be a TV programme in the U.K. which had a magazine format based on unusual people. One week it investigated a hole in the wall of a building in London, At regular intervals a stream of bubbles would issue from this hole and drift away over the city. They found the owner of the room from which the hole emanated and he showed them a contraption he had built using various discarded components. These caused a wire loop to dip into a bowl of soapy water and then pass in front of the hole while a fan blew across it, thus creating the bubbles. When asked 'Why?' He said: "I have just completed a degree in engineering and wanted to use my newfound skills to do something completely useless. I think I have achieved it."
One wonders if Nicholas Manousos has recently been similarly motivated. If not, his achieving the exact, same result is a happy coincidence.
f8lee
I'm going to wait for the 3D printed atomic clock...
StWils
Slackers! Go Whole Hog and print up a pocket sized Warp Drive!
Adam Non
Finally a reason to get a 3D printer! (No, seriously, this is just too impressive to go without a couple of lost weekends to make one.)