Time Savings Clock

[luiazazrambo]

Hi Clockmakers, 

look what I got!  It does not work and I don't have florins at the moment but hopefully none of the situations will last forever.

link1 , link2

Best regards,

Lui

Edited May 27, 2020 by luiazazrambo
picture position correction

[wls1971]

I remember my great aunt had one of these from the co-operative insurance well into the 1970's the insurance man would collect the money every quarter and log the amount in a payment book I also remember my grandma had a television that ran off 10 pence pieces to cover the cost of rental it would always go off half way through a program and every one would scramble around there pockets for 10p, the joys of life before direct debit.

[watchweasol]

The not so happy days,   I am old enough to remember those times and more,   Hire Purchase ?

[luiazazrambo]

Old, maybe the body not the soul! 

I made an offer for 25 florins on ebay, i correct the pictures with the 1 pound coins once I get them.

Edited May 27, 2020 by luiazazrambo
pound coins

[oldhippy]

A florin is a two shilling coin for those that are too young to remember. 

[wls1971]

1 minute ago, oldhippy said:

A florin is a two shilling coin for those that are too young to remember. 

Or two Curly Wurly's and a packet of spangle's.

[JohnD]

59 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

A florin is a two shilling coin for those that are too young to remember. 

Or to the initiated a two bob bit

Ones as old as this Victorian one were still in circulation in the 1960's....

The last florin was minted in 1970, replaced by the Ten New Pence coin...

Edited May 27, 2020 by JohnD

[luiazazrambo]

I cant wait to get my florins. I really need to save some time because i am so behind with my many projects.  I don't know what its secrets are, must be similar to "back to the future" stuff. Maybe if i take it apart....

[JohnD]

2 minutes ago, luiazazrambo said:

I cant wait to get my florins. I really need to save some time because i am so behind with my many projects.  I don't know what its secrets are, must be similar to "back to the future" stuff. Maybe if i take it apart....

Someone explained to me a few years ago that collecting watches was a subliminal attempt to collect time......now in my seventies I'm beginning to understand the concept.....

[luiazazrambo]

I hope it works and you have many!

 

[JohnD]

11 minutes ago, luiazazrambo said:

I hope it works and you have many!

 

I'm hopeful, current collection now exceeds 100

[AndyHull]

If I had started the 404 club pre-decimal would I have been looking at a £4 0s 9½d Club? Maybe not. Mind you I think four pound nine-pence hapn'y might have bought you are reasonably nice watch.

[luiazazrambo]

Hi *,

The main spring is broken and someone tried to fix it by wrapping sewing thread around it? Is that a common method to fix mainsprings?

I removed  the other half of mainspring, but how do i remove the arbor now to be able to remove the rest of the broken spring and replace it? I can see marks on the arbor do I have to grab it somehow?

Or should I remove the ratchet wheel? Its pretty tight.

Thanks in advance,

Br, Lui

Edited June 1, 2020 by luiazazrambo

[Tmuir]

6 minutes ago, luiazazrambo said:

Is that a common method to fix mainsprings?

I would go so far as say its a very uncommon method, I've certainly never seen or heard of anyone doing that before.

The end should just have a hook on the arbour and a hole in the spring so you should be able to remove it without dismantling any further.

Likely the thread is just making that hard for you to see.

[luiazazrambo]

 

I managed to figure it out. What pliers are the best to grab arbors without damaging them? I use sheet of papers trying to protect them. Pliers without teeth? Plus protection? I need to source a mainspring now and I cant find my bag of springs....

[wls1971]

Use leather to protect the arbour when using pliers, seeing its brass you could have also gently heated it the expansion would have been enough to make it  very easy to remove.

[oldhippy]

The main spring just hooks over the post. Its the one nearest to the wheel with the arbor, so when it winds the end that hooks over the post is protected from slipping off due to the mainspring being close to it.  

[KarlvonKoln]

On 6/1/2020 at 7:18 AM, luiazazrambo said:

The main spring is broken and someone tried to fix it by wrapping sewing thread around it?

Sewing thread, orphaned earrings, long dead mice; you never know what you might find in a used clock.

[AndyHull]

Quote

This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down.

I guess that qualifies quite nicely for @jdm 's thread on "Strange things inside a watch", and indeed in every watch and clock, although you could argue that it is not only in the watch, but indeed is the very essence of the watch.

[KarlvonKoln]

What can I say, AndyHull, I'm a Tolkien fan too, so that riddle has been a personal favorite. 

[luiazazrambo]

Somebody must have saved a lot of money:

New mainspring:

Cleaned parts so far:

Hmmm

??

Or my favorite lifeshortener hobby, hairspring bending? 

[AndyHull]

12 hours ago, luiazazrambo said:

Or my favorite lifeshortener hobby, hairspring bending? 

I tend to think of it more as an act of intense concentration. A bit of engineering Zen. Or possibly a test of character, how long can you resist the urge to put the spring out of its misery with a large hammer

[luiazazrambo]

3 hours ago, AndyHull said:

I tend to think of it more as an act of intense concentration. A bit of engineering Zen. Or possibly a test of character, how long can you resist the urge to put the spring out of its misery with a large hammer

I blame you for this, it says: Made in Scotland 

[AndyHull]

3 hours ago, luiazazrambo said:

I blame you for this, it says: Made in Scotland 

I can lend you a suitably large Scottish hammer if you need one.

EDIT: If it is made in Scotland, it may well be a Westclox from Dumbarton.

Edited July 10, 2020 by AndyHull

[luiazazrambo]

The best I could do with the hairspring, not perfect, but after so many defeat I call it a draw:

The place where this wonderful piece of beauty was made, the person who operated the hammer did not have his morning haggis so M and S are missing:

The movement together:

I had no faith - plus a was lazy and did other important things as playing computer games -, that's why it was sitting on my bench and I did not touch it for a week or so, and i don't know if it is in beat, but it actually works! :