Open Clock Club

[HectorLooi]

Has anyone watched "Open Clock Club" videos on YouTube or joined their webinars on Zoom?

I chanced upon one last night while surfing YouTube. The series is based on their book "How to repair a pendulum clock". It caters to absolute beginners and is quite educational. They also answer any questions online participants pose.

I would recommend it for anyone starting out clock repairing.

[oldhippy]

I will have a look and get back with my views. 

[spectre6000]

You have some great timing on a number of fronts! I've got that other clock-curious thread going and this may make a good primer, there's only 18 hours worth of material (a good bingey quantity), and I have surgery on Tuesday that will have me laid out for about a week. I hope oldhippy comes back with a positive report! 

[HectorLooi]

59 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

You have some great timing on a number of fronts! I've got that other clock-curious thread going and this may make a good primer, there's only 18 hours worth of material (a good bingey quantity), and I have surgery on Tuesday that will have me laid out for about a week. I hope oldhippy comes back with a positive report! 

Yes, I thought this would interest you. 

Take care and I'll pray for your speedy recovery.

[oldhippy]

He talks about using a depthing tool when it comes to rebushing, which is not essential. He contradicts himself when he explains side shake and how much. If you have too much side shake you are back to square one the hole will be too big. A depthing tool doesn’t cater for side shake it is just for depth between two wheels. Filing away to find the centre is also not needed, what he has done a 5 sided broach will find the centre I have had this argument many times. In the end he has broached the hole to large and the bush is loose in the plate and he has to hammer it back in many times. If you are going to demonstrate to beginners you should do the work correctly. One thing he has got right and that is it’s a waste of money buying smoothing broaches. No need to broach both sides of the bush, for starters he hasn’t checked the wheel pivot to see if it is equal from top to bottom. Pegging out to remove the burr from inside the new bush, this will cause scratching so the inside of the bush will need to be burnished, this is absolute stupidity.

Sorry not impressed

How the hell can he do precision work with that T rest?    

[HectorLooi]

Wow! Did you binge watch all 18 sessions at one go? I only watch 3 sessions.

I wish he would just cover one topic per session instead of flitting all over. I did like his diy barrel cap opener tool and mainspring let down tool. He has another YouTube channel where he shows how to make them.

[spectre6000]

7 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Sorry not impressed

Any suggested viewing on the subject? I've got a week to kill. Probably wont retain too terribly much due to the pain killers, but a little attempted osmosis never hurt anyone.

[wls1971]

4 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

Any suggested viewing on the subject? I've got a week to kill. Probably wont retain too terribly much due to the pain killers, but a little attempted osmosis never hurt anyone.

Look up "Tommy Jobson" on youtube does some excellent videos not aimed at the beginner, but  if you have time to kill they are a good watch also some good links to other clock videos on his you tube page.

[oldhippy]

I have just watched Tommy Jobson making a replacement back cock for a wonderful 6 pillar movement with locking plates a sigh of a very good more likely a London maker bracket clock. First class job. This is the sort of thing I miss. wis1971 thanks for the tip. 

[clockboy]

I have now watched several of the "Open Clock Club" vids and it seems they are for beginners but some useful tips. However I found it annoying that he is not organised with long gaps in the vids and also I found the interruptions from the guests also annoying too. The depthing tool he uses will be expensive and I must admit I have never used one to find the position for the new bushing.  

[oldhippy]

Yes very annoying it was funny when he asked for a thin piece of pegwood and never got it right away, then when he did it was to big. As I said you don't need a depthing tool for bushing. He has some bad practices for beginners.  

[oldhippy]

I have been watching more videos from Tommy Jobson, first class videos I highly recommend the guy. If you want to get into restoring high end clocks this is the person for you. 

[HectorLooi]

I've watched a few of them too. That is pretty advanced stuff, not for your beginner. But his work ethics and craftsmanship are excellent. 

[oldhippy]

A lot of that is what I used to do.  I should have added in a much smaller way. Never had such a big workshop or as many lathes as he has. 

[clockboy]

On 4/1/2021 at 8:35 AM, oldhippy said:

I have just watched Tommy Jobson making a replacement back cock for a wonderful 6 pillar movement with locking plates a sigh of a very good more likely a London maker bracket clock. First class job. This is the sort of thing I miss. wis1971 thanks for the tip. 

Yes I have watched Tommy Jobson and he is a real craftsman indeed. I only wish I had a workshop and room for a decent size lathe to replicate. A lotto win is my only chance

[clockshop]

I believe the open clock club is a great resource for the beginner, lots of useful information, Ok there are a few ways of doing the same Job as long as it's not a cowboy way that's ok with me, I have never used a depthing tool or a bushing machine to do any rebushing, Tommy Jobson's Stuff is exellent He is really working on the high end clocks , the open clock club way of learning is good far superior to some other distance learning stuff out there and a big big plus is it costs a fraction of the cost, my opinion is there doing a good job & it's a great place to start, I am lucky as my family have been involved in watch and Clockmaking for a long time obviously learning on a bench with another Clockmaker is the best but hard to find so this way in my opinion is great.

[oldhippy]

I had the benefit of learning at the bench by a very good watch/clockmaker and a well equipped workshop. The open clock club I'm sorry to say the videos I have seen are not that good, no proper preparation, camera work sloppy, not for me. As for Tommy what he shows is what I miss but he does have every tool and machine in the book, some of what he does can be done by hand not machine.  

[HectorLooi]

Watch this video. Very interesting, plus a surprise cameo appearance by the host of Open Clock Club.