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Wannabe clock man

Squiffything

By Squiffything
in All Things Clocks

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Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

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Well after thirty five years in the same job I have finally finished. I was given redundancy as the firm I was with have merged (been taken over) with the other big firm in the town and a few of us were surplus to requirements. 

Today is the first day of the rest of my life and I sincerely hope it will be a life repairing and restoring clocks. To that end I have this morning started sorting out my little workshop. 

 

A3FC406C-72FC-4A59-A5D1-79F68DC24928.jpeg

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Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

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It’s cumfy and a pleasant place to spend each day. The desk is the one that I had in the office and that I sat at for all the time I was there. I know it like a good friend. Lots of storage for tools and parts etc. 

A good office chair is important so I made sure I snaffled one of the best :) there is also in there a very comfortable lounger chair for when I have a coffee break. Or for having a visitor come and visit. The computer is for research and background music. In the office I couldn’t have music playing as the phone constantly rung so it will be a treat to have that luxury. 

Unfortunatly I haven’t room for the lathe and mill that I will be ordering but that isn’t such a bad thing. Less mess and a cleaner workspace.

They will end up down the shed and offer me a second workspace to vary my day.

Well that’s my dream and hopefully it’ll turn into a reality. Still got to find work to bring some money in to pay the bills and still got to do the course to get the proper training but it is only the first day.

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wls1971 Distinguished Member

wls1971

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I have a attic room I converted to a workshop, when I first fit it out it was nice and pristine, I am not a tidy worker I do try and keep everything in its place but cleaning clocks is a very messy business, you are lucky in having two spaces to work in keep the shed for the messy side of things and your office space for the assembly of cleaned clocks that should also keep the smell down as chemicals for cleaning as you know are usually ammonia based, and restoring clock cases uses a whole host of smelly things.

 

Good luck and follow your dreams.

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oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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You will need your shed for all the dirty work, cleaning, polishing that sort of thing believe me in clock repairing it can be a dirty job. Nice to see the room is nice and light. When it comes to tools if you do not have a mainspring winder invest in one, it is necessary. Do not bother with a clock bushing tool, they are a waste of money, hand bushing is far better with the right tools. Make sure your bench and chair are right for you at the right height, you are going to spend a lot of time at the bench.

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clockboy Distinguished Member

clockboy

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2 hours ago, Squiffything said:

Well after thirty five years in the same job I have finally finished. I was given redundancy as the firm I was with have merged (been taken over) with the other big firm in the town and a few of us were surplus to requirements. 

Today is the first day of the rest of my life and I sincerely hope it will be a life repairing and restoring clocks. To that end I have this morning started sorting out my little workshop. 

 

A3FC406C-72FC-4A59-A5D1-79F68DC24928.jpeg

Best of luck & enjoy. Do I detect a valve amp in the background with a nice turntable.

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  • 2 weeks later...
JimmyD WRT Addict

JimmyD

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Hi Squiffy, all the best and looking at the skill you put into the music setup and the turntable I think you will have no problems learning what is needed to get a wee repair shop going.

Your setup, it looks like you will need 2 sets of hand tools, one for the office and one for the workshop as I am sure that the tool you need in the office will be the tool you last used in the workshop and visa-versa. If I were you I would build a small lean-to outside the shed, a couple of pavers a bit of framing and a sheet of fibro should do it for the ultrasonic cleaner to live, you can't work with it sitting next to you. Is the shed heated, I remember my life in Edinburgh and working in a 5 floor building that was built in the 1800's with wooden floors and the only heating was the open fire at the end of each floor to heat the animal glue and in the winter I used to shiver. I remember it used to be a fight to get a workbench closer to the fire after one of the guys passed away.

If you are only doing a few clocks a week there is no need to buy a bushing tool, pinion polisher, however if you build up and need to do say 5 or more a week these will save a lot of time, I do around 500 clocks a year and could not do it all by hand. 

When you buy tools buy quality, even the drills, screwdrivers and files need to be of good quality, I would buy 2 sets of files, one for brass and one for steel. Also if you can find parallel pliers get them.  

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Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

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Hi Jimmy, thanks for the comments. The shed is insulated and I can put in a portable heater when required. It’s one of the jobs to sort out as it is currently full to bursting with crap. Sorry, not crap, projects to be gotten around to. 

The shed was built in two sections. Two thirds as the man cave one third for storage so once sorted I could easily use the small section to house the cleaners. I also have a fifteen foot piece of waste ground behind the shed that could be used to hold a lean to as suggested. Currently the workshop is being repainted ready to be sorted out. I’m getting there.

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