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Metamec, the cheap throw away.


Squiffything

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I had another look and will inform you of the things that stand out.

The hammer is in the wrong place (can be fixed) it would hit the wall.

The pendulum bob and the hook at the top of the pendulum are the only original bits of it and that is debatable.

Looking at the movement, the escapement pinion at the cog end looks bent.

The pinions if you look across the clock are not parallel, the escapement pinion to the fly/fan is way off parallel as is the pallets to the other two above, if this was just and angle thing the latter 2 would be the same offset angle, however they contradict themselves.

If you wanted a clock to keep and be proud to have on your wall then this is not it as you would need to get an original pendulum and fix all that is wrong with it, and the cost would end up more than the clock is worth. 

These clocks come on eBay in Oz a lot so there must be many more in the UK and USA that are all original and cost maybe around 200 quid that still need fixing however you would have an all original clock.

The movement is original so it should give you an idea of what to look for.

Soak it up.....:phew:

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Thanks Jimmy, it’s a lovely looking thing and at the price would have made a nice little project but as there is little left of the original not worth the investment. 

As mentioned before I’m after picking up cheap movements to learn about. I have spoken to the guys at the BHI and they recommend that I try and get hands on experience along side doing the course. As there are few clock repair guys around it’s difficult so building up a collection of movements to work on is one way to go. 

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I’m working on the metemac again. The balance spring is out. It’s deffo cupped as Jimmy said so a complete dismantle and rebuild. It’s now a little more like it should be. 

Damn I enjoy this. I can spend hours pulling these things apart and rebuilding and not even notice the time that has passed. I notice I’m getting quicker as the familiarity sinks in. 

Error made earlier though, I didn’t quite get the main spring ring set properly when I let it go, it pinged a nut across the room like a bullet and shot the cat. He’s old and a little constipated but man did he crap himself. Loosened up a load :) 

 

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The cat looks guilty, I bet it is thinking " ignore me and my lunch for stupid clocks will you"

I remember watching a doco about apprentice clock/watchmakers in Switzerland years ago and a girl lost a screw off a watch on the floor, 5 of them looked for it for about 30 minutes and this floor was white and spotless, they did find it, so there is hope Squiffything.

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When working on stuff that might fly away on the ISS, they use a glove box. Maybe I need to build myself one of those.

 

800px-S_Krikalev_with_miniglovebox.jpg

I'm not sure how I would get my magnification arrangements to work with it though.

Edited by AndyHull
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12 hours ago, JimmyD said:

The cat looks guilty, I bet it is thinking " ignore me and my lunch for stupid clocks will you"

I remember watching a doco about apprentice clock/watchmakers in Switzerland years ago and a girl lost a screw off a watch on the floor, 5 of them looked for it for about 30 minutes and this floor was white and spotless, they did find it, so there is hope Squiffything.

I found it! Woohoo. It was embedded in the rear section of the dogs hind quarter. Talk about tearing him a new ring! It’s ok he’s settled down a bit now but it’s interesting watching him squirt out a double walnut whip ;)

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