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Ansonia Tea Clock


LadyFi

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Lurking in my loft is an Ansonia clock.  Bought it about 30 years ago at a flea market.  Chap I worked with, his elderly father-in-law was a clock repairer.  He repaired my clock and restored the case.  It is not the usual Ansonia you see quite a few of.  If memory serves me correct, the date on the movement is 1882.  The clock kept good time but sat on a mantelpiece over an open fire.  My then husband and I divorced and I moved 500 miles away.  The clock came too.  It carried on keeping good time for a few more years then it stopped working.  I remarried (now widowed) and while late hubby and I were redecorating, the clock was placed on the floor away from everything under the table.

Went to get the clock and was horrified to see it literally in bits.  The dial was hanging off as was the glass cover.  Hubby denied all knowledge and said it had probably been whacked by our German Shepherd's tail - which I didn't believe at the time and still don't believe as time went on I learned that when hubby was in a bad mood, he had a habit of kicking things, especially things that belonged to me.

Anyway, I was wondering if the works would fit into a 2L sonic cleaner as it is very dirty inside and yes, it was sprayed with WD40 at some point 😖

I have a pic of it somewhere but, as usual, can't find it.

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A clock of that period should never ever be put into any sonic cleaner. They can damage the brass causing stress fractures. The whole movement should be taken apart and cleaned by hand. There are many clock cleaning solutions about. I always used horolene clock cleaner. 

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55 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

A clock of that period should never ever be put into any sonic cleaner. They can damage the brass causing stress fractures. The whole movement should be taken apart and cleaned by hand. There are many clock cleaning solutions about. I always used horolene clock cleaner. 

Thank you Old Hippy.  I'm not sure I have the confidence to take it to bits, especially the mainsprings, it has two, one which works the chimes which are not in barrels.  I'd be worried about getting them wound properly again.  It would be nice to see the old clock working again though.   I know now not to give it a bath!

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9 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Can you post a photo of the movement then I can further advise you.

It's in the loft so not to hand but there is an identical movement in this video I watched last night.
The case on my clock is slightly different and is actually golden oak.  I had the clock restored not long after I bought it.  Before restoration, it was the same colour as the clock in the video.  The movement in my clock is identical though with Patent Pending 1882 stamped on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPeOqJwjSS4

I will get it out of the loft as soon as we can.  While redecorating our kitchen, son managed to break our ladder so it's very wobbly and the loft hatch is close to the top of our stairs.  Hatch is definitely not in the safest of places.

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22 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

That is a typical American striking movement. Not the easiest movements to take apart and reassemble. I hope you don't follow what is is showing you in his video, if I had a full head of hair I would be pulling it out.   

No.  Definitely wouldn't follow that one but it was nice to see a similar clock.  I know the movement on mine is filthy and when we do get it out of the loft, I'll take pics of it and post them here.  I don't think it's a particularly valuable clock but in this day and age of digital technology, I miss the tick tock of a real clock.  I really would like to get (affectionately known as) Ben working again.

I find your advice encouraging and also this forum to be friendly and welcoming to a newbie like me.  Thank you.

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As its a American Ansonia and employs a lever controlled count mechanism you may find the drawings attached interesting when you come to overhaul the movement. I would endorse OH's remark "do not follow the video" granted it will soften and remove some muck but doing that is a no no.  If you look up David La Bounty on the net he is the leading light on the American clocks.

clock lever assemblies  .jpg

both lever assemblies.jpg

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2 hours ago, LadyFi said:

No.  Definitely wouldn't follow that one but it was nice to see a similar clock.  I know the movement on mine is filthy and when we do get it out of the loft, I'll take pics of it and post them here.  I don't think it's a particularly valuable clock but in this day and age of digital technology, I miss the tick tock of a real clock.  I really would like to get (affectionately known as) Ben working again.

I find your advice encouraging and also this forum to be friendly and welcoming to a newbie like me.  Thank you.

When you are ready if you decide to undertake the work yourself I can help you with the repairs. 

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58 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

When you are ready if you decide to undertake the work yourself I can help you with the repairs. 

Thank you.  My son is now taking an interest too so he may be the one to deal with the movement while I set about repairing the case.  He seems to have a photographic memory when it comes to taking things apart and putting them back together.  Proved that when he was 4 years old and was given an Airfix type model as a Christmas gift.  It was quite a complicated model, way above his age range but he got fed up waiting for his father to help him with it so did it himself.  It was a landing craft model with a lot of very small pieces.  He couldn't even read properly at the time.  His father told him to take it apart and put it back together again so he did - without looking at the diagrams.  Wind on 30 years later and he's still the same.  The PC he's got, he built himself.

Who knows.  This could be the start of something good.

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