Notes from the bench

Notes from the bench: An Online Clock Repair Technical Journal

This is a collection of notes, and technical information on clock repair based on experience working as a clock repair technician. It is licensed under the GNU free documentation license which allows many freedoms. There are also some very important responsibilities that come with the use of the GNU free documentation license.

New: This journal is available in blog form here. The content of the blog is currently being updated in an ongoing process. Pages will be added to the blog as time permits.

Subject links

What can be learned from this journal ?

By studying the entire journal, an intellectual understanding of mechanical clock repair theory can be developed by most persons with above average mechanical aptitude. It is important to keep in mind that clock repair is as much a physical activity as it is an intellectual excercise in problem solving and memorization; and simply knowing the theory will not make one an instant clock repair artist.

Subjects covered include pendulum theory, sympathetic vibration, setting the beat, what causes a clock to stop, and types of tools needed such as countersinks and punch sets. There are a number of sections in the original archive that have assorted specifications for spring size, mainspring size and other mechanical characteristics of different clocks.

There are as of Dec 2002 approximately 80 pages ( 184k ) of condensed information in the archive of this journal. Some of it has been edited and is in the subject index on the left. The rest is unedited and still in the original archive which is a very large text file and may take some time to load if you have a slow connection.

Links to other clock sites:
Historical Clock and Watch Research
The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC)

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Copyright © 2002 David Tarsi. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License"

About the author: David worked in the clock repair trade for nearly 25 years and spent about two thirds of that time at the bench doing actual repair work. The rest of the time was devoted to telephone customer service, new hire training and direct contact with customers at the counter. At the beginning of his career he spent about five years in the manufacturing of clocks. He has an extensive background in electronics and nine years of experience in computer programming and networking. David has Associate of Arts degree from Edmonds Community College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington.