"The Clock Fixer"

In for repair is a very nice carriage clock.  A carriage clock is a small, spring-driven clock, developed in the early 19th century in France.  Who invented the Carriage Clock?  Abraham-Louis Breguet, a renowned horologist.  In 1812.  He made this clock for Emperor Napoleon. This clock was made about 1880.   It is important to inspect these clocks carefully.  If the balance has been damaged or incorrectly repaired, repair success could be in question.  This clock seemed to be complete.  A quick shake of the balance wheel showed that the balance staffs were in OK condition.  Another check on this clock was to see if the clock was fully wound.  If the mainspring was unwound would indicate the mechanism could be in running condition.  The mainspring was unwound.  Although, there was no pressure on the spring.  The first thought was the mainspring was broken.  Upon further evaluation there was much more. Click ...

This post demonstrates what could happen when a mainspring breaks.  The clock in question is a standard American time & strike clock movement.  When a mainspring breaks at the tip where the spring attaches to the mainspring barrel, that can be repaired.  If the mainspring breaks in the middle (like our example) or where it attaches to the mainspring arbor, the spring needs to be replaced. The image below shows the broken mainspring in the middle of the spring.  Note the remaining spring is still attached to the mainspring arbor. This image shows damage to the 2nd wheel arbor.  Luckily only this arbor was damaged.  Pinions and/or trundles can also be damaged.  In our case here only the 2nd wheel arbor too the brunt of the breakage. Usually the bend is primarily located right next to the lantern pinion.  The repair this the wheel was chucked into a lathe close to the pinion.  The arbor was gently tapped and checked until the arbor bent back...

 In for repair is a Gilbert time & strike wall clock.  The age is from the 1940's.  It was purchased in 2005.  Overhauled in January 2024. The case and face is vintage 1940's with cut glass and a very nice full gong sound. The image below is an example of a very  dirty clock.   This image was taken before any work performed.   Upon further examination, there were 12 pivot holes that needed rebuilding.  This image shows the plates and what pivot holes needed bushings .  Inspected all the pivot holes and found very few that needed polishing.  Given the significant wear in the pivot holes, I suspected more pivots needed attention. The canon pinion had globs of old oil between it and the minute arbor.  Definately needed cleaning.  Follow this link to see a short video of the significant wear in the pivot holes. This next image is all the wheels seperated by train.  Strike on the left, time on the right and the m...

 In for repair is a Seth Thomas number 120 mantle clock movement.  Only the movement was given.  There was no pendulum bob.  The work begins......... The image below shows the front plate before any work has been completed.  The mainspring power would be let down and wheels rotated to see how much wear is present in each wheel.  See below for a short video demonstrating the wear. Back plate Front plate partially disassembled.  Mainspring plate and wheels removed along with the front motion works and levers removed.  As you can see the worn pivots holes were marked.  There were 5 pivot holes on the front plate that needed rebuilding and 7 holes on the back.  12 in total. Back plate marked.  Click this image below to display a short video of the pivot hole wear This image shows the front plate removed and the location of all the wheels. The video below demonstrates a clock wheel after the pivot was polished and the pivot hole was rebu...

  Set of three movements on board Front Plate Front Plate with partial lever removed Top plate removed Back plate Front plate showing the amount of dirty oil in pivot holes Broken Suspension  The suspension was a thread like material.  To regulate the clock there is a keyed arbor that wraps the thread materal around the arbor thus making the suspension loop longer or shorter. Damaged mainspring end.  The mainspring end was chiped and down at the bottom of the hole the material is cracked.  This must be rebuilt.  About one inch of the  mainspring was removed.  The end heated and tempered.  From there a hole was punched and filed to size. Repaired Mainspring End.  This image is not the finished product.  As you can see the hole was not centered.  This was corrected with a little more fileing. The barrel was repaired by a previous repairman.  This image shows the repair After all the repair work was completed.  The movem...

 In for repair is a 3 weight cuckoo clock.  The movement is made by the German company Regula.  This is a 30 clock to be wound every day.  The case is in fairly good condition.  The movement has been repaired at least a couple times.  The repair methods in my opinion are questionable.   A nice looking musical cuckoo with dancers The clock movement removed from the case.  Note the red lines pointing to the pivot holes needed attention.  There were 5 worn holes on the back plate and 4 holes on the front for a total of 8 pivot holes needing rebuilding.  The label A shows a bushing placed on the strike side.  Note that there was a problem with the installation of the bushing.  This is seen by the solder used to keep the bushing in place.  The B label and the pivot hole below B was repaired by crowding the brass metal into the hole to close the diameter of the hole to keep the wheel from shaking back and forth.  ...