8 Day Cuckoo Clock

In for repair is an 8-day cuckoo clock with a born date about 1970.  The clock was basically in good condition but needed a ton of TLC.  Nothing super major and very repairable.  All the pieces and parts were present. Everything that is wrong with the clock can be repaired to almost it's original condition.  

Let's go over some of the issues: From an initial assessment, the case was dry, the chains were a little rusty and many links were stretched, the clock hands and nuts were brown and tarnished.  Looking a little deeper under the hood, the movement very dirty and the oil that was still present has hardened around the pivots and throughout the movement.  The bellow tops were damaged and were glued shut.

Here is an image of the clock from the back door.  There is a lot going on under the hood.  It is hard to see how dirty the movement is from this image.  In these smaller cases there is a lot going on inside.   

Let's take a closer look.  Circled are 3 pivot holes.  It is very clear to see the old, dirty, hard oil around the pivot.  This is a clear indicator of pivot hole wear.  The dirty oil also acts to generate friction and adds to the clock not wanting to run.  When a pivot hole is worn, the adjacent wheel does not mesh as manufactured.  This also creates friction and in time will cause the clock to stop. Follow this link to see how worn those pivot holes really are.  The dirt was wiped off the pivot holes in the video so the wear can be seen easier.

Below is another picture of the left or strike side of  the clock movement.  In total there were 10 pivot holes that were significantly worn requiring rebuild

As mentioned earlier, the bellow tops, were damaged and were glued shut.  New bellow tops were installed.  The image below shows the completed tops installed and the original damaged tops between.  Along with replacing the correct size bellow tops, all hardware needed to be moved from the original tops to the new tops.

Here is an image of the bellows after rebuild with the hardware and lifting wires installed

Next the cuckoo bird was replaced.  The original bird had "feet" made of plastic.  Plastic in time gets very brittle.  When the bird was being attached to the Purch, the "feet" snapped. The bird had to be replaced.  A new bird with metal "feet" was selected.  Below is an image of the bird with no "feet".  The red arrow shows the broken "foot".

The clock case was very dusty and dry.  The case was cleaned to remove all the built-up dust and then oiled with high grade wood oil.  At the conclusion of this article is a video showing the clock running, cuckooing, and showing off a clean case.

Most cuckoo chains are made of brass.  This chain was made of steal with a brass coating.  Over time, it became rusty and stiff.  A good cleaning in the ultrasonic cleaner should have corrected this.  Not so.  A replacement chain was obtained and was used.  This would guarantee a better outcome.

Back to the clock movement.

Here is an image of the rebuilt, cleaned and ready for the top plate to be installed.

Before the clock movement is placed in the case, the movement is test run outside the case.  This is done to verify working order and to make any adjustments necessary.  Once this testing is complete, the movement is oiled run again for a couple days and finally placed in the case.  The next image is the cuckoo movement installed in the case.  Note how clean.  Take a closer look at those pivot holes.  They are pristine. Nice and clean and looking and functioning like new.  The new cuckoo bird is installed.  The new bellows are not installed at this time.

Here is the completed clock.  Excuse the grandfather clocks chiming in the background.

Click the image below to see the clock in action.

Before the clock goes home, it is tested to make sure it is keeping time, cuckooing the appropriate number of times on the hour, and anything that might cause the clock not to work correctly.

Once it passes all inspections, the clock is ready to go back to it's owner! 

 

video of completed clock 

https://youtube.com/shorts/GmNaqSBVdnU