Watchmaking | Micro Gear | Laser Micro Cutting

Micro Gear for Mechanical Watch Movements

What We Built

These are precision micro gears for mechanical watch movement transmission systems. The gear features an outer diameter of only 5mm, with 92 evenly spaced teeth.

Tooth pitch is 0.07mm and tooth width is 0.1mm. Even the slightest deformation or fold mark on the teeth can cause movement jitter or stalling.

The Technical Challenge

Traditional stamping processes struggled with this micro gear. Punch wear led to uneven tooth width, and mechanical stress caused warping.

The tight 0.07mm pitch and 0.1mm tooth width made fold marks and micro-burrs unavoidable with progressive dies. These defects directly impacted watch movement reliability.

We needed a process that could maintain consistent tooth geometry, eliminate thermal/mechanical deformation, and deliver burr-free edges on all 92 teeth.

How We Solved It

We switched to laser micro-cutting from flat, stress-relieved stainless steel shim. The laser follows the CAD profile directly, so tooth width remains consistent across every part.

We optimized the cutting path to distribute heat evenly, starting from the center and working outward to minimize thermal warping. Post-cut passivation removes all micro-slag from the kerf.

Each micro gear undergoes optical CMM inspection for concentricity and 100x visual inspection to verify zero fold marks or burrs on all 92 teeth.

This feature-control approach is relevant to thin-metal profile cutting where tooth geometry or narrow webs are critical.