Workshop

Tellerwerk has a very well equipped workshop with an instrument maker lathe and milling machine. Next to those we have a 20 ton press mainly for making rims. Molds for several brands were made. All this allows parts to be made in house.

Molds

On the picture you see various forcing-punch and cutting molds. The first kind is being used to open and close the rims. With these we can open the rims without damaging them so they can be used again in reverse order. New rims are made in the same way to size and seamed. With the forcing molds flat sheet brass is pressed into a lookalike shape of existing rims. Once ready these parts are being chrome-plated. For the Nippon-Denso meters stainless steel sheet material is seamed into a rim and cut. There is also the possibility to make show rims from stainless material.

Lathe

With the lathe and the forced-punch molds the rims are seamed onto the meters. A very precise job which requires a lot of feel in order not to damage the chrome rims. The lathe is also used for cutting the lenses to size. By this way the lenses can be very accurately made. Also this requires care. The lathe is also used together with the milling machine for making new gears. Mostly this is done for older chronometric meters. Module cutters are part of the tools used for this job.

Refurbishing covers

Depending on the kind of covers the paint is stripped off and after a base coat a fresh coat of paint is applied. Smith’s meters are white with a sea green surface inside and gloss black on the outside. The Nippon-Denso has an inner and outer shell, often also given the colors sea green, white and gloss black on the outside after a restoration.

 

The mechanism. After disassembly of the mechanism the parts are cleaned, checked on damage and fitted with different greases, depending upon the application. The mending of the needle damping requires extra attention; this is also done with the correct amount of special grease. After assembly the meter is tested on all functions, sealing lacquer is applied and the instrument is placed back. New rubbers are often needed. Meters which are riveted require more attention as the rivets will be replaced by screws. Drilling out and tapping thread, matching the screws are the extra jobs. Lenses are cleaned with “anti-condense”, the rim is fitted. The meter is ready for years of functioning.