The escape wheel is 1.125" in diameter, and has 16 teeth. It is made from a 1/16" thick brass blank which is mounted on an arbor. The arbor can run between centers in the lathe, the right center being a typical live center in the tailstock. Here the blank is trued and cut to size.

Then the arbor is removed from the lathe and one end is inserted in the chuck on the Sherline rotary table on the bed of the Taig mill. The other end -- where the blank is -- is supported by the rotary table's tail stock. (In this case, the rotary table is mounted vertically on the mill bed with an attachment especially made for this purpose.)

Usually, I've cut escape wheels in the milling machine using either a fine-toothed circular saw or a fly-cutter, but neither of these means will work with this type of escape wheel -- there are small teeth with a gap in between. So I used a 1/16" end mill to first shape the teeth, then a fine-tooth circular saw to saw the slope on the backs of the teeth. The method works very well.

First, a 1/16" cut is made in the edge of the wheel blank to the depth of the finished tooth. Then the rotary table is indexed 22.5 degrees (365 degrees / 16 teeth = 22.5), and the cutting operation is repeated. This process is repeated until 16 knotches are cut. See first operation GIF

Then the rotary table is rotated 15 degrees and a new cut is made, to be followed by 15 more at 22.5 degree intervals. This process produces an embryo tooth sided by 2 sixteenth-inch cuts. See second operation GIF

There is waste material between, which is removed with the 1/16" endmill by making repeated passes while turning the rotary table. See third operation GIF

Finally, the slope on the back of each tooth is sawed by making a cut with a fine-tooth saw at position A in fourth operation GIF.

The results are very good and easily obtained. Fifth operation GIF

Escape wheels usually have a slope on the front of the tooth as well as the back. Usually this is provided by making a cut off-center, as shown here. The slope is greater if the cut is made at b than at a. Using trig or a CAD program, you can determine the offset if you know the angle of the tooth -- in this case, the slope is about 5 degrees. Then you dial the offset on the mill handwheel to make the cut.

Next, I'll true the hole in the balance wheel and, instead of spoking it, I'll cut a thin web to support the rim.

Arbor and blank.
Trueing escape blank
Milling teeth
Sawing tooth backs
Escape wheels ready to finish
The Great Escapes