I have a small mechanical clock mechanism to play with :-)
It has a winder on it that is a small square-section male bar. Any ideas where I can get a key to try winding it? It's about 1mm sides.
I thought to a key pushing some miliput onto the shaft to make the female bit. But pretty sure it will wearout rapidy. The shaft is quite easy to turn although just a bit too stiff to turn by using fingers alone.
try hammering steel or copper tube to a square..
or
I'd imagine it is easy to get hold of all shapes and sizes of clock keys.
thanks all - amazed at the options.
Good luck. If you go the DIY route it is worth remembering that movement winding stems are normally tapered.
Nick.
If you just want it wound
Quicktest (or eBay) - clock suppliers sell multi-size spider keys quite cheaply, and they're worth having around if your interests lie in this direction. Then once you know the size, they'll sell you a decent one to fit long-term. Spiders come in two overlapping size ranges - all the odds, or all the evens. For quick trials on a non- valuable clock mechanism, just one spider is often enough to bodge with.
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