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Workings of an American Striking movement

Endeavor

By Endeavor
in All Things Clocks

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Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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This morning I disassembled a Waterbury clock, taking lots of pictures while doing so. The 30hrs movement had two trains, a striking-train and a time-train. More focused on taking the pictures, I didn't pay enough attention to how exactly the striking wheels were positioned in relation to each other. Once apart, I noticed little hooks and pins, operating the various levers for the striking action. Oops :wacko: .....   that wasn't that smart :pulling-hair-out:

As usual, one learns best by making mistakes, I set out searching materials explaining the working of this type of striking mechanism and the alignment of the wheels.

I found a good clear explanation in this pdf-file:    LaBounty-Levers-2.pdf

Next to that, a (bit too) short animation video on YouTube:

Tomorrow I'll assembly just the striking-train and, together with the information above, play with it until I understand and hopefully have a better know-how, and pay more attention the next time ...... :mellow:

 

Edited by Endeavor
oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

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I have downloaded that pdf in case others on here need info. If you get stuck I’m here to help. When putting the parts back be very careful not to bend any of the levers as this causes big problems.   

Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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Yes, I've read already some "horror" stories .......... Big thanks for your offer :)

I took the clock carefully apart and everything should still be as it was. Obviously, since the clock was "down", I don't know how or if the striking mechanism worked (correctly) in the first place...... ?

Again, an interesting and educative project. That's how I like them ! ;)

 

Endeavor Distinguished Member

Endeavor

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Assembled the clock again, making sure that the stop/maintenance lever fell in the slot of the stop/maintenance cam and the count lever fell was engaged in the count-wheel, before "locking" the plates. Perhaps beginners luck, but the strike was exact with the hour hand on top. However, with the weights installed, the mechanism prepared itself for the strike, but as soon as the warning lever dropped, the stop/maintenance lever dropped back in the slot of the stop/maintenance cam, resulting in no-strike. The movement had quite some wear, which was the suspected cause of the problem.

The good thing about these movements is that they are transparent, all the parts are in plane view and by slowly moving the mechanism, the lever sequence is easy to follow. It turned out the that the lift-lever was too high, reversing the stop/maintenance cam slightly. To overcome the wear and that the stop/maintenance lever fell back in the cam, the lift-lever was slightly bend down and the striking mechanism was running "perfectly" again. Whatever "perfectly" you can expect from a worn movement.

Clearly, these movements are cheaply build and were not meant to last for 100+ years. Sadly, looking on a kind of internet "garage-sale", these types of clocks asking price are around £25 - £30 ....... a 30hr movement doesn't help either .....

Anyway, I hope the owner will happy again as for her the sentimental value of her grandmothers clock will be much, much higher ;)

And for me, another interesting and educative experience :)

Edited by Endeavor

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