Would this barrel hold a new spring?

[quantieme]

This might be a stupid question but given the crack in this barrel would it be strong enough to hold a new spring or can the crack be repaired and if so by what method. I will search for a new barrel but just in case I cannot locate one I thought I’d get some opinions. Barrel is 32.6 mm in dia x 35.6 at splined end x 23 mm high if someone knows of one. Thanks.

[Tmuir]

Do not put a spring in it with a crack in the barrel like that.

At some point it will fail with spectacular results.

If you cant find a replacement barrel it will need to be repaired.

The tube part is just soft soldered to the wheel, it will need to be desoldered and a new tube and possibly end cap will need to be made to fit unless you can find a donor barrel of the same diameter and height that can also be desldered and fitted to the wheel. The endcap from the donor barrel tube would need to be bushed to fit the arbor too obviously.

[oldhippy]

When the crack is close to the stud, I would go about it the way Tmuir has suggested. Looks like a barrel from a French movement. 

[quantieme]

yes it is from the movement i asked if anyone could identify the maker a couple of days ago. I am looking at a job lot of french barrels on ebay so hopefully they wont go for too much and i can find a suitable donor from them.

[yankeedog]

If a replacement cannot be found ,I think it could be soldered.I would use rosin core solder .keeping the iron on the inside and applying solder from the outside working from the top towards the bottom.

[yankeedog]

If exterior dimensions permit it could be wire wrapped.

[quantieme]

3 hours ago, yankeedog said:

If exterior dimensions permit it could be wire wrapped.

yes there is plenty of room for that or i was thinking of making a brass plate and soldering it and screwing it on either side of the crack but only as a last resort if i cannot find a replacement.

[yankeedog]

A brass plate would work.soldering works well with brass.I don't know about screws.the metal looks a bit thin and soft. And it's not flat.screws might distort it.

[oldhippy]

That is not the correct way to go. No offence, but if a clock had come to me like that some of these types of repairs that are being suggest I would class them as bodged up repairs. They would be replaced by the method suggested by Tmuir and myself. Clocks should be repaired/restored correctly or not at all.   

[rodabod]

Soft solder would not be strong enough for that anyway. If you really wanted to re-use that barrel wall, then you'd possibly move the hooking point to another part of the wall and then hard solder the crack. A waste of effort when you can do a better job by replacing in my opinion. It was quite possibly caused by a previous mainspring breaking as the sudden expansion of the spring can destroy the barrel. Been there, done that!

Edited September 22, 2018 by rodabod

[Tmuir]

The other issue with the soft solder repair you are suggesting is the crack is up the the hook which has been riveted in place, so the crack will of weakened that too. If you soft solder it you may still find the hook pulls out of the barrel with bad results.

I know its more work but repairing a cracked barrel tube with soft solder is not an option.

Soft solder is great for 'sticking' things together, but is not good for items under stress like a barrel with a spring inside it.

That is why you can use it to soft solder the tube to the wheel as it is not under great stress there like it would be holding the barrel together.

[quantieme]

4 hours ago, oldhippy said:

 

That is not the correct way to go. No offence, but if a clock had come to me like that some of these types of repairs that are being suggest I would class them as bodged up repairs. They would be replaced by the method suggested by Tmuir and myself. Clocks should be repaired/restored correctly or not at all.   

no offence taken, that is why i ask questions on this site to get professional opinions. i absolutely hate bodged repairs so i will go with the replacement barrel option. I would never have been 100 per cent happy with a non standard repair.

[quantieme]

2 hours ago, rodabod said:

Soft solder would not be strong enough for that anyway. If you really wanted to re-use that barrel wall, then you'd possibly move the hooking point to another part of the wall and then hard solder the crack. A waste of effort when you can do a better job by replacing in my opinion. It was quite possibly caused by a previous mainspring breaking as the sudden expansion of the spring can destroy the barrel. Been there, done that!

yes the spring was broken in that barrel which is what probably caused the crack in the first place.

[watchweasol]

Hi   I have a few old french mov's  what are the dimentions of the barrel

[watchweasol]

Hi   did not look lose enough got the size  what make of french clock is it (japy feres   Marti ??

[watchweasol]

Hi    Dug out the old barrels the sizes are:-

Toothed end

 

[watchweasol]

Hi Finger trouble.

Toothed end                     Dia                        Height

36.6                                    33.3                        25.3

36.1                                     33.6                        25.3

36.3                                      33.3                       25.5

36.5                                     33.3                         23.4

36.1                                       33.2                       25.4

36.6                                       33.4                        25.5

all french clock barrels, mougin feres etc if you want one or two message me ,  I am on facebook and email

 Weasol