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Singing Bird In Cage clockwork/automata repair


Matthew

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Good (insert time here) everyone!

     I am relatively new to the world of clockwork repair and maintenence, but have done delicate metalwork, mechanism cleaning, and enjoy fixing things. Just recently, my sister brought home her boyfriends late great grandmothers singing bird in cage automata. For those of you who dont completely know or understand what it is, its basically a spring driven mechanism using bellows and a variable organ pipe to make bird sounds and move a little birdie around and "sing" (Example of singing bird mechanism working).

     His aunt wants it to be operational again, and after opening it up (not yet taking much apart) I have come to the conclusion that it could just use a good cleaning and oiling. But, my question is, what kind of oil should I use and how should I apply it? I don't have any fancy oils except for a bottle of valve oil for my trumpet at my current disposal, but I would like to buy some decent clockwork oil for this project and a sankyo music box repair I have waiting. 

 

     Note: come to find out while writing this, it was made by eschle reuge I'm Germany, probably around the 50's or 40's.

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I am sooo happy this post started! I have been hoping it would. I have a clockwork toy collection and right now need help with a 30s loop-the-loop toy with  a decreasing strength issue. I would have postd but last week my sister stepped on the two-guys-in-a-cart vehicle that travels the loops and I can't find one wheel. Will pay attention here instead.

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    • The epilame under the oil will also be removed 
    • If we use the rub-off epilame method of pallet stones (run dry for a few minutes before applying the epilame) where will the oil go/be transported when it is pushed away from the impulse surface by the escape wheel teeth? Onto the epilame-treated sections of the pallet! Once the oil has been applied/transported to the epilame-treated sections of the pallet where will it then go? Nowhere as the oil will remain on the epilame. So, perhaps the run-dry method defeats its intended purpose leaving the pallet impulse surfaces dry!? If, on the other hand, we do not remove the epilame from the pallet stones where the escape wheel teeth come in contact with them I'd expect more oil to remain where we want it and need it. Yes, I agree, that is the question, and my gut feeling tells me that is exactly the case. Epilame was created to have an adhesive trait and the oleophobic property is just a side effect.  
    • Might that be the viscous nature of oil resisting gravity H  ,  we have been comparing water and hydrophobic surfaces which are similar in principle but water is much less viscous than oil. I guess what we trying to discover is if epilame also has an adhesive trait as well as being oleophobic. Plus the oil dropet has very little mass for gravity to work on, like watching tiny water beads that can grip onto vertical glass until they are connected together to increase their mass then run down. Gravity isn't the only factor at play when oil is placed on pallet stones. The oil receives a lot of bashing that may push it out of position ? Thinking about it if the oil stays in position for 10 minutes enough time for the escape wheel to scrape off the epilame , then  a walled in lubrication has been achieved,  the epilame is no longer beneath the oil ( possibly mixed into the oil )
    • But it also makes it seem less susceptible to gravity. If you place a droplet of oil on an epilame-treated surface the droplet of oil will still stay in place even if you then flip the surface from a horizontal to a vertical position. That is, the oil droplet remains anchored, and that's the purpose of epilame. If it was just a matter of creating an oleophobic surface we could probably use other, less expensive, methods!? I don't know @Waggy but my gut feeling tells me you're spot on (pun intended!). I believe the oleophobic property is a side effect of epilame which is designed to keep the oil anchored.
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