Jump to content

French Mantle (Slate) Clock Movement


Folkvisor

Recommended Posts

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

 

 

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

    • OK, welcome in the world of alarm clocks... I guess the 4th wheel is dished because it is from another movement. If it was not dishet, then it would not mesh with the pinion of the escape wheel, am I right? The marks of wear on the 4th wheel pinion doesn't corespond to the 3th wheel table position, at list this is what i see on the picts. Calculating the rate is easy - there is a formula - BR = T2 x T3 x T4 x T5 x 2 /(P3 x P4 x P5) where T2 - T5 are the counts of the teeth of the wheels tables, and P3 - P5 are the counts of the pinion leaves. Vibrating the balance is easy - grasp for the hairspring where it should stay in the regulator with tweasers, let the balance hang on the hairspring while the downside staff tip rests on glass surface. Then make the balance oscillate and use timer to measure the time for let say 50 oscillations, or count the oscillations for let say 30 seconds. You must do the free oscillations test to check the balance staff tips and the cone cup bearings for wear. This kind of staffs wear and need resharpening to restore the normal function of the balance.
    • Glue a nut to the barrel lid, insert a bolt, pull, disolve the glue.  Maybe someone will have a better answer. 
    • The stress is the force (on the spring) x distance. The maximum stress is at the bottom, and decreases up the arm. That's why they always break at the bottom. I used a round file, then something like 2000 grit to finish. I gave the rest of the arm a quick polish - no need for a perfect finish. Just make sure there are no 'notches' left from cutting/filing. The notches act like the perforations in your toilet paper 🤣
    • It's probably a cardinal rule for watch repair to never get distracted while at the bench. Yesterday, after finishing a tricky mainspring winding/barrel insertion (I didn't have a winder and arbor that fit very well) I mentally shifted down a gear once that hurdle was passed. There were other things going on in the room as I put the barrel and cover into the barrel closer and pressed to get that satisfying snap. But when I took it out I realized I never placed the arbor.  When opening a barrel, we are relying on the arbor to transfer a concentrically-distributed force right where it is needed at the internal center of the lid. However, when that isn't present it's difficult to apply pressure or get leverage considering the recessed position of the lid, the small holes in the barrel and the presence of the mainspring coils. It was a beat-up practice movement so I didn't take a lot of time to think it over and I pushed it out using a short right-angle dental probe placed in from the bottom, but that did leave a bit of a scratch and crease in the thin lid. I had also thought about pulling it using a course-threaded screw with a minor thread diameter smaller than the lid hole and a major diameter larger, but that may have done some damage as well.  Thinking about how this might have been handled had it been a more valuable movement, is there a method using watchmaking or other tools that should extract the lid with the least damage? 
    • 🤔 what happens if lubrication is placed directly on top of epilame ? Making a small groove so the lubrication doesn't spread across the component but what if when lubing a little overspills and sits on the epilame .
×
×
  • Create New...