THE DETENT SPRING.
[Illustration: Fig. 144]
It will be noticed we have made the detent spring E pretty wide and extended it well above the blade of the detent. By shaping the detent in this way nearly all the tendency of the spring E to cockle is annulled. We would beg to add to what we said in regard to setting jewels obliquely. We are unable to understand the advantage of wide-faced stones and deep teeth when we do not take advantage of the wide surfaces which we assert are important. We guarantee that with a detent and spring made as we show, there will be no tendency to cockle, or if there is, it will be too feeble to even display itself. Those who have had extended experience with chronometers cannot fail to have noticed a gummy secretion which accumulates on the impulse and discharging stones of a chronometer, although no oil is ever applied to them. We imagine this coating is derived from the oil applied to the pivots, which certainly evaporates, passes into vapor, or the remaining oil could not become gummy. We would advise, when setting jewels (we mean the locking, impulse and discharging jewels), to employ no more shellac than is absolutely necessary, depending chiefly on metallic contact for security.
DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION.
We will now say a few words about the number of beats to the hour for a box or marine chronometer to make to give the best results. Experience shows that slow but most perfect construction has settled that 14,400, or four vibrations of the balance to a second, as the proper number, the weight of balance, including balance proper and movable weights, to be about 51/2 pennyweights, and the compensating curb about 1-2/10” in diameter. The escape wheel, 55/100” in diameter and recessed so as to be as light as possible, should have sufficient strength to perform its functions properly. The thickness or, more properly, the face extent of the tooth, measured in the direction of the axis of the escape wheel, should be about 1/20”. The recessing should extend half way up the radial back of the tooth at t. The curvature of the back of the teeth is produced with the same radii as the impulse roller. To locate the center from which the arc which defines the back of the teeth is swept, we halve the space between the teeth A^2 and a^4 and establish the point n, Fig. 141, and with our dividers set to sweep the circle representing the impulse roller, we sweep an arc passing the point of the tooth A^3 and u, thus locating the center w. From the center k of the escape wheel we sweep a complete circle, a portion of which is represented by the arc w v. For delineating other teeth we set one leg of our dividers to agree with the point of the tooth and the other leg on the circle w v and produce an arc like z u.