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French Mantle (Slate) Clock Movement


Folkvisor

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Someone used small nails instead of tapered pins to fasten the plates on the posts.

The metal is soft and they are hard to remove without wrecking the nail. I've tried everything I can to get them all out but I've only been successful with one.

Any ideas? It would be nice if people would use the right parts!

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A pair of cutters should do the trick. I had a top and side pair made by Linstrom from Sweden. They often come up on ebay and bloody good they are.  You can grab hold of the nail or pin and pull from the side of the plate. Have you tried a flat end punch and small hammer or has the nail or pin not gone through the holes.    

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I got 2 out. Good thing I'm not getting paid by the hour!

I am using nose pliers and a string lifter made from a pitchfork tyne from my piano tools. Seems to work...

(The side cutters I bought don't get close enough to the side of the clock. I'll keep looking for better ones.)

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  • 2 weeks later...

One of the pins is bent. I doubt it will pull out. 

I think the only solution is drilling it out after smoothing the end of the pin down to the brass post. It is slightly smaller than 1/16" so perhaps a 3/64" drill or 1/32?

Any suggestions? I think the pin is soft enough not be a problem for a drill; however, guiding the drill may not be so easy.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This clock will only work if it is slanted towards 11:00 o'clock. It will stop if it is level. I'm wondering if, after I have the front plate off, I will find that something is stuck in the works causing this. Any ideas why this is happening?

Would it have something to do with the self regulating mechanism?

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Yup. Did that and now it runs at 12 o'clock.

I was also wondering if the clock should be able to run if it's lying down with the crutch up.

I finally got the pin out. The post is a bit mangled but it will still hold a pin. 

Would it be OK to just dip that corner of the clock in some naphtha to clean the filings off that were created by drilling out the pin? 

I'm pretty sure the clock isn't dirty. It looks clean. I think it just needed to have the crutch bent a little. We will see how it runs now. 

Everything is pinned on this clock; I'm not brave enough to take much more apart...

Dave

 

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It is never a good idea to let the clock escape without the pendulum (it is called tripping) as it can cause excessive wear and tear to the teeth to the escape wheel. I would just brush away the fragments from the drilling and may be use your watch blower.  

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9 hours ago, Folkvisor said:

It's pretty well straight. I put it on the clock and it seems to work pretty well. 

Maybe I'll put the dial and hands on and see if it keeps time. 

 

If the pendulum swings without any added motion, in other words in a  straight line it should be ok, if not replace it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It basically swings back and forth without any extraneous motion.

No I am having an issue with the striking mechanism. It doesn't want to engage and I'm wondering if something is not turning or some pin somewhere isn't engaging.

The 'snail' is just smooth and has no 'steps' in it. I can't find anything with this type of snail on the internet.

Always something.

Dave

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Dave your clock does not have a snail wheel but a count wheel. When it it gets to the strike time does anything turn ie the warning wheel etc. I have added a couple of vids the first the guy explains how a strike mechanism works and the second is a vid of what your clock should be doing.

If you lift the arm B the count wheel A should start to turn. This is what the guy is doing in the second vid simulating the strike.

 

5a3241beddda1_ScreenShot2017-12-14at09_16_55.png.412e01d499f6ef8b2161b20d21d19d21.png

 

 

 

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