# Zoomed in: Woodpecker fine regulation



## StufflerMike

For those not sure how the in-house made fine regulation looks like


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## Jim44

stuffler said:


> For those not sure how the in-house made fine regulation looks like
> 
> View attachment 12836137


Thank you for posting this Mike, this explains it very well

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## mr_raider

Which part looks like a woodpecker? I don't see it.

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## Jim44

mr_raider said:


> Which part looks like a woodpecker? I don't see it.
> 
> Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk


"We derived the name "woodpecker neck" regulation from the characteristic shape of the spring, which resembles the neck and head of a woodpecker."

Source: http://www.muehle-glashuette.ca/Patented_Woodpecker_Neck_Regulation/

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## narchibald

Thanks for posting this! I had wondered what the regulation actually looked like!


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## Xiaohai

Thanks for sharing ! 

I m looking at some Muhle Glashutte watch this couple of days..


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## PS23

Can most experienced watch repair people figure out how to regulate the woodpecker regulator? I had my SAR regulated once (it was running a little slow), I think they charged me $20. In the last 11 days, it has lost about 9 seconds now, compared to my atomic digital G Shock. I see now on Muhle's site they say they regulate to be 0-8 seconds fast. I don't think it always said that. So, mine is off by less than 1 second a day, and it is worn in a pretty rough environment. I think that is very good. I have a few Citizen quartz eco drives and they are a few seconds to 30 seconds off a month. I also should probably send my older SAR anniversary in for a service. Any recommendations?


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## StufflerMike

The S.A.R's woodpecker fine adjustment is adjusted as usual by turning the little fine adjustment screw.


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## PS23

After I got it regulated, it lost about 9 seconds in 11, 24 hour days. Before I got it regulated, it was about 15 seconds a day slow. It gets jarred pretty hard sometimes at my work. I have been trying to be a little more careful since I got it regulated. It was pretty much keeping exact time before I started working in it again. I just checked it against my atomic again and it is 9 or 10 seconds slow and this is the eleventh day after I set it. I set it exactly 1 minute ahead of the atomic time and now it is about 50 or 51 seconds ahead still.


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## raveen

Thank Mike for the sharing.


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## Dan_R

I recently had the pleasure of a 2 hour tour of the Muhle manufactory in Glashutte, during which time I saw a batch of woodpeckers being made...incubated...hatched?

I think there are at least two species of the M-G woodpecker regulators, as can best be seen on Muhle's website, on the 'movements' page.

The one used in my SW200-1 movement (Terranaut Trail III 40mm) resembles a wavy 'C' as distinct from the lazy 'S' as depicted in the picture at the top of this thread. I like the look of the 'C' type better, but it lacks the clamping screw (#5 above) that prevents the regulating screw (#4) from rotating between regulations.

The clamping screw (#5) might be something that a watchmaker unfamiliar with the woodpecker arrangement would have to take into consideration during regulation.

A functional aspect of both species of woodpecker that is difficult to see is that, due to a milled half lap arrangement where the neck spring (#2) intersects the neck arm (#2), the neck spring prevents the neck arm from rising off the balance cock (#1) during shocks. This might explain the stockier squared look of the woodpecker, compared to a graceful swan-neck....to better resist off-axis torsion. 

So...the woodpecker arrangement appears to add shock stability and regulation screw clamping to the improvements already provided by a swan neck arrangement, as compared to the stock SW200-1. Pretty clever!

Also, I believe one of these M-G woodpecker species has been observed migrating in a southwesterly direction across Germany and taking up a new nesting site in the Stowa Rana.....

Cheers
Dan


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## Dan_R

Adder to previous...I have read elsewhere that the benefit of preventing the neck arm (#3) from rising off the balance cock (#1) during a shock is that the probability of damage to the balance staff is reduced. I wish I had asked about this at Muhle. If true, it would be a good benefit for them to mention on their woodpecker page.

Speaking of balance staffs...during my tour of Muhle, one of the watchmakers told me the following (I am paraphrasing):

The balance wheel is the most rapidly moving piece in the watch...thus the staff bearing surface contact area must be reduced as much as possible to reduce friction losses...thus the balance staff is made to a minimal diameter...thus it is very delicate and susceptible to shock damage...thus shock protection is most important at those two points.

I found that interesting.

Cheers
Dan


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