Jump to content

I am new and need to learn more


Jannie

Recommended Posts

Hello and welcome to the forum.  That's a nice pair of carriage clocks Possibly french.  Bothe will have platform escapements which could be either Cylinder or lever. As regards fixing them your self without experience is a dangerous thought, at this point they both require professional treatment, An overhaul to get them back into pristine condition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

Looking at the picture showing both clocks

Both are probably French. Both have white enamelled dials with Roman Numerals again both have the hand style of spade. The clock case on the left is the classic style case, the one on the right is the style called serpentine and both are brass.  You have taken photos of the movement that is in the serpentine case, this is an 8 day movement with a cylinder platform, which is not compensated, this means depending on weather conditions it might very in time keeping. It also looks in a bad way and needs polishing and cleaning. Without seeing the other movement I can’t comment on that. If there is no identification on the movements I would say anything from 1850 to 1900.    

Without experience in the field of clock repairs I do not recommend you undertaking the work yourself. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Jannie said:

Need advice on what clocks I have and how to date it. 

In my family we have a piece practically identical to the smaller one plus alarm, which after many decades of being only a decoration I have repaired and restored. The cylinder was broken and carried signs of a botched previous attempt. I was able to repair thanks to my Mentor that has an assortment of cylinders plus all the related knowledge and then some. I still have make a detailed posting about. Replacing a cylinder is not difficult but neither something a beginner without tools and experience should try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

Looking at the picture showing doth clocks

Both are probably French. Both have white enamelled dials with Roman Numerals again both have the hand style of spade. The clock case on the left is the classic style case, the one on the right is the style called serpentine and both are brass.  You have taken photos of the movement that is in the serpentine case, this is an 8 day movement with a cylinder platform, which is not compensated, this means depending on weather conditions it might very in time keeping. It also looks in a bad way and needs polishing and cleaning. Without seeing the other movement I can’t comment on that. If there is no identification on the movements I would say anything from 1850 to 1900.    

Without experience in the field of clock repairs I do not recommend you undertaking the work yourself. 

Thank you for this valuable information. Can you give me any recommendations on who can help me as mentioned 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/1/2021 at 5:09 PM, Jannie said:

Thank you for this valuable information. Can you give me any recommendations on who can help me as mentioned 

If you go to the BHI (British Horological Institute) web site they list accredited watch makers by area and country. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, not only did I inherit a box-o-watches, I inherited a wall-o-clocks.  This post reminded me of the carriage clock I have.  I took it off the shelf, disassembled it, cleaned and oiled.  Note:  this was not a professional cleaning...just wanted to see if it had a prayer of working.  It is working great.

There is an issue with the regulator arm that normally sits underneath the plate with access through the half moon slot.  Somewhere along the way of its life, it was either lost and replaced with one too short, or someone ground it down or whatever.  I need to make a new piece--should be straightforward.

This is not an expensive one like the OP, but nice.

 

2021-05-02 08_03_24-Photos.png

2021-05-02 08_03_12-Photos.png

2021-05-02 08_02_54-Photos.png

2021-05-03 07_56_04-Photos.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • OK, welcome in the world of alarm clocks... I guess the 4th wheel is dished because it is from another movement. If it was not dishet, then it would not mesh with the pinion of the escape wheel, am I right? The marks of wear on the 4th wheel pinion doesn't corespond to the 3th wheel table position, at list this is what i see on the picts. Calculating the rate is easy - there is a formula - BR = T2 x T3 x T4 x T5 x 2 /(P3 x P4 x P5) where T2 - T5 are the counts of the teeth of the wheels tables, and P3 - P5 are the counts of the pinion leaves. Vibrating the balance is easy - grasp for the hairspring where it should stay in the regulator with tweasers, let the balance hang on the hairspring while the downside staff tip rests on glass surface. Then make the balance oscillate and use timer to measure the time for let say 50 oscillations, or count the oscillations for let say 30 seconds. You must do the free oscillations test to check the balance staff tips and the cone cup bearings for wear. This kind of staffs wear and need resharpening to restore the normal function of the balance.
    • Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • The stress is the force (on the spring) x distance. The maximum stress is at the bottom, and decreases up the arm. That's why they always break at the bottom. I used a round file, then something like 2000 grit to finish. I gave the rest of the arm a quick polish - no need for a perfect finish. Just make sure there are no 'notches' left from cutting/filing. The notches act like the perforations in your toilet paper 🤣
    • It's probably a cardinal rule for watch repair to never get distracted while at the bench. Yesterday, after finishing a tricky mainspring winding/barrel insertion (I didn't have a winder and arbor that fit very well) I mentally shifted down a gear once that hurdle was passed. There were other things going on in the room as I put the barrel and cover into the barrel closer and pressed to get that satisfying snap. But when I took it out I realized I never placed the arbor.  When opening a barrel, we are relying on the arbor to transfer a concentrically-distributed force right where it is needed at the internal center of the lid. However, when that isn't present it's difficult to apply pressure or get leverage considering the recessed position of the lid, the small holes in the barrel and the presence of the mainspring coils. It was a beat-up practice movement so I didn't take a lot of time to think it over and I pushed it out using a short right-angle dental probe placed in from the bottom, but that did leave a bit of a scratch and crease in the thin lid. I had also thought about pulling it using a course-threaded screw with a minor thread diameter smaller than the lid hole and a major diameter larger, but that may have done some damage as well.  Thinking about how this might have been handled had it been a more valuable movement, is there a method using watchmaking or other tools that should extract the lid with the least damage? 
    • 🤔 what happens if lubrication is placed directly on top of epilame ? Making a small groove so the lubrication doesn't spread across the component but what if when lubing a little overspills and sits on the epilame .
×
×
  • Create New...