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Willard inspired Banjo clock


Shane47

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I was given a  Willard inspired banjo clock by Waterbury clock co. when my grandparents passed over ten yrs ago.  It has never ran.  I dismantled it and cleaned it. Lightly oiled it and it runs but for different amount of times. 1st tie about 45 min.  Then for 5 min. Then 35 min.  I tried to research the problem and I have levelled it in all directions.  I had to bend the, excuse my not knowing the names it connects the pallet to pendulum.,  (might be called pendulum guide). Which was why it wasn’t working. Now I just need it to stay working. The spring looks good.  And the suspension spring looks new. Neither have rust or are dirty. Any idea would be appreciated.  

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As clockboy has rightly said the clock need to be in beat. Put a small spirit level inside on the bottom of that case the clock, move the pendulum to start, if the clock doesn't give an even tick then the crutch should be bent so it does. If the clock still keeps stopping then you will need to check the whole movement. If the holes and pivots are all good, I would look at the pallets and the escape wheel. The pallets or the American term is verge should be smooth, the escape wheel teeth shouldn't have any burs on there tips, if so you could have problems, so check all that and when and if it stops mark the tooth of the escape wheel with something that you can wipe off when its been sorted, do this a few time to see if its the same place, if so check that tooth if it has burr then stone it very carefully to remove the burr but do not change the  angle or shorten the tooth if you do the action of the escapement will be altered and the clock will not work. Check all that and let us know how things are going. 

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It’s in “beat”. It took me while to get that in the correct place.  The clutch is what I bent,  it was supposed to have a 90 degree bend in it  to keep it away from the movement.  When I first received it the bend was 110 degrees.  I checked to see if was rubbing somewhere but it wasn’t.  I think the clutch bent during the move. I will check for possible burs  later today. What’s odd to me is, when it’s working, the pendulum swings like it should, it has equal distance on both sides  not touching anything.  But the pendulum doesn’t wind  down.  As in  the distance it travels away from centre  it just stops the but  the but thing might be it. Should I take the movement out of the case  hang it up and lelevel it to see if it’s working. Also what oil should I be using?  I used pure silicone watch oil .

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So  the clock is in beat, and doesnt slow to a stop , It just stops. correct?   Things to look for are bent .broken teeth or worn teeth in the mechanism,  dirt in the pinions, escape wheel worn or a tooth out of shape causing a mis lock on the pallet/verge,  the working surfaces of the pallet/verge  worm these are but a few of the possible causes.  Without diamantling cleaning and cheching everythin whilst re building its difficult to pin point an actual cause therefore the broad brush approach.  One wat to verify the gear train is to take the power of the clock and remove the pallet/verge and then put 1/2 a turn on the spring if it runs down slowly and freely you are looking for a problem in the escapement and its action                 Cheers.

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https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrIAX_.aVliKggAxwJ3Bwx.;_ylu=Y29sbwMEcG9zAzIEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1650055806/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fabouttime-clockmaking.com%2f%3fC%3dD%3bO%3dA/RK=2/RS=uBUlg6aotCSGplaP9pGicJJd3_I-

At this location there is an article on David La Bounty American ckock Guru and some animated descriptions of escapements that might be of some assistance.

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I cannot see the type of pinions your movement has. Going by what I know most American movements have what are know as lantern pinions. The pivots do not need to be as well fitting in there pivot holes as much as the solid type of pinions because they can stand more wear, you might also find the pivots are more of a barrel shape and not straight from end to end as you might expect like with French or English movement from shall I say from the 1800's 

 

Here is a photo of the lantern type pinions the two wheels on the right. The left wheel shows the solid type pinions.

Lantern Pinions.jpg

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It’s fixed!!  After reading all the comments.  I went to get the clock off the wall and noticed it was real shaky.  The shims I used for the bottom were off cantered.  It’s been running for about 6 hrs.  So put it back together.  The only thing is the hour shaft came loose of the gear.  So at about  2:00  the our hand fell to six.  What is the best way to attach the shaft to the gear.  I thought about soldering them together but I think it will make it to thick at the bottom, plus I don’t know if the brass gear will warp.  Is it ok to super glue it? Or epoxy?  Thanks to everyone that helped!  I learned a bunch. I now know the name of the movement and the site you guys sent explained a lot. Attached is a picture of finished project..  the pendulum box door is Crooked, it’s the hinges. While polishing the rim around the glass I noticed it’s painted copper. Was the original copper or the gold Color? The copper looks really good!   Thanks again 

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Its a lovely clock. Is the dial off center or is it the picture.  You said the hour hand fell down to 6, The hands are usually a friction fit   thing to do is take the dial off and check the fit of the hand onto the hour wheel  if its a loose fit and sloppy it will need to be tightened up but no soldering or glueing.  

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It is off centre I noticed that too.  There were 2 holes next to each other, I guess I picked the wrong one.  I have to take it off anyways.  The shaft and the hour gear are pressed together.  Looks like at one time  the brass way folded together but the first time I took it apart, I noticed they weren’t connected.  I’ll take some pics when I take it apart.

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