Cuckoo clock music box repair

[LittleWatchShop]

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?

[oldhippy]

You could try to glue it. 

[watchweasol]

Hi  you   could glue as OH says but if there is enough clearance strenghten it with a thin brass washer glued/rivited to the side of the wheel .  

[LittleWatchShop]

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???

[HectorLooi]

Could you try 3D printing one?

[LittleWatchShop]

10 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

Could you try 3D printing one?

Thought about it.  Dimensions a problematic.  Not much clearance around the spinner.

[LittleWatchShop]

I did print a set of hands I designed...only because the new hands I ordered will not arrive for another week or so.

 

[watchweasol]

The hands look good , whats the fit like.

[LittleWatchShop]

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.

[watchweasol]

Hi  here is a link to a company supplying cuckoo clock bits.  They have quite a bit of info as well      https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffrankenmuthclock.com%2Fcollections%2Fparts-cuckoo-clock-quartz-cuckoo-miniature&psig=AOvVaw2uyhw1OKsmUGpCzRL155c3&ust=1634727898258000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwiQ9NqOqtbzAhUNixoKHQ0PDFQQr4kDegUIARCyAw

[LittleWatchShop]

2 hours ago, watchweasol said:

company supplying cuckoo clock bits

Nice...stored in my vendor list.

[Roughrider]

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.

[watchweasol]

What you describe sounds very much like the music box needs cleaning and oiling. (Windles oil). Will suffice.  The fact that the box needs a clean. Give the clock one as well.

[oldhippy]

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.