Something for the Weekend Part 2

[RogerH]

As per an earlier post, I acquired a couple of clocks to keep me busy over the winter weekends. The first one, an Ansonia Clock (From my first post) has gone well. TBH it was working fine with no wear in the pivots etc and as my old dad would say, "if it ain't broke then don't fix it!" so a good clean up and off we go.

The second clock needs a lot more work. I believe it's a late 19th century German made wall clock - it has a mounting bracket although someone has very kindly stuck some lovely plastic feet on it! There's no labels or marks that I can see other than a standard R&A pendulum. The cabinet is falling apart and the mech is seized. The cabinet just needs a lot of stripping, gluing and probably re-varnishing. The mech I have stripped right down, cleaned, lubed and re-aligned - apart from being a bit dry there was a bent pin in a pinion gear which I've straightened out - is it ok to do that? otherwise it's in a jig running quite merrily.

Does anyone have any knowledge of these clocks and the mechanism? is there anything to look out for? and what is the best way to clamp the mainspring? I used a cable tie but I'm sure there are better methods.

[oldhippy]

That is German; many call them Vienna wall clocks which they certainly are not. 30 hour or I think in your case 8 day. I can’t see the end of the mainspring; it could have a rivet going through it so the spring would need to be put over the plate post before putting it together you can buy mainspring clamps,  or if it has an open end the spring can be put on after the works are in place between the two plates. Mass produced open end anchor escapement. The winding arbor looks nice and square.

[LittleWatchShop]

My dad used to laugh (under his breath) when his customers would refer to these as "R & A" clocks, not realizing what the "R" and "A" stood for.  Great memory.

[watchweasol]

A nice old clock will clean up well.  As Old Hippy said use clamps for the mainspring,cable ties can break ans these springs have a nasty bite.

[RogerH]

13 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

My dad used to laugh (under his breath) when his customers would refer to these as "R & A" clocks, not realizing what the "R" and "A" stood for.  Great memory.

I know what you mean......not very appropriate by today's standards lol

[RogerH]

11 hours ago, watchweasol said:

A nice old clock will clean up well.  As Old Hippy said use clamps for the mainspring,cable ties can break ans these springs have a nasty bite.

is there a standard set of clamps and a good place to buy them? and there's a further development. I don't have a lot of experience with genuine antiques so I can only go by instinct and the mech on this clock doesn't feel that old. it may be just cheaply made but the quality doesn't seem to be there - all a bit thin and machine made. Are there certain signs to look out for when it comes to the real deal or a modern copy? I could be wrong and it's genuine enough but when I gave it a little wind there was an impressive twang noise and the main spring fell apart!! The spring loops over one of the main support struts in answer to Old Hippy's question and has a slot at the other end that hooks over a raised part of the shaft. As per the pictures, can this be glued back on? it's a tight fit but slips under pressure. 

[oldhippy]

Any good supplier of clock makers tools will have them. This is the sort of thing.

[RogerH]

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

Any good supplier of clock makers tools will have them. This is the sort of thing.

Round as opposed to flat?

[oldhippy]

It doesn't matter. I had the round type. 

[RogerH]

many thanks. and what about the fact the teeth detached from the main wheel? any thoughts?

[oldhippy]

Has that completely come away from each other or is it meant to be in two parts.  

[RogerH]

As far as I can see it's supposed to be one main spring but the outer ring slips off. It's tight but when under pressure from the spring it slips. I'm tempted to rough the surface a bit and glue it back on but wondered if anyone has seen this before?

[oldhippy]

No that's a new one on me. Don't glu it, solder it. 

[watchweasol]

As Old hippy says NO glue as it will break away when under pressure. Its unusual in that its in two parts as the wheel is usually cut as one and fitted to the arbour, primarily because of the tension of the main spring applied through the wheel, So either replace the wheel in its entirity or solder it in place as Old Hippy said which may be the better bet as the quality of the mechanism is adequate for the task  but not great. A mass produced item.  Checking for quality check the plate thickness and the pillars that support the frames, better still get a good book. Laurie Penmans, clock repairer's manual. Donald De Carle's practical clock repairing, are but two publications worthy of note and contain valuable information.

[RogerH]

Many thanks WW, soldering iron already to go. I'll check the books out, thanks for the info.

[RogerH]

Just as an update, On the mainspring, I filed some small holes around the wheel and put a little brass bar through then soldered these - I thought it would give it a bit more grip. I also flowed the solder around it too - filed it smooth and off we went. It wasn't too pretty tbh but it works ok. and the clock is now on the wall for as long as the wife can stand it!

It does however,  have quite a loud tick. is there a standard technique of dampening so it's quieter?

[oldhippy]

Some can be a bit noisy is the door closed tight to the case. Noise can also depend on the shape of the case, type of wood and space in side around the movement. Not much you can do. 

[watchweasol]

I have some of a similar nature, Banished to the clock room (dining room) where they get wound up occasionally because the Wife cant stand ticking clocks so without copious sound proofing there they stay.  400 day clocks get the green light  NO noise.  As OldHippy said not much you can do.