When I see a clock like this and the word RESTORED

[oldhippy]

When I see a clock like this and the word RESTORED is present in its selling advertisement I always like to look. 9 times out 10 I’m disappointed. They are never properly restored. The people who undertake the work charge very high prices and you end up with something like this.

Screws unattended. All should have the burr removed from their heads and highly polished

Platform screws. If signs of bluing. All should have the burr removed from their heads and highly polished and re-blued.

Back plate pins should be the same size, where cut should be nicely rounded off.

All pins should be cut and nicely rounded off. They should be steel not brass. They should be straight not bent.

Parts missing should be made and replaced. This clock is missing the stop work.

Barrel arbors should be tidied up and the flat sides polished.

Hand setting part should be tidied up and the flat sides polished.

The centre wheel end should be polished. The same goes for the hand collet  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beautiful-antique-French-striking-carriage-clock-c-1860-5-restored-10-18/113478774506?hash=item1a6bdcaeea:g:Ba8AAOSwQ5pcHnCS

[TexasDon]

I couldn't agree more. Rounded screw heads and/or damaged slots are a pet peeve of mine. I simply won't abide them at all. Either repair them properly or replace them outright. I once totally dismantled a Winchester '97 12 gauge solely for that reason. The screws were atrocious when I acquired it. Not when I sold it several years later. This should be basic instinct to any craftsman.

[Tmuir]

Lovely clock, but I see what you mean, some of the taper pins have just been cut to size with end cutters and left with sharp end.

One of the first tools I made was was a set of chamfering tools with one to take the sharp edge of taper pins.

 

[measuretwice]

I really appreciate the critique - happy to see more.  Getting the commentary from what the experienced person sees helps those of us less so (like me) learn

Edited January 3, 2019 by measuretwice

[oldhippy]

Here is another bad example

A few on here have heard me say about invisible re-bushing. This should be achieved on clock movements that are visible to the eye such as Carriage Clocks and Four Glass Clocks. I always made my own bush using my lathe, it is not hard, in fact it is easy using brass rod. You can make it the correct width. You counter sink the bush so it will not show in the plate but must fit the majority of the pivot.  You counter sink the bush after it has be inserted.

Here are two bad examples that I have found on ebay. The first photo shows two, one two shallow for the pivot and the other too wide for the plate. The other shows the bush fitted but viable and not counter sunk correctly  

[wls1971]

I think a lot of bushing problems that are seen on clocks are from using Bergeon or any other pre made bushes these have far too much of a pronounced bevel on the front of the bush so once put into place they always form a ring around the bush which can been seen on the second example, Bergeon bushes are described as hard bushes which they are not the quality of old brass seems superior to modern brass and french clock plates are extremely hard and can be quite difficult to broach at times.

The worst sin of all would be screw in bushes

One only has to look at modern carriage clocks to see why a good antique carriage clock is preferable to any so called good quality  carriage clock made today, such as Mathew Norman or L'epee which always use ugly obvious bronze bushes such as the example below:

https://en.expertissim.com/l-epee-music-tourbillon-carriage-clock-1839-1989-12208150

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by wls1971

[AndyHull]

The are of repairing or restoring anything, and I would argue this applies to pretty much anything that can be repaired, from priceless antiques to the most humble piece, is making it look like it was never broken in the first place.

This takes skill and patience, both of which are in short supply in the modern world.  It makes your heart sink, when you see something botched and covered in "apprentice marks", or lashed together so that it "kinda works".