H.J. Norris (Coventry) Pocket Watch

[oldhippy]

There isn’t supposed to be a spring. From the photo you need to turn the ratchet wheel over. That little pin is meant to go through the arbor to hold the ratchet wheel in place, I would replace the pin because they are not supposed to come out (it is what I call ill fitting)

[Deggsie]

  On 4/3/2018 at 1:14 PM, oldhippy said:

There isn’t supposed to be a spring. From the photo you need to turn the ratchet wheel over. That little pin is meant to go through the arbor to hold the ratchet wheel in place, I would replace the pin because they are not supposed to come out (it is what I call ill fitting)

Thank you. This is becoming a lot clearer now. So the ratchet wheel is pinned to the arbor and when pretension is applied, the ratchet is swung into place and locked off with the screw, thus preventing the pretension being lost. All I need to do now is reassemble the chain and setup the pretension. Kind regards Deggsie


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[canthus]

I fiddled with one of these some time ago and unfortunately broke a lever pivot when re-assembling so will need to get a new staff/pivot made by a professional watchmaker (about £30 last quote!!).  This was caused by trying to get all the pivots into the large single plate.  Make sure the plate sits down easily on the posts before you start to re-assemble the train as this can make pivot alignment difficult if the plate is tight on the posts.  I think the ratchet is only for when you are finally setting the winding of the chain on the fusee to give it a little pre-tension.  There are several good books on English Lever Full Plate Pocket watches which I consulted.  I copied the relevant pages for my file but didn't make a note of the authors (duh!!), I thin one was by DeCarle, but if you search the net for English lever Full Plate Pocket Watch repair/restoration you may find good info on how to check/repair the fusee, assemble and set-up the watch etc.

[BUSAKAZ]

  On 4/2/2018 at 8:03 PM, Deggsy said:

And here are the photos. Sorry, I got Freddy fast fingers today




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Make sure you turn the ratchet wheel about 6 clicks to put some tension on the spring elts the chain will drop off...


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[Deggsie]

  On 4/3/2018 at 1:14 PM, oldhippy said:

There isn’t supposed to be a spring. From the photo you need to turn the ratchet wheel over. That little pin is meant to go through the arbor to hold the ratchet wheel in place, I would replace the pin because they are not supposed to come out (it is what I call ill fitting)

Hello OH. Sorry not to have reported back on this for a few days but work has prevailed (unfortunately). The square end of the mainspring arbor does not have a hole through it. You explanation seems so logical. I’ve looked at 20x magnification on all 4 facets and no evidence of a pin ‘sheared’ off either. So I’m wondering do some designs rely on the mechanical back pressure on the ratchet to lock it onto the square arbor?

Also the chain is quite stiff so I need to but some work into this before going any further. It’s soaking in white spirit just now, then I shall soak in naphtha, and finally warm 3 in 1 oil.

I’ll keep you appraised of how things go. Any comments are much appreciated as this is my first fusee p/w




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[oldhippy]

I’m wondering do some designs rely on the mechanical back pressure on the ratchet to lock it onto the square arbor?

Yes that is correct.

[Deggsie]

  On 4/6/2018 at 9:32 PM, oldhippy said:

I’m wondering do some designs rely on the mechanical back pressure on the ratchet to lock it onto the square arbor?
Yes that is correct.

[emoji106][emoji6]... thanks


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[Gary]

Well, I'm sitting on the edge of my chair waiting to see the end results of this endeavor! Fantastic work thus far! This is why I love this group!


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[Deggsie]

  On 4/8/2018 at 2:05 AM, Gary said:

Well, I'm sitting on the edge of my chair waiting to see the end results of this endeavor! Fantastic work thus far! This is why I love this group!  

 

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Ah .. Gary you may need to sit back and relax for a bit as things have taken an undesirable course. Sadly the barrel hook had become detached from the chain! Under microscope it appears that a solder joint may have been made in the past. The good news is that replacements seem to be readily available on eBay, although I need to measure up the exact length, width and thickness. The chain I have is very worn down the sides of the plates do ascertaining the true thickness may be difficult. These things are sent to test us!

 

In not sure if anyone here offers a repair service? Or maybe you know of someone who can?

 

Regards

Deggsie

 

 

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[Deggsie]

Just to give you all an update on this repair. Firstly thank you to all who have offered positive and useful advice, especially OldHippie. Without the advice I have received on here I would not have started this project. I’m currently sourcing a replacement fusee chain from a gentleman on eBay who literally has too many lengths and sizes of chains to list then all, so I’m hopeful he can find one.

 

I’ll keep you posted when I have a replacement fusee chain and have it installed back in the watch. Until then, onto my next movement

 

Deggsie

 

 

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