Watchmaker & Clock Maker Mills and Lathes

Precision lathes and mills for the art of watch making tend to be Swiss or German machines. However, for about 8 years now a USA company has made a name for itself in the world of micro level machine work. GlockCNC.com produces super precision headstocks using ABEC-9 angular contact bearings and ground spindles. If you aren’t familiar with bearing ratings, just know that most high end lathes come with ABEC-7….and that ABEC-9 is twice as accurate. What’s the secret to GlockCNC’s high-end headstocks at a super affordable price?

It boils down to heat shrinking the spindle into the ABEC-9 (or P4 grade for some of you) bearings, then grinding the collet mating surface afterwards. Of course, there will still be some runout from the collet. This is handled by their optional Absolute-Zero Adjustable ER Nut. This unique nut allows the user to “dial” out nearly all remaining rotational error. I say nearly all, because I’m sure on some atomic level there must be some runout. However, in this case a watch maker can zero the cutter or lathe work piece down to an immeasurable amount.

GlockCNC makes the headstocks to be directly compatible with Sherline and Taig products. However, for watch and clock makers, they prefer the Taig products because of the more robust build quality. In addition to the headstocks, they also offer commercial quality spindle motors for heavy use. Plus, they are a huge power upgrade compared to the Sherline or Taig OEM motors. What future products are coming for GlockCNC?

Keep an eye out for a very specialize concrete fiber composite lathe for super precision, a 5C headstock, and both a ISO20 and ISO30 ATC ready headstock.

For more information, go to their website at: https://glockcnc.com/