Jump to content

Torsion clock


Recommended Posts

Got this as part of a job lot, probably cost me about 30 pence at the most. 

First question, quality, good, bad or indifferent? 

Second, I want to get it running. Do I need to strip it down or can I try something easier to start with. 

Haven't done a clock before, so plenty more questions to follow. 

20220606_091147.jpg

20220606_091123.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Got this as part of a job lot, probably cost me about 30 pence at the most. 

First question, quality, good, bad or indifferent? 

Second, I want to get it running. Do I need to strip it down or can I try something easier to start with. 

Haven't done a clock before, so plenty more questions to follow. 

20220606_091147.jpg

20220606_091123.jpg

30 pence ! Mate you were robbed you could have bought a mini packet of Haribo for that and had a squeaky voice for half an hour 😄 miles more entertainment.

6 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

30 pence ! Mate you were robbed you could have bought a mini packet of Haribo for that and had a squeaky voice for half an hour 😄 miles more entertainment.

Lol sorry matey couldn't resist that one. Its German so i would hazard a guess that its ok and will keep you busy for a while. A very long while if it isn't all there . I definitely  cant help you with this, i have no idea about clocks but intend to have a go at a napoleon Westminster chime i have on my mantle piece. It talks to me when its quiet, it says fix me, fix me please kind sir. 🥴

Edited by Neverenoughwatches
Time to take my pills one thinks
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

30 pence ! Mate you were robbed you could have bought a mini packet of Haribo for that and had a squeaky voice for half an hour 😄 miles more entertainment.

Since I have used three of the crystals, it was probably less than 10 pence.  So there.😛

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Since I have used three of the crystals, it was probably less than 10 pence.  So there.😛

Fine a partially deflated secondhand  helium balloon then, still a squeaky voice but only for 1 minute.  Touchè 🤪 . Can we get back to watches now or clocks or anything normal really. 🙂

Edited by Neverenoughwatches
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Fine a partially deflated secondhand  helium balloon then, still a squeaky voice but only for 1 minute.  Touchè 

I'm not tonking on anyone's seconds hand balloon.  I have standards, very low standards maybe but standards all the same. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, RichardHarris123 said:

I'm not tonking on anyone's seconds hand balloon.  I have standards, very low standards maybe but standards all the same. 

Lol. Tonked plenty in my time , but my meaning of tonking is waayyyyyy different from your meaning of tonking 🤣. I think our discussion is taking a wrong turn imho, i can sense a time out coming 😉 .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its low quality. It will need a complete overhaul. These clocks are very temperamental. If you have never done any clock work, this is the worst type of clock to start with. I can help you with it. For starters you are going to need a clock mainspring winder and this book   Charles Terwilliger Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Neverenoughwatches said:

Did you get the file download issue sorted ? You were working on a junghans. I would be interested as i have one to getting working, amongst about 60 others and 15 or so pockets .

I'm stuck on a piece of pants swiss at mo that just wont run dial up. Ive been meaning to check the top pivot then i can move on with something else. Procrastinating for six days .

3 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Its low quality. It will need a complete overhaul. These clocks are very temperamental. If you have never done any clock work, this is the worst type of clock to start with. I can help you with it. For starters you are going to need a clock mainspring winder and this book   Charles Terwilliger Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide

What is good OH ? I have a very run of the mill Smith's westminster chime to tackle. It doesnt have enough power to run with the pendulum on. Hope it is just a clean and oil but i think ive buggered up the chime as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Fine a partially deflated secondhand  helium balloon then, still a squeaky voice but only for 1 minute.  Touchè 

 

5 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Its low quality. It will need a complete overhaul. These clocks are very temperamental. If you have never done any clock work, this is the worst type of clock to start with. I can help you with it. For starters you are going to need a clock mainspring winder and this book   Charles Terwilliger Horolovar 400 Day Clock Repair Guide

Typical, I bought it because I like the fact that you can see the movement.  I could of chosen any, including the fancy one you like.  Anyway I'm having a go. Are clock mainspring winders as ridiculously expensive as watch mainspring winders? 

6 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I'm stuck on a piece of pants swiss at mo that just wont run dial up. Ive been meaning to check the top pivot then i can move on with something else. Procrastinating for six days .

Yes, look at my post on clicks.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Are clock mainspring winders as ridiculously expensive as watch mainspring winders? 

Yes they are and they are hard to come by. But the good news is once you get a complete set of containment rings, you can work on most clocks. Well maybe not Big Ben.

Have a look at Cousins website 

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/mainspring-winder-ollie-baker-style

In addition to the winder, you'll need a set of let down tools and a beat adjuster.

Your clock might be missing the lower suspension block. But Cousins should have spares for that. 

A 400 day clock is deceptively simply but a real pain to get it going. It's probably the 2nd worst clock for a beginner. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, HectorLooi said:

Yes they are and they are hard to come by. But the good news is once you get a complete set of containment rings, you can work on most clocks. Well maybe not Big Ben.

Have a look at Cousins website 

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/mainspring-winder-ollie-baker-style

In addition to the winder, you'll need a set of let down tools and a beat adjuster.

Your clock might be missing the lower suspension block. But Cousins should have spares for that. 

A 400 day clock is deceptively simply but a real pain to get it going. It's probably the 2nd worst clock for a beginner. 

The problem is, I won't be working on more clocks, just that one.  I  thought it would be easy, oh fool me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, RichardHarris123 said:

I don't have the room for clocks, that's why I'm doing watches.  

I wonder how @oldhippy keeps all his clocks. He recently got another 4 clocks. And he keeps cats too!

When I had a stray cat that came to visit my mum every afternoon, she (the cat) would crawl behind my shelves and knock things off. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

What is good OH ? I have a very run of the mill Smith's westminster chime to tackle. It doesnt have enough power to run with the pendulum on. Hope it is just a clean and oil but i think ive buggered up the chime as well. 

Most chiming movements need cleaning and re bushing due to wear. Sometimes springs need replacing and always if it has a pendulum replace the suspension spring. 

7 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

The problem is, I won't be working on more clocks, just that one.  I  thought it would be easy, oh fool me.

In order to properly service any clock that has its springs in barrels it is a must to have a mainspring winder. The only other way is to remove the spring in what way you can and replace the spring with a new one. Mainspring winders remove springs in such a way that the spring is never distorted. Springs out of shape can and do damage the barrel and will cause the power to be irregular which causes the clock to keep poor time. The strike and chime springs will cause the strike and chime to work in a poor manner.  

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

O.K., they should have been writing „assembled manually in high perfection“, right?

„PI“ indicates the movement P 400. The plates should be 54mm x 44mm x 1,3mm.

84B6E00B-0A68-4547-82D2-D17E94D5FB23.thumb.jpeg.7e219ce36dbb28b66515cd955b5ec0bd.jpeg

 

DC498678-1447-4823-99A9-94E321CAF699.thumb.jpeg.90ce7de608f715fa176128d0ba4ecb39.jpeg

Edited by Kalanag
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As OH states 400 day clocks are temperamental and will not run for a duration without every part being spot on..Example if the suspension spring has the slightest kink it will not run and if the spring is slightly under or over strength you will run out of adjustment. To summarise if you are not prepared to strip, clean and inspect every part you will spend hours fiddling and adjusting without success.  
PS I have moved this post to the Clock section. 

Edited by clockboy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

The problem is, I won't be working on more clocks, just that one.  I  thought it would be easy, oh fool me.

 

10 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

Haha. Don't kid yourself. Once you get hooked, you're never going to stop.

I said the same about pocket watches. Now look where i am with them 

10 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

I don't have the room for clocks, that's why I'm doing watches.  

Mancave Rich mancave. Need i say anymore ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To Attempt to repair 400 day clocks is hard enough but bwithout twerwilligers book, beat setting tool, and knowledge a waste of time as theyare as mentioned tempremental and will not run unless dead level.  They are not the type of clock you fiddle with you either get stuck in and repair the thing which may take days /months to get it working correctly.  On the face of it the mechanisms are simple single train, what can go wrong ? try one snd find out. I have several of these guys and love working on them.  The last one was a Bentima broken spring (the usual problem).  They were factory produced in Germany not overly expensive unless you pock up a Gustav becker (disc Pendulum job).  all the best and gook luck if you attrmpt the repair.

  • Thanks 1
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

    • Welcome! To which part of India will my greetings go? Frank
    • I agree with @Waggy, no need to adjust. That looks very good to me. The factory specs for 7S26 are something like -35 to +45s/day, but they are usually better. The amplitude is good. When wearing, the most important positions are dial up, crown down and crown left. You need to regulate so that these positions average out to about zero. Crown down is showing +14, so you may have to set dial up to slightly minus s/day. The absolute values of +/-s/day don't really matter, as long as they aren't too far out. The only way to get good accuracy is to wear it for a couple of days, recording the errors, and gradually tweaking.
    • @Jon The link is no longer working and I wanted to see that demonstration again. Is there any chance you can make it available again? I'd appreciate it!
    • Or, if you have a staking set or jewelling too, just use one of the stumps. You can choose a fine tip to fit inside a jewel if necessary.
    • Good morning,   To be honest, I'm not sure I trust my own logic anymore 😅. But here's a picture of my own (failed!) attempt to install a new rotor axle. I punched way to hard and even split the metal of the rotor. My thinking was that, in my case, the axle sits "deeper" in the rotor and hence the rotor would be closer to the movement plates. Vice versa, I was thinking that a very light punch could cause the rotor to sit rather high. But not sure that makes sense because in both cases, the flat part of the axle and the rotor align equally.     Sorry, but is he saying that the outside of the caseback has been polished to such an extent that the inside of the caseback has deformed/sunk??? That sounds crazy to me because those casebacks are thick! Can you see any signs of that on the inside of the caseback? Have you tried screwing in the caseback a litte bit more or less so that the supposedly "sunk" part of the caseback would move from 9 o'clock to e.g. 6/7 or 11/12 o'clock?  If the caseback is truly deformed, maybe it could be punched/pressed back into shape (e.g. with glass/caseback closing press).      I agree with your choice. But yea, Rolex makes it VERY hard for independent watchmakers to do a perfect job because we can't get (original) parts easily.      Your pictures aren't too bad. But still impossible to see if the rotor isn't perfectly flat. You'd have to look at it with your loupe, from the side (like the pictures), and turn the rotor to see if the gaps (with the automatic bridge plates) increase/decrease.     Finally... how is the up/down play of the rotor? To test, take a toothpick/pegwood and press on the small triangular side of the rotor next to the axle (NOT the big side where the weight is. But the opposite side.). Does that lift up the weight-side of the rotor? There can be some play, but it should really be minimal. If there's too much play, a new spring clip is the first thing to do. After that, one could play around with the jewels. This is too much:
×
×
  • Create New...