64 a drawing of the parts in their proper relations under the
conditions named. It will be seen by careful inspection that the jewel
pin _D_ will not enter the fork, which is absolutely necessary. This
condition very frequently exists in watches where a new pallet stone has
been put in by an inexperienced workman. Now this is one of the
instances in which workmen complain of hearing a "scraping" sound when
the watch is placed to the ear. The remedy, of course, lies in warming
up the pallet arms and pushing the stone in a trifle, "But how much?"
say some of our readers. There is no definite rule, but we will tell
such querists how they can test the matter.

Remove the hairspring, and after putting the train in place and securing
the plates together, give the winding arbor a turn or two to put power
on the train; close the bankings well in so the watch cannot escape on
either pallet. Put the balance in place and screw down the cock.
Carefully turn back the banking on one side so the jewel pin will just
pass out of the slot in the fork. Repeat this process with the opposite
banking; the jewel pin will now pass out on each side. Be sure the guard
pin does not interfere with the fork action in any way. The fork is now
in position to conform to the conditions required.

HOW TO ADJUST THE PALLETS TO MATCH THE FORK.

If the escapement is all right, the teeth will have one and a half
degrees lock and escape correctly; but in the instance we are
considering, the stone will not permit the teeth to pass, and must be
pushed in until they will. It is not a very difficult matter after we
have placed the parts together so we can see exactly how much the pallet
protrudes beyond what is necessary, to judge how far to push it back
when we have it out and heated. There is still an "if" in the problem we
are considering, which lies in the fact that the fork we are
experimenting with may be too short for the jewel pin to engage it for
ten degrees of angular motion.

This condition a man of large experience will be able to judge of very
closely, but the better plan for the workman is to make for himself a
test gage for the angular movement of the fork. Of course it will be
understood that with a fork which engages the roller for eight degrees
of fork action, such fork will not give good results with pallets ground
for ten degrees of pallet action; still, in many instances, a compromise
can be effected which will give results that will s