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Seth Thomas weight driven clock, circa 1870 I think

LittleWatchShop

By LittleWatchShop
in All Things Clocks

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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Another repair for a neighbor.  I am the most popular dude in the neighborhood.

This is a first for me...a weight-driven clock.  The movement itself was straightforward, but the setup with the pulleys and guides...geez...not sure how the owner is gonna deal with this.  It is running now but it was just serviced this afternoon, so hell could break loose tomorrow...kinda doubt it though.

2022-07-12 20_53_00-ST weight clock 1.jpg ‎- Photos.png

2022-07-12 20_53_15-20220712_172057.jpg ‎- Photos.png

2022-07-12 20_53_26-20220712_172053.jpg ‎- Photos.png

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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15 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Nice assortment of crap in the bottom of the case. What did you find hard about setting up the weights and lines. The lines normally run in wooden pulleys at the top of the case and run down the sides. 

At first I did not realize that the wooden blocks at the top (not shown in this photo) were access portals.  Not realizing this, I figured it would be challenging to get the line to run over the pulley.  Once I removed the blocks, it was trivial.

Secondly, there is another pulley on the strike side.  Designed to guide the line on the strike great wheel.  I made the mistake of winding it without getting it aligned on the pulley.  This resulted in winding the line on the wheel axle itself rather than the winding shaft.  This took some effort to undo.

When the clock came to me, the pendulum bob was wedged in between the left brace and the cabinet and the striking weight was resting on it.  The other weight was rolling around on the bottom along with the keys.  Little to no attention was paid to this clock for many many years.

It is still running nicely this morning, so other than regulating, I think I am in good shape.

As with many of my repairs (watches and clocks)...they come to me knowing that I am servicing them for free.  If the owner really wanted their timepiece operating, they would have paid real money to have them fixed.  In most (but not all) cases, I expect the timepiece will return to a dark closet or a jewelry box.  That is fine by me because, I get the experience, get to see some beautiful ancient timepieces, and the joy of bringing them to life.

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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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Have you realised you are getting the same thrill out of the repairs youR Dad did all those years ago and he made a living from it which was a great thing to do. Carrying on the legacy albeit for free is walking in his footsteps and standing in his shadow.  Good for you.

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  • 2 weeks later...
LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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Very interesting problem with this clock.  It was running without dial and hands and then when I installed the hands, it quit.  I took them off and it ran...put them on and it quit.  I removed the movement and inspected everything very carefully.  Some play in the great wheel, but nothing serious IMHO.

I think I have figured it out.  The alarm snail sits on the hour arbor and presses up to the plate.  The hour wheel also attaches to the same arbor, but the alarm snail blocks the hand so that it can only push on so far.  This leaves almost no distance between the plane of the hour hand and the ledge of the minute arbor, so when the hand is mounted with a washer, the pressure from the washer against the minute hand rubs against the hour hand and that is the friction that is stopping the clock.

The solution that seems to be working is I put the washer on BEFORE I put the minute hand on.  The washer is concave away from the hour hand and is enough to avoid any contact...thus no friction.

These drawings are intended to support the language above.

2022-07-27 13_30_56-20220727_130706.jpg ‎- Photos.png

2022-07-27 13_30_43-20220727_132044.jpg ‎- Photos.png

2022-07-27 13_30_07-20220727_132056.jpg ‎- Photos.png

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

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I saw the owner of the clock the other day...a neighbor...told her I was having issues.  She said: "Thats OK, I am not going to wind it, I will just put it on the shelf and look at it." To which I responded: "You give me a clock to fix...I am gonna fix it!!"

It is the nature of doing free repairs...lol...but I learn and it is fun.

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