square watchcase making?

[Kasper]

with a lathe machine you could make a round watchcase but how do
you make a square case?
What do you need or can you also do it with a lathe or do you need a cnc router?
any books on the subject?
with other words...i need all the info i can get to make my own stainless steel watchcase

[retroleds]

You would need a surface grinder for the outside - router or mill would work, but would leave a fairly rough surface. Lathe, mill or router for inside. The buttons will be the most challenging part.

[cobra007]

milling a stainless steel watch case is not going to be an easy task, you're probably better of to make it out of aluminium and then hard anodize it.

[retroleds]

Having been employed as a toolmaker for 11+ years, I can tell you that milling stainless is not inherently more difficult than steel. There are different grades of stainless - most of the common grades are softer than even mildly hardened steel. 306 or 416 stainlesses are considered "Free-machining". But before you try to make a watch case, ponder how you will handle the more difficult parts of the job.
1.The buttons/contact.
2. Connecting a band - how will you accomplish that.
3. Closing the back - I would suggest using screws ate each corner, like the Chinese do. Simple, yet effective. Making threaded parts in that size range is more difficult than it might look.

A stainless that can be hardened via heat and quench will be the ticket for you.

Anodizing of aluminum is good for corrosion reistance and flat surface wear resistance, but fairly useless against impacts, as the underlying structure(aluminum) is still as soft as ever. I've only seen one watch case from a larger manufacturer made from aluminum - Benrus made one of their large Sovereign models in aluminum, not anodized. I have one of those here - huge watch, awesomely light! This one.
http://www.ledwatches.net/photo-pages/benrus2.htm

[cobra007]

Really, is that as easy as mild steel? I have mainly worked with 316 stainless which I found very difficult to work on, or at least, much more difficult than mild steel. Another disadvantage is that it is so easy to make a scratch on 316 stainless, not sure about other grades of stainless.

[retroleds]

There are many types of stainless - some are work-hardened, that is, the more you apply pressure to them(milling is incremental pressure) makes them harder. Other are water-hardening, and can also be detempered through air cooling. Contact a steel supplier, tell them what you want to do, they will tell you what they can get. Obviously the CHinese have no problem with making stainless cases. I'm thinking for a square(rectangular) case, the OP(original poster) would buy a piece that is already squared up nicely, close to size. Someone will have to bore out the inside (or use EDM - electrical discharge machining. Did a lot of that back in the day too.).