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Cuckoo clock music box repair

LittleWatchShop

By LittleWatchShop
in All Things Clocks

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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Well...it had to happen eventually.  A friend asked me to repair her Cuckoo Clock.  I repaired many when I was doing that work for my Dad eons ago.  Time to refresh my memory.

The first issue I found was this music box movement.  As you can see. the nylon gear is split.  I wonder if I should try to repair it or replace the governor unit like with the one here.

As far as the clock movement, my plan is to clean it in my ultrasonic.  Should I use my L&R ammonia-based watch cleaning solution or something else?

2021-10-11 13_04_13-20211011_125027.jpg ‎- Photos.png

music box gear.png

LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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Latest update.  I got a replacement governor hoping that it would match up.  Well...it did not. It was close, but no cigar!!

I took the nylon gear off of the new governor and put it on the old one.  However, the diameter of the shaft was a few hundred microns off (the old shaft was smaller).  So, I put the nylon washer on and shimmed it with peg wood.  It was good enough.  The pitch of the gears needed to match the spinner, so that had to be moved over as well.

Got it to run after numerous eeky-tweaky adjustments.  HOWEVER!

It runs too fast.  I think the mass of the original spinner was greater.

I think I am going to put a solder blob on each blade to give it some additional mass.

Anybody on this forum gonna jump through the screen and grab me by the neck???

LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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Here they are mounted.  Since the minute hand uses a bushing, the fit was straightforward.  I printed in black because that is the filament I have loaded.

You notice that the upper circle is not open in the print.  That is because of the resolution.  I need to make that hole bigger for it to print properly.  Frankly, the lower one as well.  But, these are temporary anyway.

2021-10-18 09_56_59-20211018_095458.jpg ‎- Photos.png

  • 1 year later...
Roughrider New Member

Roughrider

Posted
Posted

It appears I have the identical clock because the layout and components surely look identical. I also have a very similar problem with my music box. I'll try to show it in an attached photo if it posts. In my case, the lever comes down, lifts the hook out of the music spool stop hole, and the fly stop with it's tubing holding the fly gets out of the way. It plays, but not twice. The hook is out of the hole, the tubing releases the fly and the wire fly stop is out of the way. But the fly stops by itself. Nothing is holding it. If I nudge it, it will spin and the music plays normally. The it stop again. Can this be a lubrication problem? I've ordered some Liberty oil.

No luck posting photo.

oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
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With any type of Cuckoo clock when it comes to striking the action depends on wires working correctly, they should not be bent in any place apart from the proper places, if not they will cause all sorts of trouble such as the cuckoo clock door not working properly, strike side playing up and causing God know what. A tiny drop of oil to stop rubbing of wires will help the action to work smoothly. The same goes for these musical types.   

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