clock repair archive

December 24, 2022:
This archive was started over 35 years ago, when I was working as a clock repair technician. I spent nearly a quarter of a century in that work. This was before the World Wide Web existed as we know it and long before cell phones or any of the electronics we now consider common existed. When I started as a clock repair technician, personal computers were unheard of, and the internet did not exist. Hand held scientific calculators, such as the TI-83 were also unheard of. At that point in time mechanical clocks were quite relevant, and had been for over 150 years. They are still relevant. I am still monitoring these web pages and this website. Hopefully I will have time to complete this "e book" before my time here is finished.
These notes were initially made to help me remember key concepts and critical information regarding all the different clocks I had worked on and all the important concepts needed to successfully restore antique clocks. Most of these notes will not be of much use to the "average" person. The actual experience of working on clocks is necessary to enable understanding these notes.

This is a work in progress , far from finished. I have made the format simple so it will be readable by as many as possible. In other words no pictures with animation and huge bandwidth. No special programs are required to read this on the web. Any operating system that will support even the simplest browser , including text browsers , will be able to display this information. This is very bland and boring you might say. You are probably right ; however I will continue to offer this text version because it is fast and does not exclude those persons , who by no fault of their own , do not have access to high speed internet connections or expensive computer equipment (Yes , to many people new computer equipment is very expensive and out of reach). I have included some pictures but they are in links to keep things as fast as possible. Please be aware that when you click on a link to a picture it may take considerable time for the page to download if you have a slow connection. There is much information here and I must admit it is very disorganized and somewhat cryptic at times as you read through.The reason is that this is a collection of notes made at the bench while doing repair over a period of about 15 years with information added from additional experience prior to that time period. These are pretty much still in the "notes" phase , useful mainly to other repair persons. As I get time I will be editing this document , so it should improve greatly with time. The subjects links now(07/20/02) cover about 1/10 of the total document in it's current condensed form.

Why put them on the net now when they are just a bunch of disorganized notes ? First , clock repair is a trade with skills that are not widely published. Second, clock repair is an old trade and information technology is a new trade. It is my opinion that mixing the two is very important mainly because they both should exist to help people and together they can both be of more use to all persons. Information itself is , in my opinion , to be shared with all persons. This is how we grow and change for the betterment of all humanity. I don't mean to say that clock repair will help all humanity. It is merely a small part of the huge sphere of general knowledge. There are many aspects of clock repair that will help people get a different perspective on life itself , and some if it is just downright interesting to many people.

You can use the "find" function in your browser to search for terms. For example if you want to know what is here regarding antique Seth Thomas clocks ; just type that in the find box the your browser produces and you will be able to read what is in this archive about those clocks.At this point in time this is intended mainly for use by repair persons looking for help with a particular problem clock. In the future there will be many revisions hopefully making this information much easier to use.

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Subject links

Antique cuckoo specs
Chain problems
Cuckoo clock chain fitting
Date code
Dial removal
Eight day Regula cuckoo
E Ingraham duplex no 3
Elliott clock
Gilbert
GNU Free Documentation License
Golden Hour clock glass
Herschede
How to drill glass
Junghans
Lubrication
Mainspring specs
New Haven
Oil
Saw clock(rack clock)
Sessions Inlay Number 6
Seth Thomas 115d
Seth Thomas a-200
Seth Thomas ships clock military time
Seth Thomas 124
Ships bell sequence
Strike hammer support spring
Suspension repair
Telechron
Tools
Waterbury 3 plate w/c

INTRODUCTION

Over the years there have been millions of clocks made ; with thousands of various models and styles , both in case style and mechanism design. The scope of this journal covers clocks made from the late 1700's to the present day (1990's). The information presented here is based on approximately 25 years of involvement in various aspects of clock repair, which include: manufacturing of new clocks ; retail repair at the bench ; some counter work ; many hours of customer contact on the telephone ,and some management duties. I will be attempting to present all that I have learned so others will have the opportunity to benefit from this information.

One of the biggest problems in clock repair is , in my opinion , fixing clocks that have already been fixed and still don't work. Look for blobs of solder, sheet metal screws super glue or other types of glue ,and excessive amounts of oil. These are warning signals, if you see any of these , be prepared to find all sorts of problems when doing the work. Another problem which shows up when repair shops get busy is the continued barrage of interruptions from various sources such as telephone calls ,customers , and questions from trainees. If you are managing a repair shop , keep in mind that after a certain point the number of interruptions that you allow your repair technicians to endure will reduce their efficiency so as to make them totally useless as technicians , or receptionists! Not that there is anything wrong with receptionists or technicians , just that their jobs are not compatible. I will be covering mostly mechanical repair , and not much on case repair, as this is woodworking and is not my expertise.If you are repairing clocks for a living , there is a balance to be maintained. Enough work needs to be done to make a living , but without sacrificing quality . Sometimes it is best to tell a customer no rather than do a halfway job because it will usually come back to haunt you ; or worse it won't come back to you ; but to the other shop in town.

Repairing clocks requires the patience of a saint , resourcefulness and creativity , and far above average mechanical aptitude. Unfortunately clock repair is an occupation that has about as many ways to do things as there are people doing them . There are "correct" ways to do things that work ; and there are ways to do things that work. "Correct" yes, but by whose standards? In countries other than the U.S. there are clock guilds that establish methods of repair. These guilds have had, in the past, the power to regulate the clock repair and manufacturing activites in their geographical areas of influence. In the present time these kinds of organizations do not have as much power as they did in the past.

Usually if a clock doesn't work there is not much physical danger to anyone; however, if someone works on your car's brake system and that system fails the results can be fatal, so government regulation is therefore necessary to preserve people's safety. This means there are correct ways to fix brakes and incorrect ways to fix them and it is mandatory that they be fixed the "correct" way. This situation does not exist with clocks. If your clock gets fixed in a manner that is not "correct" it may still work , and work just fine. If you are a hobbyist fixing clocks for fun , then you make your own rules. When fixing clocks for a living , the temptation to get the job done as quickly as possible is often too great for many to resist ; and as a result work is often done in what I call a "quick fix" manor ( blobs of solder ; pieces of brass glued to the plate I guess to supposedly hold pivots in place ; blobs of glue holding levers together ; screw on bushings ; teeth tack - soldered on the outside of gears; the list goes on). These tactics often work and work quite well for some time. Sometimes things go wrong that even the best repair person cannot anticipate.For example I have disassembled clocks that have come to me for repair with many nice looking bushings installed only to find pivots that have nicks and pits and scratches all over them. This can happen even if the repair person was very careful to polish the pivots and fit the new bushings before putting the clock back together. My position is that clock repair should , as closely as possible , restore a clock to its original condition. How do you know what "original condition is". You deal with customers over and over again who bring clocks in that have been in their family for 100 and sometimes 150 years and they tell you what its history is. You see these situations over and over again and after 10 or 15 years you will know the meaning of "original condition". Often times this is not a good way to make a living because the time involved is too great , or the skills needed simply do not exist to restore a clock to original condition. However, many times modern replacement parts are available that will very closely match the original part. This helps. What I am attempting to do here is give my perspective on repair. I know what works and what does not work. I have seen many short cuts people have used that worked for a while. I have seen how those short cuts fail. This tells me not to use them.

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 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.

Assorted Specifications International Time recording company of new york (of Endicott New York) : worked on a clock that had this name on it. Four patent dates on the bottom of dial panel: October 4 1904 ; March 28 1905 ; May 19 1908 ; September 28 1909. It is a dual mainspring time only unit with run down indicators on the dial face. Has winding stops. The mainsprings are .035 inches strong by ¾ inches wide and approx. 8 feet long. it has a dead beat escapement. Has a chrome colored pendulum weighing about 8 pounds. The key is huge ; the arbors measure .275 inches square with diagonal measurement of .375 inches. The key measures .290 inches square and the diagonal measurement of the key is .385 inches. The entire clock weighs about 40 pounds or so and the case is made of Oak. The numbers stamped on the mechanism are 88 10810 and .037. E ingraham 8 day time and strike tambour mantle with hammer and bell. The mainsprings measure .018 inches by ¾ inches by 96inches. The pendulum length is 5.25 inches with 2.5 ounce pend . Printing stamped on the mechanism: E. Ingraham co. Bristol ct. usa. The Waterbury time and strike tambour mantle clock with steel plates and brass bushings that has the name Cheyene on the bottom of the case along with the number 12934 stamped on the paper has a strike mainspring not quite as strong as the typical 8 day american clock. The time mainspring measures the same: .016 INCHES STRONG PLUS OR MINUS .0005 INCHES BY .075 INCHES PLUS OR MINUS .010 INCHES BY 96 INCHES LONG PLUS OR MINUS 3 INCHES. Waterbury LARGE time only with second hand . Called the walnut regulator #9. The suspension is .0025 inches strong. The distance between the pins on the suspension is very critical because of the way the pendulum hooks on to the suspension. The distance should be .895 inches. The thickness of the brass used in the suspension should be .060 inches. The pendulum is extremely heavy. It attaches to the suspension by means of a screw and a hook. Very large grandfather clock called Jacques named after the designer Charles Jacque . The mechanism was made in Europe and the rest of the clock was made in America. This particular model has seven melodies ; one for each day of the week. It automatically changes each day. There are 13 tubes in this particular one. the wall thickness of the tubes is .040 inches and the outside diameter of the tubes is 1.1275 inches. The order of hanging of the tubes is as follows: looking at the front of the clock take note of the dial ; and the position of the 12 , 3 , 6 , and 9 : the shortest tube is located on the left side (or the 9 side) . The tubes will be given numbers here for reference purposes the shortest being #13 and the longest being #1.The order of position from left to right is : 13 ; 10 ; 7 ; 5 ; 2 ; 1 ; 3 ; 4 ; 6 ; 8 ; 9 ; 11 ; 12. The top of the pendulum is held to the rest of it by a thumbscrew : be sure that the indents are in the top and bottom holes and the thumbscrew is in the middle hole or the clock may run either very fast or very slow. Seth Thomas time and strike Mantle clock with fishing scene on the glass (silver color). Has 5 7/8 stamped on the movement . Made in Thomaston Ct. Has the Seth Thomas emblem stamped on the plate immediately below the suspension post. The mechanism has Lyre shaped plates ; and the main wheels are the ribbed type. The pendulum is silver colored with circle designs on it. The strike mainspring is : .019 inches strong by .690 inches wide by approximately 96 inches long. The time mainspring is .016 inches strong by .690 inches wide by approximately 96 inches long. One of the plate screws is directly below the escape wheel . To get the screw out without damaging the escape wheel simply loosen the screws on the other 3 posts then move the escape wheel out of the holder by bending it up just enough to clear the escape wheel pivot so the wheel will drop back far enough to loosen the screw. This mechanism does not have return springs on the shutoff arms. Seth Thomas clock that has paper in the back that says Eight Day Half Hour Strike . Has 5 7/8 ½ stamped on the movement plate (lower strike side) . The strike mainspring and the time mainspring are the same. .018in. by .690in. by 116in. long. The suspension spring is .003 inches strong by .250 inches wide by .860 inches long (pin to pin) . The leader plus susp is 6 5/8 inches long ; the pendulum is 2.5 inches in diameter and weighs 5.5 ounces. the length of the adjusting threads is 7/8 inches ; the length of the brass portion of the suspension is 5.5 inches. This particular mechanism has a retaining lever that holds the strike trip lever stable . It rides on the shaft of the idler gear in the time train. There is a steel pin protruding from this lever that allows the trip lever to rest on it. This clock has an alarm in it . The spring for the alarm is .250 inches wide and .012 inches strong and when fully wound the spring has a diameter of .660 inches. The sonora chime by Seth Thomas that has dual chimes (whittington and westminster ) has 2 small dials about 1 ½ inches in diameter on the top of the face . One of them is for the chime selection and the other is for the timekeeping adjustment. The mainspring in the chime unit is larger than in the single chime unit; it's dimensions are: strength: .00215inches by 1.375 inches wide by approximately 106 inches long. The sequence of the hammers is as follows: looking in the back of the case assign numbers to the hammers and let the hammer closest to the back be #1 . The wittington sequence is as follows at the quarter hour chime: 1, 4, 6, 7, 2 ,3 ,5 ,8. The westminster chime at the quarter hour is: 6, 7 ,2 ,8. KUNDO ELECTRONIC: The Kundo ELECTRONIC clock ( made by Kieninger and Obergfell in Germany ) uses a 1.5 volt power source. The blue wire is to be hooked to the negative and the red wire should be hooked to the positive side of the battery source. This particular type of clock has a transistorized multivibrator circuit inside the bottom of the case That , if working properly , sends a pulse to the coil at precise intervals to make the pendulum swing. There is only one coil on this model and the lever on top that advances the gear train one space at a time does not have an electrical switch as an integral part of it. The suspension spring measures : .002 inches strong by .160 inches wide both sides ; brass thickness is .061 inches. Pin to hole distance is : .385 inches. ASSORTED SPECIFICATIONS: Technical information about the Seth Thomas #113A mechanism.The mechanism plays the westminster chime on a set of 5 rods friction fit into a gong block that says Mayland NY USA on it . The rods are a steel color and are .116 inches in diameter. This particular mechanism has 10521 stamped directly below the in.Seth Thomas # 113 A identification on the back plate. The suspension spring is .003 inches strong by .250 inches wide and the distance between the pins is 1.060 inches. The pendulum leader is 3.225 inches long. The winding gears are the same IE: the small gears that go on the arbors are all the same (diameter and tooth count ) and the larger gears are also the same likewise. The time and strike barrells are identical in that they both have the same tooth count and the same diameter and the same barrell diameter and the same width : 76 teeth 2.255 inches diameter (gear end) 2.046 inches barrell diameter and 1.040 inches thick. The chime barrell has a gear diameter of 2.505 inches and barrell diameter of 2.315 inches and a thickness of 1.150 inches and a tooth count of 84. The self correct spring is made of blued steel and has a dimple on the end . It is .165 inches wide and .009 inches strong. The chime trip lever cog has a return spring that is .013 inches strong. The strike shutoff lever return spring is .014 inches strong. The chime trip lever return spring is also .014 inches strong. The chime mainspring is 1in. by .018in. by 92 inches ; the strike and time mainsprings are the same : .875in. by .018in. by 82 inches. The 113A ; 113; and 113AB take different mainsprings. The strike shutoff cam on this clock wears towards the rack and consequentially it will bind when it finally wears down far enough to bottom out on the rack. Waterbury triple plate westminster chime mechanism: mainspring specs: Time mainspring: .018in. X .750in. X 96in. Strike mainspring: .014in. X .750in. X 96in. Chime mainspring: .0225in. X .874in. X 78in. At this time there is no replacement available for the chime mainspring; it must be custom made. New Haven: Small beehive style mantle with a round mechanism (spring drive) 8 day the information on the inside back gives regulation parameters. The name of the clock is the Petite. Regulator: ¼ turn = 1 minute in 24 hours. This is from the original instructions from the factory. Seth Thomas 124 : Rack return spring : .010in. / Suspension spring thickness: .001in. .900in. long , .190in. wide. Hammer return spring: .016in. strong, trip lever return spring: .010in. inside plate , .013 outside plate. Regulation on the Seth Thomas 124: left for slower , right for faster 2 ½ minutes per day = 1 turn. Regulation on Seth Thomas A--- 200 series movement : left for slower , right for faster 4 1/3 minutes per day = 1 turn. The Kieninger strike hammer support spring is .0075in. thick and .200in. wide. These are used on the ksu movement. The Junghans w/c mechanism return spring on the trip lever is .015in. ; it is usually brass. There is a mantle clock made by Sessions that is a time only clock ; but looks like a time and strike unit in every way except there is only one place to wind the clock. The clock says No. 706 eight day time on the back on the label . It is an eight day clock. The clock says Made In USA on the dial but thats all. The mechanism is stamped made by Sessions clock company , Forrestville on the front plate. GENERAL INFORMATION (TOOLS) There is a countersink tool that you will inevitably need. Actually a set of them will probably be needed . PICTURE These are available from various tool manufacturers ; however it will probably be necessary to make your own to custom fit to the bushing sizes. Many times it will be necessary to cut the protruding edge of a bushing flush with the plate surface to clear levers or gears that ride close to the plate. I have made mine out of drill rod. Harden them by dipping them in water immediately after heating them to a cherry red . They will cut brass or bronze quite well however cutting steel will dull them very quickly. Keep on hand a couple of blocks of aluminum and brass about ¾ in. square and 21/2 in. long. Three sets of numbered drill bits 60 through 80 and 1 through 60 and lettered drill bits will be absolutely necessary. Use the blocks to provide custom drilled holes when there is a need for a specific size and depth. Yes the aluminum and brass is soft but that is precisely what is needed most of the time. The aluminum or brass will hold the shaft or pivot while the collar or gear is driven on without damaging it. It is often necessary to have a hole precisely fit to a shaft to install or remove collars or gears and the only way to do this is to drill the holes to fit the shaft exactly. A keyboard ; a board with holes drilled for each size of key will be convenient to carry from clock to clock so that the necessary key will be available with a minimum of running around the shop. In my opinion , a watchmakers lathe is the best type or lathe to use . If possible have on hand collets 1 through 80. A d.c. motor powered by a battery charger with a resistive foot pedal on the a.c. line offers a good measure of safety because the motor uses low voltage. This system also has , in most cases , higher torque. A tool for cutting down lantern pinions to the proper length can be made by cutting a piece of round stock of brass or steel and drilling a hole through the middle as if you are performing a repivot job. Drill the hole all the way through up to twice the diameter of the pinions that are being replaced. PICTURE . Supply stock to fit through the hole with a clamp on one side. Place the old pinion in the end; bring the stock up to the old pinion and push it up until it is even with the end of the drilled stock; set the clamp on the end ; now there is a reference point and the new pinions can be cut. Also the pinions can be held and ground on the wheel. METALS: Brass: Brass is an alloy of copper, lead, tin, and zinc. If brass gets hot it will get softer according to how hot it gets. It is important to remember this when soldering brass parts ; do not get them too hot or they will be ruined. How hot is too hot? Hot enough to melt lead solder is ok, generally speaking. If you are going to try silver solder be careful. much over 450 degrees F and you will probably make the part that you are trying to fix useless. the bottom line here is : if at all possible do not solder ; use it as a last resort. BE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT ALL THE FLUX IS REMOVED OR THE PART WILL BE DAMAGED, PROBABLY BEYOND REPAIR. To make brass harder , it must be struck , preferably with a smooth hammer while the piece that is being worked is resting on an anvil . The longer and harder it is worked the harder it will get. For example , it is possible to make a click spring out of soft brass by hammering on it and shaping it. Use hard steel to repivot; it is available through almost every supplier. I recommend using drill rod to make levers and shafts; it can be hardened if desired and is relatively easy to work with. A tool for installing click springs can be made by cutting a narrow slit in the end of a piece of drill rod just wide enough for the spring and deep enough to hold it. Harden the end and you will be able to install just about any friction fit click spring. Remember to use a hole closing punch on the holes before installing the spring so it will be tight. Round ended punches ; small ,medium, and large will be ;needed . Two punches for straightening gear teeth are a must if any work with bent gear teeth is to be done .PICTURE. The end should be hardened and the edge should be as sharp as possible. CLEANING In my opinion ultrasonic cleaning machines are the best way to clean clock mechanisms, if it is understood how they work, and what they do to metal. If petroleum based cleaners are to be used , it is absolutely imperative to remember the following information: The brass and steel metal in clocks has microscopic holes that the oil will fill and hold a thin film on top. When the clock mechanisms are run through the ultrasonic cleaner ; all the oil even the oil that is imbedded in the pores of the metal is removed. When the surface is re-oiled the new oil will often be soaked up and the result is the same as if the part had not even been oiled in the first place. Disassembly is a must. It is not possible , in my opinion , to properly clean a clock mechanism without disassembling it totally. It is best to use a cleaner and a rinse in separate containers preferably 2 separate cleaning machines at a minimum. The ultrasonic machines work by actually vibrating the liquid at about 15,000 hertz forming small bubbles that effectively scrub the objects in the tank clean. Water based cleaners: Often it will be necessary to use water based cleaners. Be absolutely certain that all the moisture is removed from the mechanism before re-assembly and if a dryer is used be aware that plastic parts will melt! I have seen many clocks that have been destroyed by rust. Avoid using substances that are extremely caustic or acidic , they may do a great job of cleaning the mechanism and make look shiny and bright , but the steel parts will most certainly rust later and if this rust is not removed , the mechanism will be destroyed. Another way to clean is to use a tooth pick on the pivot holes. This takes a long time , and is very tedious, but sometimes it is the only way to get the thing cleaned. A small amount of cleaning solvent on the end of the tooth pick will make it a faster operation. Twisting the toothpick slowly by hand probably is the best way to insure that the pick wont break off in the hole. I find it necessary to use a magnifier to check the Inside of the bushing to determine when it is clean. BUSHINGS: Bronze bushings will outlast brass in most cases. Be sure to check for wear that does not show: that is , wear underneath the oil cup. Before pressing in a new bushing be absolutely sure that the hole is re-centered. PICTURE Reamers are available that will make a hole just the right size for the bushing to be press-fit into the plate. I have always used a micrometer to measure the pivot sizes and it seems to work just fine. Remember that when a bushing is pressed into the brass plate, the hole in the center of the bushing will be squeezed to a smaller size, Between .001 and .002 is common. Keep this in mind when choosing the bushing size for the pivot.Relocating a worn bushing to its true center is difficult and must be done carefully. Before disassembling the mechanism, after cleaning it, check each bushing to find out how much wear has occurred. The bushings that are worn should be marked, if necessary , and the amount and direction of wear should be noted , by a mark on the plate with a non-permanent marking pen with an extremely fine point. I have used a small round taper file to back file the bushings to their original center. Do this by filing back as far as they have worn.Use a drill bit to open up the hole before using the reamer on it. REPIVOTING: Repivoting skills are a must. The only way to become proficient at this is practice; lots of practice. Accuracy to within .001in. Is absolutely necessary if repivoting jobs in clock repair are to be done properly. With the piece in the lathe, perfectly centered, bring the point of the graver SLOWLY to the center of the work as it is spinning. In the instant before the end of the graver contacts the end of the spinning stock, holding your breath is a good way to steady your touch . Of course, using the steady rest as a solid anchor for the graver is a must. In order to make the stock end true center visable; square off the end with a file as it is spinning in the lathe. The resulting circular pattern will appear to come to a point; the point is the true center of the spinning stock. If the true center is struck, there will be a cone shaped indentation in the end of the stock. If there is a tiny protruding dimple in the middle of the cone , then center has not been properly struck. You will have to start over with a flat surface again. You must either have exceptional vision, or learn to use a magnifier. A sharp graver is needed. continue to practice striking center and avoid the small dimple in the middle. When you drill the stock go slowly and use a pivot drill whenever possible. The hole that is drilled should be about .001in. smaller than the stock you intend to use. This is true for most repivoting work in clocks on straight shafts larger than .020in.. Use the lathe and wire chucks to install (drive in( the new pivot.(PICTURE). It should not be necessary to strike the pivot end very hard to get the pivot to seat properly. If possible the hole for the pivot should be twice as deep as the pivot is long. This is not always possible, however. If you are drilling into a shaft that has a gear over where the pivot is located ; ;be very careful not to drill into the gear so as to weaken it. Check this out in advance. In order to drill hard steel properly , you will have to draw the temper on it do the work, and then re-temper the piece when you are done (before you install the new pivot(. This is the correct way to fix a bad pivot in almost all cases. Repivoting may seem impossible when you first start ; but it will get easier with practice. There will indeed be times when it may not be practical to repivot. For example : a french clock with the pinion gear as an integral part of the shaft with a bad pivot in the opposite ind: the shaft will be very hard steel , and it will be very difficult to strike center. This principal of repivoting applies to more than just repivoting. SETH THOMAS CLOCKS The Seth Thomas clock company has made millions of clocks, many of which have 2 mainsprings , two gear trains ,and one count wheel. Most of these types of mechanism have a wire lock arm system which usually consists of two small shafts with wires attached to trip the strike in conjunction with the count wheel. PICTURE. The bushings for the lock arms are critical. They must be loose , but not too loose. Any thing over about.006in. oil probably cause problems; unless the shutoff wire has a return spring. If the actual shutoff wire has a return spring , it may forgive some slop however ,be careful, and be sure to check the operation of the wire very carefully. The slop in the bushing will cause sideways movement of the arm and may be enough to disrupt the action between the shutoff lever and the count wheel. The slot in the count wheel that the flat wire end drops into is not very wide. Another part of the strike system that is critical is the lift cam attached to the centerpost. PICTURE . This cam is almost always press-fit. It must be tight enough so that it cannot be moved by even the strongest hand. If this cam is soldered, beware, this almost always means that it has either come loose , or someone didn't know what they were doing. The lever hooked to the count arm that works with this cam must contact that cam at the center of both the cam and the lever. PICTURE. If the cam does not have a beveled edge , then the minute hand should not be turned backwards. If the cam has a beveled edge , then counter clockwise motion is probably an option. The lever will usually gave an angeled edge so that it will spring back out or the way of the cam when it moves counterclockwise. All of the levers that are hooked into the count arm axles must be absolutely tight. They must not be able to move under normal operating conditions. It is not necessary to solder these parts to make them stay put. However if they gave been damaged, as a last resort from a practical standpoint, soldering may be the only option. Remember to use only enough solder to do the job. Again, let me stress, be absolutely certain that all the flux is removed when the job is done before the clock is reassembled. Many of these clocks have escape wheels with somewhat long fine teeth. Be careful , they bend very easily. The Dead Beat type of escapement is common on this type of mechanism. Be aware of this and keep in mind that the tolerance of the bushings on the escape wheel and the verge are critical if the clock is to keep good time. If the verge is located on the front or back outside of the plate; it still must not have sloppy bushings. (PICTURE OF TOOL TO REPAIR THESE BUSHINGS.). Always check for worn main wheel gear teeth, and worn pinions (wire pinions can be replaced of course) these two situations will cause stoppage and timekeeping problems. PICTURE. Also check for bent gear teeth ;even slightly bent teeth can cause the clock to stop.The seth Thomas Adamatine clock regulator: 1 turn is 2 min in 24 hours. The mainsprings in these clocks are of the standard .018in. by .750in. by 96in. american manufacture. They must be thoroughly cleaned and all the old oil must be removed without scoring the spring. They must be unwound ;opened up entirely and all the surface cleaned by other than an ultrasonic cleaning machine. The ultrasonic can and probably should be the first cleaning step. There are in fact some movements that don't take the standard size spring so be sure to measure the springs carefully. A sticky or fatigued mainspring can cause the clock to stop erratically , and or not keep time. Problems with the strike will also be experienced; such as sequence getting off and or the speed or the strike varying. Some of these mechanisms will have a return spring on the shutoff, and some will not. Care must be taken to insure that the strength of the return spring is not strong enough to make the clock stop. Also make sure that the surface of the trip cam is not rough enough to add enough friction to stop the time gear train. The cam lift surface must be smooth. I have found that cleaning mainsprings with an abrasive substance such as sandpaper is ok as long as the spring surface is not scratched excessively. If the surface of the spring is scratched, then friction will be added in direct proportion to the extent of the scratches , quite possibly more than the old oil that was removed by the substance in the first place. A self defeating situation at best!! Use fine steel wool with cleaning solvent to remove the old oil. The old oil will often look like a yellowish brown stain and can be mistaken for the color of the steel if you are not aware of this. Some springs do have this color; so check if the stain can be removed by fine steel wool and solvent, it is probably not the steel color! THE SETH THOMAS 124 The seth thomas 124 is a westminster chime mechanism with mainsprings wrapped in barrels attached to the front plate (by rivets or screws). The gear teeth on this mechanism are shaped slightly different than on most older clocks. The number 2 wheel time , in m;y opinion , is the achilles heel of this clock. When overhauling one of these pay very close attention to the brass gear; specifically the gear teeth . If these teeth are worn (picture) it will be necessary to turn the wheel over or replace it. that is it. This problem will have to be addressed, or the clock will not work. The clock will either not keep time, or will stop inconsistently, or will exhibit both of these problems. Also be prepared to turn the main wheels if the teeth are worn. The self correct lever on the front plate must be absolutely free to drop. Do not get any oil behind this lever , or the mechanism will not work. The oil will keep the lever from dropping freely.and the chime sequence will not correct. There are 2 small washers that fit on the movement posts on the bottom. The purpose of these washers is to compensate for the thickness of the plate on the upper part or the mechanism. Do not omit these washers; if they aren't there , they should be. They need to be the same thickness as the top plate. The shutoff lever on the inside of the plate will break if you try to bend it. Do not try to bend that lever; it is hard brass. If that lever is broken , it will take a lot longer to fix than simply opening up the plates and moving the gears until they are in the correct position . The swing on the pendulum is normally quite excessive, an arc of 2 inches in not uncommon. The pendulum is quite heavy (2 ¾ oz. usually). If the pendulum arc is not within this parameter, it is very likely that there are problems that haven't been discovered. On this mechanism , the depth of the gears in the time train is critical , partially because there is one extra gear at compared to other 8 day westminster chime clocks,and partially because the mainspring is not of excessive strength. The pivots on these clocks are not plated and the bushings tend to be prone to wear. The hammers will tend to bounce on most of these mechanisms. Somewhat thick grease (mainspring lube, for example) will help some. Trial and error adjustment of the hammers will also help. Most of the 124 mechanisms have a chime/silent device, that lifts the first 4 hammers so no chime sounds but there will be gear noise, and the strike will still sound in most cases. Be sure to check the strike trip lever that is activated by the large pin on the front of the chime sequence cam. It should lift the strike lock lever enough to clear the rack and allow the rack to fall and the 5th wheel the rotate HALFWAY around to the lock lever which should get enough travel so that the strike hammer waits long enough to allow for the strike to sound like a separate sequence from the chime. Total suspension length is 3.970 inches. Another suspension was measured that was .004 inches strong by .186 inches wide with a suspension wire diameter of .075 inches. Total suspension length is 3.970 inches . The mainsprings on these measure : chime: .750 inches wide by 72 inches long by .015 inches strong ; strike : .014 inches strong by .687 inches wide by 53 inches long ; time .014 inches strong by .687 inches wide by 75 inches long. SETH THOMAS SONORA CHIME This clock has two mechanisms. The one closest to the front of the clock powers the strike and the time gear trains. It also trips the chime. The chime mechanism is closest to the back of the clock. The chime mechanism has a huge mainspring and mainspring barrell. Pay very close attention to the teeth on this barrell; if this mainspring or barrell lets go , it will do much damage th the mechanism and possibly to someone's finger. Most of these clocks are not self correcting on the chime or the strike.The mechanism that runs the strike and the time is very similar to the 8 day time and strike american clock mechanisms. The chime usually is sounded on a row of bells mounted above a resonating box. These clocks have a beautiful sound in my opinion. The hammer sequence is different on these clocks than on the modern german w/c self correcting mechanisms. The time and strike mechanism is activated by the chime mechanism , however ,the chime mechanism is activated by the trip lever and the trip cam in the time and strike mechanism. Be absolutely sure to check the ratchet dog system on the chime mechanism; I have seen many of these loose when they come in for repair. If one of these lets go , the results will be disastrous indeed. There is usually a pin on the inside of the ratchet that the click spring pushes on to make the click work. Be sure to check this pin very carefully , it must not be loose , or the ratchet system will fail. The pendulum on these mechanisms usually will have at lease 2 inches of swing, and the pendulum bob is one of the heavier (2 ¾ ounces typically) types. Before getting too far on the repair of one of these clocks . it is very wise to check the gear teeth on the chime mainspring barrell. If the barrell is bad , there is no point in doing the rest of the work until the barrell problem can be resolved. If the chime mechanism won't work , then neither will the strike . The hammer throw is critical on these clocks ; it may have to be reduced if it has been tampered with . Take the hammer =assembly out , take it apart and clean it throughly. I have frequently seen these mechanisms bind up because of excessive hammer friction due to too much throw or gummy oil. The hammer sequence on this mechanism is different than usual. It is as follows: looking in the back of the clock and assigning numbers to the four bells used for the quarter hour melody starting with the bell closest to the back door and calling it #1 and the one next to it #2 ,Then #3 and finally #4 , not counting the bell used for the hour strike or course , the order for the quarter hour chime (down the scale westminster) is ; 2 ,4 ,1 ,3 . This same sequence would also apply to the 3rd measure of the ¾ hour chime. TWO SPRING W/C SESSIONS 22,23 The sessions westminster chime mechanism with only 2 mainsprings can be recognized by the silver colored large hammer lift assembly on the back plate that is quite obvious when you open the back door. This is not present on time and strike mehanism. The assembly is spring loaded . If there is not a coil spring in the cap on the end , there should be! This mechanism has 2 racks and 2 snails. The front rack and snail controls the hour count, the rack and snail behind these control the quarter hour chime. the two racks work together , in other words they both always drop, and the gathering pallet cam picks both of them up together. They are offset from each other, that is they drop to different levels. The snail for the hour has 12 levels; the one for the quarter hour has four levels. Behind the hammer lift assembly on the back plate is a fixed indexing pin permanently attached to the plate; it should not move, or be moved unless someone has tampered with it. the hammer lift assembly has a hole in it that snaps onto the indexing pin at the end of the hour chime sequence , allowing the hour count to finish the remaining gear travel allowed for by the hour strike rack action. The power to run the chime and strike is transfered through the long shaft that runs through the hammer lift assembly.The cap on the back end of the hammer lift assembly has a pin that catches either all the discs in the hammer assembly , or just the hour strike disc depending on the position of the assembly as determined by the fixed pin on the outside for the back plate. To set these mechanisms up after rebushing them , first set up the snails and racks on the front plate to the 12 o'clock position with the trip cam on the inside of the plate with the high side having just released the trip lever. The quarter hour snail should be set so the corresponding rack drops to the deepest spot. Set the hour snail to the 12 o'clock position of course. The hour snail has a set screw on it so when the snails are set on the front very carefully tighten that setscrew; be absolutely certain nothing moves when you do (except the set screw , of course!) . Be absolutely certain that the hour tube still has endshake after this cam is secured. Now move your attention to the back plate. There is a cam friction fit on the back of the centerpost that needs to push the hammer lift assembly out (via the swivel lever on the back plate) far enough to clear the indexing pin so the hammer lift assembly is in position to lift the hammers that will sound the quarter hour chime after the trip lever releases. On the hour this cam must just be starting to lift the swivel lever in order for the hammer lift assembly to be in the correct position when the quarter hour chime starts. This mechanism can take as long a 1 and a quarter hours to self correct. There is an idler gear on the front that meshes with the gear on the quarter hour snail. This gear is often friction fit on . It should be absolutely tight. It must not move or the clock will never work. What usually happens if this gear is too loose is that the clock will mysteriously keep getting out of sequence. It needs to turn of course , but it must be tight on the shaft. this idler gear , as you will probably notice turns the quarter hour snail. There are usually 2 setscrews on the cap on the back of the hammer lift assembly; be sure to loosen these when you set the chime sequence at the hour. There is not a lot of spin on the governor before the first hammer picks up on this clock. The sequence of the hammers is the 1,,2,3,4 down the scale at quarter after similar to the modern german w.c mechanisms. FRENCH CLOCKS: Most french clocks are fine examples of extremely well made precision instruments. They usually have tapered pivots made of very hard steel. In fact , almost all of the steel in a typical french clock is very hard and all the pivots are highly polished. The mainspring barrells in a french clock are not interchangeable; also the arbors must not be switched ; they will not fit ; they are custom fit to the barrell. The arbors are tapered and this should not be changed.When rebushing these clocks ; do not change the pivots, leave them tapered; and ream the bushings so that they fit the tapered pivots. The dials on most french clocks are ceramic and the numbers are fired on in other words , the dials are painted , then fired. The numbers that are fired on will not come off. However. some french clocks have artwork or printing that was put on after the dial was made. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL AND NEVER TOUCH THE NAMES THAT ARE ON THESE DIALS. THEY WILL EASILY RUB OFF WITH THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH. French clocks that have a rack and snail system must have the rack set exactly at the apex of the 12 o'clock position. PICTURE. If they are not set this way , they will be off at 12, 9or 1 and will bind up on the strike. The snails are usually smooth , but often it will be possible to see where the rack has been dropping by looking for little indentations where the rack has been hitting for many years. Many french clocks have long straps that hold the mechanism in the large hole in the front by fastening through the back to the door that is on the back. There are usually two holes in the side of the back door that the screws fit through to fasten to the straps . Be careful : do not tighten them too tight ; particularly if the case is ceramic. The case may crack. Also the straps may have slightly worn threads and tightening them too tight will strip the threads , and then you will have a major problem .On the french clocks with an alarm; do not turn the alarm hand set when the alarm is sounding.When reassembling a french carriage clock use tape to hold the door in place whine the rest of the clock is being assembled. To tighten a french clock hammer ; unscrew the hammer 1 turn and carefully punch inside near the arbor hole then retighten the hammer; do not remove the hammer to punch, the hole will close too tightly. FRENCH CLOCKS Most french clocks facilitate the lifting of the hammers (or hammer as the case may be ) by means of pins on the #3 wheel in the strike train. The setting of these pins as they relate to the amount of hammer lift and gear travel before the hammer is picked up can be frustrating to say the least. What can be done is to assemble the clock and observe where the hammer drops as the strike gear train is moved slowly by hand ( not paying any attention to the shutoff pin on the upper wheel ( unless of course it is shutting off in exactly the correct position); then make note of ;or mark ;the exact tooth on the 3rd wheel that is at a predetermined reference point. Now , move the gear train ahead till it shuts off , lift the plates carefully and separate the 3rd wheel and the 4th wheel just enough to move the 3rd wheel so the tooth that was marked s back exactly at its reference point ; without letting any other of the gears shift position. This works best with the type of mechanism that has a removable plate for the 3rd wheel , but will work with with solid plates too unless the pivot on the 3rd wheel is excessively long. Some of the small time only carriage clocks have a centerpost that has a square arbor through the back plate that is for setting the hands. There will usually be an arrow to indicate which way to turn the post. Watch the hour tube on these . It will often bind up and the clock will appear to loose power and will usually stop. Often the bushing on the hour tube will have old oil that will not come out with normal cleaning routines. Keep in mind that a small amount of friction here will stop the clock. European mechanism (WEIGHT DRIVE) The american floor clock with automatic chime change changes every hour on the hour, be sure the hammer lift cam moves before the chime trips. At ¼ after it starts a different melody. 24,25 These mechanisms are designed with close tolerances as far as power reserve is concerned , and they are very sensitive to wear and excess friction of any kind. The hammer support shaft on these mechanisms is critical. Too much oil inside the sleeves on the hammer bases will , in a short period of time , thicken up and cause the hammers to bind up and this in turn will cause the chime to stall. The amount of power supplied by the weights designed for this mechanism is enough , but only enough to run the device. This is true particularly in the chime gear train. Pay close attention to the amount of throw the hammers have (that is; the height they are lifted to before they strike the gong rods.) If you are having trouble with the chime stalling ; and you have checked EVERYTHING ,and I mean everything , except the hammer throw ; then try reducing the throw slightly , evenly across all the hammers , keeping in mind that if the throw is reduced too much , the volume will be reduced too much. Be sure to check the pulleys .If they are gummed up or worn , they will drastically reduce the amount of power available to run the gear trains to which they are attached.When one of these mechanisms is in for service , it is absolutely necessary to disassemble and clean the pulleys. If a pulley is worn enough so that the edge of the pulley rubs against the inside of the holder , the pulley must either be rebushed or replaced. Many of the newer versions of this mechanism have winding stops on the winding arbors. This system usually consists of two round toothed gears on the outside of the front plate at the winding arbor area of all three gear trains. PICTURE. There is a very simple way to deal with these little puzzles. Wind the mechanism fully before you disassemble it ,then measure the length of cable left over after removing the pulleys. Make careful note of the exact position of both cogs at each of the three locations BEFORE THEY ARE REMOVED. Be sure to put the cogs back on the same arbor that they are removed from in the same quadrant. PICTURE. After the mechanism is reassembled and adjusted and lubricated install the cables and wind them up so exactly the same length is left over that you had when the cable end was measured before the mechanism was disassembled. If the winding stop gears were marked correctly , they will now be able to be reinstalled so that the winding will stop in the same place as it was before the mechanism was serviced.In the newer kieningers the chime will bind if there is even a slightest burr on the shutoff cam. HERSCHEDE: Most of the Herschede 9 Tube and 5 Tube grandfather clock mechanisms are very will built. The majority of the problems on these clocks are created by well meaning uniformed repair persons. The two racks and snails are the areas to look first for problems . PICTURE. When the rack hook is lifted on either side (chime or strike) ; the rack should move neither up or down; it should simply stay put as hough nothing were happening until the hook releases it. If the angle is disturbed on either the rack or the rack hook, then there will be a problem to the extent as to how much the rack moves when the hook is moved up or down slowly. Be sure to check the hub on both sides of both racks ; the angle is critical and they must be absolutely tight. These rack problems most likely start with wear on the gathering pallet arbor bushing. Take the time to check the operation of the gathering pallets EXTENSIVELY before final assembly . PICTURE. Be sure to check the tightness of the gathering pallets on their square shafts before you reassemble the mechanism. They must be very tight on the shaft or they will work themselves loose over time. If they are not tight , make them tight or replace them if necessary . A SMALL amount of silver solder on the square shaft will tighten them up. remove ALL THE SOLDERING FLUX WHEN YOU ARE DONE. Do not use soft solder it will not hold it shape well enough. Be sure to mark the centerpost assembly so it goes back together exactly t he same way it came apart. (Some times the hour tube support is not symmetrical and the center post will bind.) The same screw in the same hole and the same corner is the same place. Pivot polishing is critical on this mechanism especially. Many of these mechanisms have a plating on most all the pivots. Be sure to completely disassemble the main wheels and polish the area where they ride on the arbor behind the cupped tension washer. If this area is not polished , the winding process will soon cause it it bind up. Plenty of lubrication is needed here. I have heard some say why polish in that area, you are just causing that problem; everything is fine until the plating is removed. That is all well and good if the plating in fact has not broken down. My opinion is this : do the job once so that it will work , or do the job once so that it might work , and then do it again so that it will work. The moon dial on this clock will stop it if the detent spring is too tight. Be sure to check the spring to confirm that it is just tight enough to allow the dial to ratchet ahead and hold but no tighter. Always check the impulse post on the pendulum. It must be tight. If it is loose at all the clock will not run., Be sure that there are no rough spots on the post or the impulse arm where the post rides on it. Be aware that if the hammer lift drum is submerged in the cleaning liquid, it es very likely that a substantial amount or the cleaner will get inside the drum and later leak and run all over the drum and its adjacent parts. Either clean this outside of the liquid by some other method or drill (carefully) holes in the ends of the drum so the liquid can drain out immediately. The winding key on the 9 tube clocks is a number 13 or 14 depending on how much wear there is on the arbor. Very carefully check the cords that the bells hang by and the hammer lift strings to be sure they aren't decayed. Also check the hammer pads and change them if they have worn through. The drive gear system that turns the hammer lift drum needs to have some play in the gear depthing, it must not be tight. About 30% of the way to the gear teeth not meshing at all will allow it to work. The beveled gears are particularly critical. The pulleys must be taken apart, cleaned and checked. The shafts that the pulleys ride on ate pitted or scored in about 90% of the clocks that come in for a complete overhaul.The shafts must be polished thoroughly and the pulleys rebushed if they are loose or worn. Always check the cables ; specifically the ends that are inside the main wheel drums. If only the ends are bad, then simply retie the knot in the end . This is a corner you can cut safely IF THE REST OF THE CABLE IS OK. If any breaks or worn spots are found on the brass cable REPLACE IT. TELECHRON: This is a type of electric clock that works on 110 volt 60 cycle electric current. There are quite a number of different types of Telechron electric clocks but only a few will be discussed here. The 2 most common problems with the telechrons are the rotors (including the coil) and the actual mechanical part of the clock. It has been my experience that if the coil is bad, it is usually because of a power surge , improper handling , or just plain age. The rotors that have a flat side on the shaft are usually the same as far as the gear ratio and external size as those that have a round shaft. Check the rpm rating , the size , the direction of rotation , and the diameter of to shaft. If the only difference is the flat side on the shaft then either one will work. Of course you must file a flat side if all you can get is one with a round shaft. Always check the power cord if it is worn anywhere replace it. Be very careful where the cord enters the coil it will break very easily. When the sequence is set , be sure that the trip pins on the centerpost are at the hour position. If this is not done , the chime and strike will not release at the correct time and the gear train will bind up or the tempo of the chime-vs-strike will not sound pleasant. It is normal for the coil to heat up slightly ; it should not get too hot to touch ; if it does , something is wrong. More than likely the coil is shorted. This can be a fire hazard so be careful and be sure to check them out carefully. Some alternating current hum is normal however it shouldn't be too noticeable. Sometimes the rotors are noisy ; it is gear noise that causes this. Don't confuse this with hum. Sometimes there will be both hum and gear noise. Replacement rotors can usually be ordered from most clock repair supply houses. These rotors are becoming much harder to find. As of the writing of this journal some of them are no longer available. The old rotors were made of copper and were soldered together. They can be taken apart and repaired. Inside the capsule is a tiny ac induction motor that powers a reduction gear train. They are oil filled so I would not recommend opening them using any kind of heat. I have cut them open by chucking them up in a lathe and CAREFULLY cutting a groove in the top part of the capsule. If you look closely you can see where they have been soldered at the factory. The newer rotors can be cut open also. They are made of aluminum. The gears inside are plastic and so are some of the bushings. SCHATZ The schatz ships bell clock will have either a pin lever or jeweled lever escape unit.The older models usually have a pin lever escape unit. It is not an accurate timekeeper. Anticipate problems with these types. The cups that the balance wheel ride on usually wear unless they have jewels in them. The fork will often be loose and the pins will often be worn. Be prepared to jewel or rebush the pivot holes in these balance units. Unless you are willing to jewel the escape wheel and the verge; and possibly replace the pins in the pallet, and either reshape the balance wheel pivots or replace the center staff (which may mean making one) ; and either repair or replace the pivot bushing caps for the balance wheel (again may mean making them) stay away from these types. The newer units will usually have a jeweled platform escape unit. They are quite accurate and much more dependable. If they are jeweled , they will usually only need careful cleaning and timekeeping adjustment. The catch on the half-hour must pop up in time to catch the hammer end but not too soon or to will miss it. The shutoff cam must have just let the shutoff drop after the second hammer drops. Make sure the large cam on the centerpost is in the up position on the hour trip position . PICTURE. GOLDEN HOUR: The golden hour clock is the only series in the Jefferson electric that motors are available for now. When the motor is replaced, the dial glass and gear and gear ring and housing should be cleaned. Some information indicates no oil should be used on the dial gear ring and housing, and some says oil is ok. My experience has taught me that if much more than a very thin film of oil is applied problems will occur. The motor should be mounted so as to leave some play in the gears , but not too much. Bring the gears together as closely as possible and then separate them by about .020in. plus or minus .004in.. Do not allow too much play in the gears because they will lock up when the teeth hit on the gear tooth ends. Do not ,on the other hand, allow the gear teeth to bottom out on each other . Be sure to check the cord when the motor is replaced. If the cord is bad , replace it. Pay particular attention to the plug and the strain relier insulator at the back of the case; these are the most common areas of problems. QUAIL CUCKOO CLOCKS: Quail cuckoos are quite involved and can be very challenging repair items. They contain of course 3 bellows and usually have the strike controlled by count wheels. The quail gear train usually trips the cuckoo train.The quail is tripped at the quarter hrs. Once at quarter after , twice at half past, three times at quarter to the hour , and four times at the hour and then the cuckoo is released and and allowed to count the hour. Always check for worn pinions on these clocks . They will have to be replaced if they are worn., That is it ; the clock will not work dependably if they are not fixed. Also check for worn ratchets; this is a common problem on the older cuckoos. The shutoff cams in the quail and cuckoo gear trains can be quite difficult to set. They must be set st they they don't lift the shutoff lever too high to cause it to jump over the stop pin, but enough so that they still shut off. Do not try to bend the shutoff lever too far; it is usually very hard brass and will break quite easily. The brass in the plates of these clocks is usually very high quality (IE: very hard and wears well ) so only rebush them with bronze bushings and if the bushing has marginal wear ; it is best to leave it just a tiny bit on the loose side. Be very cautious of the bushings that are near to the edge of the plate ; the edge of the plate is very easily broken if a bushing of too large a diameter is used. If you are not sure ; use the smallest bushing that can be drilled out to fit the pivot. It would be well to check for this type of situation before toy get too far into the repair job. The count wheel is critical to the proper operation or the bird action. The shutoff lever must bot be allowed to bounce at all, or the bird will flop in and out of the little door. The lever must ride solidly on the count wheel without making it bind. Be sure the count wheel is mounted securely. The looser the count wheel the QUAIL CUCKOO CLOCKS: more chance of failure. Do not, however, make the count wheel so that it puts even the slightest undue pressure on the gear train's ability to move. The hands on these old cuckoos are brittle and will break very easily. It is best to look for cracks or places where the hands have been glued before you even start the repair. Many of the hands on these old clocks are made of ivory and are impossible to replace. Warn the owner of this ahead of time if it is practical. CHELSEA CLOCKS , ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS: The centerpost on some chelsea ships bell clocks comes apart at the center. It only goes on one way ; it will be crooked if it is put on 180degrees off. Set the time gear train up first and fasten the middle plate. Then set up the strike. Keep in mind that the mainspring barrells are reversed ; so be sure to make a note somewhere as to which way the mainsprings hook. The self correcting and the hour vs half hour levers should not have to be filed or otherwise bent unless someone has altered them. Chelsea clocks are very well made and do not need excessive adjustments unless tampered with. If it is necessary to rebush a chelsea ships clock , be sure to support the bushing from the bottom as you may inadvertently push it out in the process of installing a new bushing. DUTCH CLOCKS: If you are going to work on dutch clocks it will be particularly helpful to have a place to hang them where it will be easy to access the suspension and the impulse arm as these clocks can be very difficult to put in beat. The chain retainers that prevent the chains from slipping inside the case are usually an the weight end. The hands are very thick and the hub in the minute hand usually will not slip: so if the centerpost strike strike trip cam has been removed; be absolutely certain to check the trip position before the cam is driven back on the centerpost. If this is not checked there will be a major problem in that the minute hand trip position will be off at the final stage of the repair; and you will have to either destroy the minute hand or partially disassemble the thing just to get the minute hand to line up at the hour and half-hour trip. Be aware that there are 1 day and 8 day models. If the chain does not fit correctly IE: if the links are too large , the chain may climb up on the sprocket teeth. The side that has no weight will not be able to hold the chain tight and this will allow for the chain to climb the sprocket teeth which will result in the clock stopping mysteriously occasionally. When the chain and mechanism are mounted in the case , it is almost impossible to see whether or not the chain is bound up. When the clock is moved to inspect the mechanism , the chain slips back down to the correct position before you can see it and the clock will run fine when it is hung back up on the wall. You will never know that the chain bound up , or exactly why the clock stopped. VIENNA REGULATORS: These clocks are definitely not user friendly. They are incredibly sensitive; hardly have any swing (1in. is normal) and will not run if they are even slightly out of beat. The beat is next to impossible to set ; the cables will always tangle, and the cases usually are falling apart. They are beautiful clocks , however , and once set up by someone who knows how , they will run just fine and keep good time. The verge will have worn pallet faces quite often. there are several ways to deal with this. Some times it will be possible to offset the escape wheel so that the teeth are working on the part of the pallet face that hasn 't worn yet. do this by bushing both sides of the wheel and offset the bushings slightly. If this has already been done, and the pallet faces are worn in both places ; the pallet faces can be turned upside down and reversed if they are held in place by screws. If it is a solid one piece verge , it will be necessary to make a new one or fill in the worn spots. I have done this with silver solder. This is the least desirable way to get the job done. Perhaps a better way is to file down the verge faces past the wear point , being absolutely certain to maintain the same angle in the faces , then using silver solder , attach new hard steel faces with a thickness that will give the net result of being the same distance between faces as before the wear took place. Either way will work, providing all the flux is removed when the job is done. Be sure to polish the pallet faces when you are done. Check to be sure that the verge is tight on the shaft. Sometimes the impulse arm will be threaded on at the top ; and if it is , there is a good chance that it will be soldered. I have seen this many times. I remove the solder and tighten it up by threading it back on until it is secure (tight enough to hold it in beat , but loose enough to keep from bending the escape wheel teeth if the pendulum is swung too far. ) If solder is found on the verge clutch like this ; be prepared to find some bent escape wheel teeth. The impulse pin on the bottom of the impulse arm usually has a threaded adjustment system on it. Always check that pin , there is a good chance it will be loose. The clock will not run if that pin is loose , even slightly loose. Disassemble that adjustment system , if need be, and tighten that pin ; it will save hours of frustration. Many of the vienna regulators have slightly tapered pivots; leave them that way; and if you rebush , make sure the hole in the new bushing is tapered to match. Most of these are very precision mechanisms they aren't very forgiving. The pivots are for the most part very hard steel and will break very easily. Check to see if there is a cable/pulley stop on the bottom of the mechanism. If there is , make sure the pulleys wind into them properly before you reinstall the mechanism. When the mechanism is apart , be sure to check the cables inside the drums to be sure there are no bad ends there. Check the pendulum clearance with the weights even with the pendulum bob, set the beat and let the clock run for a while to be sure the weights and pendulum and gong will clear each other. Be sure to check the pulleys to determine if they are worn . They must be rebushed if they are worn.The mechanism in a vienna regulator can't be leaning forward or the cable will jump off the main wheel drum. PROBLEMS WITH EUROPEAN MECHANISMS The strike lift liver that is lifted by the star wheel quite often will get a groove worn in it if the edges of the star wheel are the least bit rough. The resulting common complaint is that the strike doesn't work all the time. The edges of the star wheel must be polished or the problem will come back in a year or two. In the mid-seventies there were some popular european mechanisms made that had the 3rd wheel time out of round. If you are in the repair business, you very likely will run into one of these at some point in time. They will bind up intermittently , or will just stop and loose power, If you are working on a popular european mechanism and have this problem , check the center wheel. Remove the clutch spring and spin the wheel on the shaft ; if it is out of round it may have to be replaced. The gear ratio in the popular european mechanism movements has had some problems over the years. Once in a while there will appear a clock with a popular european mechanism movement that just does not keep time. The problem is usually in the #3 and #4 wheels. There were some 34cm wheels that got mixed up with 55cm pinions. The way they changed the pendulum length was to change the gears. the plates were designed to allow changing of gear ratios without changing the position of the pivot holes. Whenever you are working on a popular european mechanism, be sure to check the tightness of the click rivets while the mechanism is apart. it is much easier to tighten them up when they are apart that when they are together.Check the ratchet wheels. If they are chrome colored they are probably stamped, and have relatively poor teeth .Replace them if possible . The newer ratchet wheels have milled teeth. If a mainspring lets go , check the arbor where it locks in with the arbor sleeve . The groove in the arbor will often have a slightly bulged spot where the tab inside the arbor sleeve gouged it at the impact of the spring letting go. The arbor may act as if it is stuck in the arbor sleeve (for no obvious reason) It very will may be this little bulge that is holding it. Usually this bulge can be filed off and the arbor will still function . Over the years popular european mechanism has had trouble with set mainsprings. If there is a problem with slow chime , and it seems as though all possibilities have been considered, try replacing the mainspring. THE HERMLE 3351-851SSK This mechanism is very similar to the generic popular european mechanism , except that it strikes on the quarters and does not play the westminster tune:1 at quarter after , 2 at half past, 3 at quarter to the hour; and 4 on the hour then counts the hour. The quarter hour gear train has a different gear system than the standard chime train. The fan is a chime blade with a strike pinion gear (7 leaf pinion). The number 5 wheel uses a strike brass gear mounted on a chime pinion shaft (8 leaf pinion). Be aware of this difference or there will be much trouble for you if you try to change the wheels in the chime train. Sometimes the popular european mechanisms have a problem with jamming up on the lift i.e. ; on the quarter hour. This can be caused by any number of things; one of the most common is that the chime is releasing too soon and the warning pin on the warning wheel gets stuck on the edge of the warning lever. This will stop the clock and of course will cause the chime and the strike to stop operating. One way to correct this is to carefully bend the strike trip/lock lever down in the middle( above the centerpost trip cam) so it rests higher approx. .050in. allowing more lift before release , which allows the warning lever face to be up in position far enough to catch the warning pin without getting stuck on the edge of the pin. Also check the stop pin on the chime shutoff cam to be sure its angle is at least 90 degrees to the shutoff working face. These two surfaces should not bind up on each other ; and will if the angle is over 90 degrees . If it is under 90 degrees the lever will slip off the pin face too soon and the clock will jam up no matter how much lift the lever has before the gear train releases. CUCKOO CLOCK SUSPENSIONS Most cuckoo clocks do not have suspension springs. They depend on gravity and the power in the gear train to make the pendulum move. They do , however gave a suspension. It consists of 2 loops and one hook. The hook is on the end of the suspension rod. Always check this system. The loops get grooves worn in them and this is enough to stop the clock.Also check the top loop on the suspension post to be sure they are not loose. The clock will stop if either one of these are loose. They must be tight, absolutely tight. If the post is threaded in the threads can be tightened by closing the hole in the plate slightly with a hale closing punch. This will adequately tighten the suspension , providing the hole is not closed too tightly. These loops in my opinion are best served by light oiling. Light meaning very small amounts of oil , and a very light weight oil. Only enough oil to cover the friction points with a thin film of oil should be used. SUSPENSION SPRINGS Suspension springs are critical : Too thick and the clock won't run ; too thin and the clock won't keep time. Generally speaking , a thinner suspension spring will make a clock run slower ( because a thinner spring allows the pend to swing farther and that makes more time between ticks which makes the clock run slower ) .A thicker (stronger ) spring will make the clock faster ; but be cautioned ; too strong a spring will stop the clock. One or two thousandths of an inch stronger is about all that will be tolerated in most cases. The suspension post that holds the suspension spring must be absolutely tight in the bridge. On clocks that have regulators that affect suspension length by either physically or effectively changing the length , the arm that affects the suspension spring must have only a minimum amount of play ---- only enough to allow freedom of movement with the pendulum attached. If these conditions are not met , timekeeping will be erratic ; and in some cases , unpredictable stoppages will occur because power is absorbed by the play in the suspension spring. Cutting susp. spring stock ; it will curve , however it will straighten out if you grind off the edge of the cut spring. MUSIC MECHANISMS Most of the music mechanisms you will find will be in cuckoo clocks. They will usually be weight drive. watch for worn governor assemblies, worn bushings on the player drum assembly, and missing or ineffective dampers on the sounding fingers. the governor assemblies that have plastic worm drive gears often have cracked gears; and will make a clicking sound as tha cracked part of the gear passes the worm gear. these must be replaced once the gear cracks ;l i know of no way to fix the plastic gears. An irritating squeaking noise as the music plays is often caused by bad or missing dampers on the music sounding fingers, to fix this simply glue new tiny plastic pieces on the inside bottom if the fingers the squeak can also be caused by loose hardware in the clock anywhere. Check very carefully for loose screws or wood parts. The governor assemblies can be rebushed if they aren't worn too badly, and this is preferable , because the original tune can then be saved. There are some replacement governor assemblies available, but quite ofter the correct gear ratios are not included. Also, it is possible to rebush the player drum assembly. Use the appropriate reamer and very carefully, by hand , open the holes on the fame and press the bushing in with a pair or flat parallel jawed pliers. Make sure the bushing fits the shaft before it is pressed in. DO NOT EVER PUT ONE OF THESE IN AN ULTRASONIC CLEANING MACHINE , THE DAMPERS WILL E BOILED OFF AND IT WILL BE RUINED. There are music mechanisms that have only the tune part separate , and the gear train is in the main mechanism. The usually have large vertically mounted governors, with adjustable fan blades . Watch out for these ; if the worm gear has worn teeth , it will never work correctly . On music cuckoos , if the return spring on the side mount music mechanism it too tight; the entire time/strike mechanism will bind up and stop. HAMBURG -AMERICAN CLOCK COMPANY Re: the behive style case named the celebrate . This model has 2 jewels in the escape wheel. The hammer sequence is as follows: 3, 4 , 2 , 1. for the westminster on the quarter hour. The longest rod being referred to as #1, and this rod being the closest to the back plate of the mechanism. As for the regulation : 1 turn is about 1 minute per day . Turn the regulator to the right to make the clock run faster and of course to the left to make the clock run slower. The movement number on this clock is 865. The manufacturer is Hamburg-Amerikansche Uhrenfabrick. URGOS 9 TUBE CABLE DRIVE FLOOR CLOCK This mechanism is nothing like the Herschede 9 tube clock. Except for the differential like gear system on the chime side the rest of the mechanism is like the standard rod chime cable drive urgos mechanism. The beveled gear system that drives the chime must not be tight and the drive shaft that passes through the center of the hammer lift drum must have the gear on its end PERFECTLY centered in the idler/drive gears that mesh with the power train and the sequenceing train . Do not forget the washers that belong on the end of the shafts in the transmission assembly, they are critical to the centering of the drive gear assembly. Set the chime lock / trip pin on the warning wheel at the 3 o'clock position EXACTLY , otherwise there will not be enough governor spin before the first hammer picks up. Be absolutely certain that the lock position is set accurately , because to change it after the mechanism is together will mean much wasted time in much disassembly because the wheel is buried in the chime hammer assembly and is not readably accessable. Install the tubes with the weights OFF otherwise they may easily be scratched. Another common problem is the mechanism jamming up because the dial causes the plates of the movement to twist slightly when the mount bolts are tightened.Be sure to check for plenty of slack in the mounting procedure so as to not cause mysterious sudden stoppages. Regulation: popular european mechanism balance wheel new style : with large hairspring and threaded timekeeping adjustment: the small style found on the 130-070 regulates faster by turning the adjustment screw clockwise. The larger balance wheel (found on the 050 mechanism) regulates opposite: that is it will run faster by turning the adjustment screw counterclockwise. TOOTH STRAIGHTENING: Bent teeth can be straightened if they haven't been bent so far so as to crack when they are driven back k into position. Check with a magnifier at the base of the teeth that have damaged . If there is no visible start of a fracture line then they will probably straighten without breaking. One or two teeth can be straightened without much consequence on most spring barrells. The bigger the barrell the more risk involved . #2 and #3 wheels are less critical, obviously because less power is involved. After the tooth is straightened , be sure to smooth the rough edges , taking care to keep the original tooth shape as much as possible. Reinstall the gear in the mechanism with the gear on the top and the gear on the bottom and carefully check to determine if the gear train operates smoothly. This is a last resort fix: sometimes it works; and sometimes it doesn't . If a gear can't be cut ans a replacement can't be found then the teeth must be straightened or replaced if the mechanism is to work. GEARS: The gears found in most clocks differ in several ways from other gears. Usually the main wheel , 2nd wheel , and third wheels are part of a slow moving gear train in time and strike and chime gear trains. The time train , particularly , is slow moving all the way through the gear train. These gear trains work in an opposite fashion from the gears; say; in an automobile. In a clock there are gears driving pinions in a slow moving situation. In other situations there are pinions driving gears in a speed reduction situation and gaining power as the energy is transfered through the gears. In a clock , power is lost as the energy is transfered, Because of this , the tooth design is cycloidal instead of involute. The gears are almost always brass and the pinions steel because the brass is softer than the steel and will not wear out the smaller pinions because there are many more teeth on the gear. In practice what actually happens is exactly what should by design the pinion teeth and the brass teeth both wear at the same rate if oil is kept out of the gear teeth. If , however , the gear teeth are oiled they will destroy them selves , Looking at the illustrations you will see that the involute tooth is stronger, but the cycloid is smoother and offers less resistance to movement. Arbor Removal: 33,34 Some clocks have removable arbors in the mainspring barrells , and some don't . Of the removeable arbors , there are a number of different kinds with different methods of removal. Some have a square top that fist in a square hole in the arbor sleeve. These have a weak point right below the key end and above the sleeve end. They will break there. A less common type has a small pin that fits in a slot inside the arbor sleeve and works against a flat spot in the arbor sleeve. They must be reinstalled with this pin setting on the flat spot. If the pin needs to be replaced be sure to use hard steel. The type used in the popular european mechanism mechanism is the most common in the modern type of mechanism. It has a slot in the arbor sleeve that must fit in a small protrusion on the inside of the arbor sleeve. On these types if the mainspring has ever let go there may be a bulge in tha slot that will make it difficult to remove the arbor. By all means check this and file it down before you reinstall the arbor in the sleeve. On all removeable arbors keep in mind that the oil ghat gets inside them can make it seem as though they are not removeable if it gums up over the years. Use a brass ended punch on the back side of the arbor to remove stubborn pieces or th check to determine if they are indeed of the removable type. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL SO AS NOT TO MUSHROOM THE END OF THE ARBOR. Pinion Replacement: Quite often it will be necessary to install new pinions in clocks with lantern gear or roller pinions. In most cases , it will be possible to do with a minimum of effort. The best wire to use is pivot wire (hard steel). Be sure to smooth the end where the cut is before you install the new wire. Before you remove the end of the pinion holder , taper the shaft with emery paper to .0008in. plus or minus ,00005in. to allow the end to slide off easily once it is broken loose. The mark that the tapering makes will also let you know where to reposition the end when it is reinstalled. Be sure to SLIGHTLY close the hole in the end so it will be TIGHT when it is driven into place. If the holes in the holder for the pinions have lost their ability to keep the wires in DO NOT SOLDER THEM. Simply install a washer over the tip held on by a bushing friction fit on the shaft. When the end is driven back on , it may be difficult to keep the pinions lined up. Use grease to hold them in place after the end is as close as possible without actually contacting the pinions. After the work is done be absolutely sure to remove all the grease before the clock is reassembled. Sometimes it will be almost impossible to extract the end of a broken pinion, particularly if the pinion gear happens to be part of the centerpost; some of them are one piece . Use a magnetized screwdriver to remove the end; this has worked for me several times. If the centerpost gear has a one piece pinion, and it needs repair, open the holes on the top and remove the bad wires through the holes then use the washer method to hold the new pinion wires in. Return Springs: On w/c clocks with strike shutoffs on the front plate with pin on the shutoff lever instead of flat side, a return spring will often be essential. CALENDAR CLOCKS: A very important word about calendar clocks. DO NOT EVER OIL THE CALENDAR MECHANISM;EVER. YOU WILL RUIN THE MECHANISM IF YOU DO. They work on gravity power and they do not need oil! This applies to double dial types old and new. The types that have the calendar on the main dial are a different story. They can be oiled but don't need oil particularly; however if there is a separate mechanism, be careful, if it works with a lever and depends on gravity to work don't oil it. START HERE

CLOCKS WITH STEEL PLATES: There have been a number of clocks made that have steel plates instead of brass. Some of them have brass bushings installed and some of them don't. If you are using special reamers ; do not try to use them to ream out the steel,they will be destroyed by the hard steel : it will dull them immediately. The brass bushings that are factory installed will push out if you don't have something backing it up when he new bushing is pressed into the larger factory bushing. Some plates are brass plated steel. Be sure to check the plates with a magnet before reaming. SYMPATHETIC VIBRATION: This is a phenomena that sounds unbelievable at best, but it does exist and is a common cause of many clocks stopping. Sympathetic vibration is the transfer of energy from one object moving with a steady frequency to another object (initially not moving( connected to it. The objects will transfer energy very efficently if they are the same length , however , they do not have to be the same length to transfer energy . A classic example is a large grandfather clock with a heavy pendulum and a case that is set up on a rug.When the weights travel downward and get even with the pendulum bob ,the weights will absorb enough energy from the pendulum to either stop the clock and or start the weights swinging and stop the clock. Also the clock case can absorb energy from the pendulum because the case is not solid on the rug. Even the s lightest instability can cause the clock to stop. On old cases ; if they are loose, if the case is not solid, the pend moving will cause the case to oscillate (this may or may not be visible) and the case will absorb enough energy to stop the clock. correct is by securing the case to the wall. be sure the case is solid. If there are several clocks running on a shelf with similar pendulum lengths , and the shelf appears solid it still may be possible that the clocks on this shelf will transfer energy back and forth. The result may not be just stoppage. One or both of the clocks may not keep time or may be un-regulatable because they will affect each other. Sympathetic vibration may be demonstrated by a little device with weights and strings. Start one weight swinging and very soon the other one will be swinging, and the first one will be stopped. SCORED PIVOTS: Actually any kind of inconsistency on a pivot will cause a problem. Keep in mind that a clock mechanism operates like a crowbar in reverse. Try operating a crowbar backwards like this; apply force on the short end of the lever to a load that you can just barely move. Now add a small weight to the load side and see for yourself how much effect it has. This power relationship is similar to the power transfer that occurs in clock mechanisms. A pivot that is not perfectly round will impede power transfer. A pivot that is not straight will cause problems : exceptions french clocks and some veinna regulators. A pivot that in any way impedes end shake will stop a gear train. Always check endshake under no power and under partial power. A pivot that is bent , even slightly, will cause stoppage. A pivot that is off center with respect to the gears on its shaft will cause problems. (power loss) . A pivot that is scored will cause problems (accelerated wear and reduction of available power) . A pivot that is pitted or gouged will cause problems( Accelerated wear and power loss) . Any foreign material in the bushing that comes in contact with the pivot will cause problems (power loss and possible wear problems). A pivot that is not long enough to have at least some (.010in.) of its working surface outside the plate will cause problems(lack of endshake or improper wear). Any rust or corrosion on a pivot is catastrophic; if the clock does run , it will be only a matter of months before the pivot and bushing are totally destroyed. PAPER ON BACKS OF CLOCKS - BE CAREFUL WHEN USING AN AIR GUN!!!!!!!!!! FAN (governor) BALANCE: Clocks that have governor fans must have them balanced. Either replace the blade or adjust the balance by bending SLIGHTLY the wings of the fan. Also filing some of the edge off on the heavy side will work, In severe cases, it may be necessary to cut some of the brass off. Some fans are adjustable mainly to vary the speed of the gear grain; however this adjustability can apply to balancing also. Set the desired speed and then with small adjustments set the balance. GOVERNORS MUST BE BALANCED OR THEY WILL NOT WORK dependably all the time. Just rebushing and polishing the pivots will not fix them. I cannot stress this enough. Here is the typical senerio. You repair a grandfather clock. The governor bushings are just fine and the pivots are ok. The main wheel bushings are bad on the strike and the time and the depthing of the gear teeth there is way off causing power loss. Enough to actually stop the clock. You see this and know it because you have seen it thousands of times before so you are sure. You spend 6 hours working on the mechanism and finally get it back together and in the case for the test run. You test the clock and everything is fine. You take the clock back to the customer and all goes well; or so you think. A few weeks later you get a call from the customer and they complain "the chimes don't sound right". You say ok , its just run down and gotten out of sequence. You do a service call and when you get there everything is fine. So you check the unit out and they customer is happy , and you think all is well ... you hope all is well. Three days later you get another call from the customer. Now they are quite upset and have the same complaint. Now if you did not know about the fact that governors MUST BE BALANCED you would loose a customer and , drive yourself nuts trying to figure out why the thing keeps getting out of sequence. I discovered the answer to this about 5 years into my career. In clocks you have only a very very small amount of power available to turn the governor or the escape wheel. If the "heavy" side is down when the governor stops ; there sometimes will not be enough power to get that heavy side to overcome the pull of gravity and the strike ( or chime ) will stall once. But not every time. Now why ? Well since we are not living in a perfect world there are always going to be some inconsistancies in gear trains and gear teeth. When the gears get to the point when there is , lets say , a thousandth of an inch difference in the spacing of the gear teeth on one of the gears , because you loose power exponentially as you go up the gear train, the power lost by this difference is just enough to prevent that governor from starting with that heavy side down. There could be any number of factors that combine at different times to be just enough to prevent that governor from starting. Now you may say that this is crazy. All I can say is that if you do clock repair long enough you will find out that this is true and you will always check the balance on governors before you put the clock back together. And you will have less headaches and more happy customers. This is mainly true in grandfather clock governors as they are sometimes quite large and heavy. Spring drive clocks are susceptable because when the mainspring runs down slightly the power decreases and balance becomes more critical. On smaller governors the likelyhood of balance problems decreases somewhat ; but I would still recommend checking them. If you don't on the first repair and they come back , if you are smart you will check the balance. I have repaired at least 17,000 clocks in my career and have seen problems with far more than that in training other repair technicians and I can tell you for sure if you are not aware of this problem with governor balance there will be clocks that you will not be able to figure out. If you are in business , you may be seeing a lot of some of your customers that you want to. The downside of being aware of fan balance is that you might not get as well acquainted with some of your customers! Governors that work by spinning weights or by friction are not as touchy about balance but they are not as dependable as air operated governors. They are also not as common; in my opinion, they are not a good design for use in clocks. Most fans ( governors ) also have a clutch that allows them to slip on the shaft . It must be tight but not too tight. If the clutch is too loose, the fan will slip and the gear train will move too fast , usually WAY too fast. If the clutch is too tight , the fan will not slip at all and not enough of the shock of the shutoff action will be absorbed and the gear train will bounce back when it stops. The shutoff cam and shutoff cam pin and any other parts of the shutoff mechanism that absorb the shock of the gear train shutting off will be damaged by the added stress that is supposed to be absorbed by the fan clutch. If the gear train recoils like this when it shuts off sometimes it will bounce back far enough to jam the lock pin in the shutoff lever. SETH THOMAS COUNT WHEEL SHIPS BELL (ANTIQUE) The Seth Thomas count wheel ships bell does not use a rack and snail. The count wheel is the drive gear and the hammer lift wheel is the idler.There are short pins and long pins on this wheel. there are 2 hammers with lift tabs: one rides on the long pins only and the other one rices on both the long and short pins. The count wheel travels half as fast as the hammer lift wheel. One complete rotation or the hammer lift wheel is equal to 4 hours or running time. SELF ADJUSTING VERGE: FLOATING BALANCE: The floating balance actually hangs from a spring that performs the same function as a hairspring. There are 2 jewels on each end of the brass tube press fit in. A common problem is gummy oil stuck inside this tube. On the actual balance wheel there are 4 radii of weights that control the timekeeping , the fourth radii assembly has the adjustable section. The weights are removeable and can be reinstalled if necessary. It is best to remove weights directly across from each other if possible. REPAIRING ESCAPE WHEEL TEETH There is a way to repair escape wheel teeth if there are some that are bent or broken. This is intended at a last resort if there are no other viable options. This will not always work; only if the teeth aren't too far gone. Chuck the wheel up in the lathe and be certain it is spinning as true as possible. Very carefully take a fine file and file the teeth down until they are of a uniform length. This will work if the amount needed to file off does not exceed the amount of depth adjustment available. After the teeth have been trimmed reshape them to as close as possible to the original shape. Spin the wheel at as high a rpm; as possible and be sure that the teeth are trimmed to be true with respect to the pivots on the front and back. The file must be held firmly on the steady rest or it will file the inconsistancies of the wheel and the new teeth will not be true enough to keep the clock in beat; and it will not run. MAINSPRING HOOK IN BARREL: MAINSPRING HOOK FOR CLICK SPRING : GRAHAM ESCAPEMENT: The dead beat escapement also known as the graham escapement is characterized by its action of lock and slide ad it operates. This type of system can be easily recognized by looking at the verge. Pay particular attention to the working faces of the verge, there will be a flat edge where the escape wheel tooth hits upon releasing from the opposite side and a sharp edge that the tooth drops off from the flat part and an angled surface that the tooth slides along as it gives the pendulum an extra push until it lets go and the whole thing starts again on the other side. This type of system is or can be quite accurate because the verge has significant control over how much power is delivered to the pendulum. If however there is too much lock or not enough lock the accuracy and dependability will be questionable at best. The depth setting is not the same for all clocks although the principle is the same. Generally speaking weight drive clocks with heavy pendulums are more sensitive and require somewhat shallow depth settings keeping in mind not to completely eliminate the lock segment of the operation. The following is a list of some of the sensitive clocks: seth thomas #2 regulators most vienna regulators most french clocks jewelers regulators (large wall clocks and floor clocks with mercury filled pendulums) ANCHOR ESCAPEMENT(RECOIL ESCAPEMENT) This type of system does not have a lock action , it is simply impact, slide , and release. The recoil escapement is less critical to adjust, and generally speaking , is more efficient in that it does not take as much power to run. However this type of system is less accurate because the motion of the pendulum is less isolated from the gear train. The escape wheel tends to bounce backwards at each impulse ; and as the spring runs down the arc of the pend slows causing less bounce or recoil in a nonlinear manner.The escape wheel/verge depth on this type of escapement in not as critical as the dead beat escapement. On most cuckoo clocks the depth should be set so that the escape wheel is 80% of the way from completely missing ; to actually hitting on the edge of the verge on both sides(binding up).Generally speaking, the lighter the pendulum, the deeper the setting on this type of system, up to the 80% amount. Mantle clocks with pendulum lengths of 6 inches or shorter should not be set this deep; between 60% and 70% is normal on most german time and strike types from the late 1800's to the mid 50's. If possible the escape wheel should move equally on each side of the tick. Often the verge has either been bent or replaced and the escape wheel will impact,slide and release further on one side than the other; and in many cases the clock will run. My experience has taught me that this is not an extremely critical adjustment on this type of verge with respect to whether or not the clock will run.If the goal is just to get it to run ; then don't be fussy.To charge a customer a premium price for this kind of work , however is quite another matter.The majority of clocks (excluding cuckoos) that I have seen over the years have an even release distance on the impact ,slide , and release. If you want to do accurate, original , restoration; then set both sides of the sequence equal. (describe the setting of the depth) FUSEE: Watch the winding stop; be sure the cable pushes it over far enough to actually hit the pin. Be sure to take the fusee apart and clean it out. The ratchet is on the inside not much oil is required to make this part work; too much will cause the ratchet to eventually gum up and stop working. At the point where the cable comes out of the fusee, check very carefully to be sure there are no sharp edges. If you do not remove these edges , the cable will break. The pendulums on most fusee clocks have the impulse loop built into the pendulum rod as an actual cut out slot for the impulse pin to fit into. The surfaces of these slots are critical. They must be free of rough surfaces. Check for gouges, wear marks, or hardened oil deposits. Also, of course , check for looseness of the impulse pin. MAINTAINING HOOK: On clocks with exceptionally heavy pendulums there is usually a device called a maintaining hook. It's purpose is to keep pressure on the escape wheel while the clock is being wound, Without this it would be possible for escape wheel teeth to be bent when the escape wheel turns slightly backwards and the verge end catches the escape wheel tooth edge. Most vienna regulators have them. Most large grandfather clocks have them Always look for the gear on the main wheel (it is usually spring loaded). It usually looks like a large ratchet wheel. If the wheel is there but there is no hook, then expect problems with the escape wheel. Make a hook; and install it or have nothing to do with the clock because the escape wheel will eventually be damaged. WHAT WILL CAUSE TIMEKEEPING PROBLEMS: There are a number of things that will cause timekeeping problems. Some are true generally speaking and some are specific to certain clocks. The following is a list of the generally speaking problems: set mainspring improperly lubed mainspring damaged mainspring--- scratched ,rusted or pitted spring : or a spring with lumps caused from the shape of the spring upon itself being wound for years and years. worn weight pulley gummy oil worn or loose bushings loose suspension post incorrect mainspring sympathetic vibration damaged threads on the pendulum adjusting nut \regulator end of key damaged bent suspension spring loose verge worn gear teeth worn roller pinions and or worn roller pinion bushings incorrect weight on time gear train loose hand clutch scored pivots or pivot too much play in impulse loop incorrect gear ratio incorrect center of gravity on the pendulum bob incorrect pendulum weight incorrect suspension spring thickness mainspring run down unstable running position out of beat mainspring catching on gear teeth or click rivet or click spring hooks damaged escape wheel teeth moon dial gear binding incorrect verge escape wheel depth (shallower depth will generally make the clock run faster because the swing is reduced making less time between ticks. STOPPAGE PROBLEMS: It doesn't take much to stop a clock. The most common problem is failure to wind the mainsprings up all the way. This is a user/owner problem. Generally speaking if a clock is stopping after it has been rebuilt check the following: Check the beat setting check endshake check for tight bushings check the position of the impulse arm vs susp rod check for bent escape wheel teeth check for bent teeth (even slightly) every where in the gear train check for a mounting bind (with the mechanism is mounted in the case if one of the mounting feet is even slightly bent it can cause any one or all of the gear trains to bind) check for barrell teeth hitting #2 wheel teeth on endshake minimum or maximum. check for worn gear teeth check for proper gear depthing are the mainsprings the correct strength? is the suspension the correct strength? possibly the pendulum is the wrong weight Hands rubbing on the glass at any point in the 360 degree rotation? (put your finger on the glass over where the minute hand is located and if the hand looks closer to your finger than the glass is thick then the hand is probably hitting on the glass.) check for a bushing not oiled are the hands touching each other at all anywhere? when the clock stops , very carefully check to determine if there is any power to the escape wheel; if there is power then be more concerned about pendulum friction, sympathetic vibration, or suspension problems. If there is absolutely no ; or very little then there is probably a gear train problem. is there any air circulation around the pendulum? are the weights magnetized and is the pendulum brass plated steel? is the pendulum touching the back of the clock ? Is the clock;ck sitting on a solid surface? is the clock hanging plumb on the wall? Is the hour tube binding? are the chime or strike levers binding because of lack of oil or rough edges? check the suspension post to see if the suspension is loose--- If it is loose the clock will probably stop. check for pallet face wear check all lubrication points. PLATING ON PIVOTS: The plating on pivots must be removed if it has started to pit or peel. This is one of the biggest problems the modern german mechanisms have had for 10 or 15 years now. you can tell by the color of the metal if the pivot is plated. The steel in most pivots has a very slight yellowish color compared to the metal on the inside of the plating. the herschede clocks have a plating on their pivots and below the plating there is a copper colored metal that must also be polished. If it is not polished completely the bushings will wear very quickly, and also severe power loss will result. GEAR DEPTHING: IMPULSE ARM---IMPULSE LOOP: PUTTING A CLOCK IN BEAT: All clocks must have maximum power transfer to the pendulum or they will not run dependably. This means they must be in beat. Try to imagine the pendulum and verge as a swing and the person pushing as the escape wheel. When the clock is in beat the escape wheel gives the pendulum a push at just the right time in the same way as a person gives the swing a push just as it arrives back and at the instant it starts back on its return trip. The verge clutch will usually allow the beat to be set by adjusting the position of the impulse arm until it is at the true center at rest with the mechanism and case set level and plumb. Be very careful when setting the beat; sometimes the verge clutch is set so tight that the escape wheel teeth can be bent without realizing it. If the beat is set, but the clock gets in beat ant they out of beat; check for bent escape wheel teeth if the the in beat and out of beat: has a regular repeating pattern. If there is not a regular pattern then the problem is probably a loose verge. The clutch can be ok but the verge can be loose on the shaft. when setting the beat on a clock if possible do it by sight and sound. Setting the beat on a balance wheel is just as important as the beat on the pendulum units. The hairspring collar can usually be moved if need be, it is a delicate operation. Practice on spare parts! CENTERPOST CAM REMOVAL: Quite often it becomes necessary to remove the centerpost cam so that the hand end of the centerpost can be rebushed.Be sure the plate is adequately braced and supply solid surface for the support. The surface must be as solid as a cement floor. In fact I have had to use the cement floor as a support many times. If the support surface has any give you will end up destroying the shaft , and possibly the cam also. If the collar is made correctly and the punches are used and made correctly , it will be possible to remove almost any center post cam. When the centerpost is off be sure to taper it with emery paper before reinstalling the cam. Remember it will only take a few minutes to do. remember if the centerpost bushing is worn it will have to bee rebushed or the clock will not work. I have observed many repairs come back to haunt those who thought they could get by with a fast job and a quick buck. This end remember usually has the chime trip cam if it wiggles up and down or side to side the trip position will be erratic and too the self correct will not work. Another word about cam removal in general: sometimes they will pop off when you are not ready , go flying somewhere out of sight and you will not be able to find them. One good way to avoid loosing them is to put a rag over the cam when you are working it loose: this will hold it if it pops loose before you expect. JAUCH MECHANISM CHIME CAM: The chime cam , and the chime hammer drive gear, are held in place by setscrews that have very sharp points on the end that is inside. When they are tightened up , they make a disruptive gouge in the shaft; which is ok until you try to resequence. Often the cam or the gear will slip back into those gouges when the setscrews are tightened. You will fight it for hours unless you find some way around the gouges. Grind off the end of the set screws or replace them, and smooth the shaft, then tighten the setscrews and the wheel or cam will stay where you put it. Things to be aware of on specific types of clocks: Time and Strike AMERICAN CLOCKS: Most time and strike (hour /half hour) american clocks work on similar theory. Most of them use a count wheel with count arm and trip levers on the inside of the plate. Keep in mind that the bushings that the shutoff and trip levers ride on must not be too loose. Be sure that the trip lever moves far enough before releasing the lock lever so that the warning pin on the 4th wheel will be hooked by enough of the warning lever so that the action will be dependable.Keep in mind that because of the nature of the american time and strike clocks there must always be some play in the bushings , particularly the shutoff and locking lever bushings.Any tighter than .002in. will cause intermittent problems that may be impossible to find; any looser than .005in. will also cause intermittent problems. Some of the new haven mechanisms will have a shutoff that uses the actual lever hooking on the 3rd wheel (a slot in the plane attached to the 3rd wheel) o shutoff the gear train. The shutoff will usually be spring loaded. They are very tricky because the angle must be such that a minimum of drag is put on the gear train. The shutoff end must be at 0 degrees to a line drawn through it and the shaft of the 3rd wheel. Do not under any circumstances change this angle. Do, however, be sure that the surface of the slot and the lever are polished. Be sure to check the lantern pinions on all the wheels for wear. Also be sure to check the mainsprings; take them off the arbor , unwind them and check for cracks or distorted areas. They must be replaced if there is a problem. On the units that have a trip lever that is just an L shaped piece of wire be absolutely sure, when it is apart, that the wire is tight. If it is not the trip position will be off: it will either strike before the 12 or after it: and it will have to be disassembled to fix this tiny little problem. There are some of the american Time and strike clocks that have alarms that are set by a brass or silver colored ring in the center of the dial. The ring will usually have roman numerals on it (1 through 12). There will usually be a small movement at the bottom of the case with a separate size key and a small mainspring and a verge and a very heavy duty escape wheel that runs on it. To set these alarms first be sure the alarm is wound. (THESE ALARMS ARE VERY LOUD , BE PREPARED FOR LOTS OF NOISE!!!) Then, line up the XII on the alarm ring with the hour hand. Then, set the strike sequence and bring the clock around to the 12 o'clock position to check if the XII is indeed at the 12 o'clock position when the alarm trip lever drops and the alarm sounds; if so, then line up the hour hand with the roman numeral of the desired hour that alarm is to go off by turning the small ring with the numerals clockwise. (it is friction fit on the hour tube and can be turned with a slight effort)Be sure to not disturb the hour hand. The trip/lock lever setup on the 8 and 1 day time and strike american clocks must be watched closely on th lock position. The pin n the warning wheel(usually the 4th wheel) must catch and hold on the lever edge solidly and must have at least the diameter of the pin over and above when all the slack is backed off the hands and the bushings on the levers must be reasonably tight or the clock will not stay in sequence. The fact to remember here is that the clock may work ok for a while but then after he customer gets the clock home and runs it for a while then it will act up. this is critical: check this out very carefully. If you get a return and don't check it out you will get bit by a mad customer. Cover the Junghans w/c with winding gears. CUCKOO CLOCKS: The modern cuckoo clock is available in musical and non musical versions. The musical version has several variations. The music mechanism can be mounted on the side of the case (usually on the right looking in the back) or on the top inside just below the roof. All of these versions are available with count wheel mechanisms in one day or eight day versions. Most of these (with count wheels) that are musical have a worm gear drive governor with a large vertical fan mounted on the movement. be cautious of these , they tend to bind up often and won't tolerate much wear. The music sounding part is mounted on the side usually and has only brass drum and the steel fingers there being no need for a governor assembly. Commonly the roof mount mechanisms are 1 day units. There are 2 basic types of shutoffs: one that simply moves in and out of a hole in the side of the drive gear on the melody sounding drum, and another that has a graduated slot that the shutoff lever is moved out of and above a ridge on the drive gear so it holds the shutoff open until the valley comes back around and the shutoff lever drops in and the tab hooks the fan. On this type the secret is that the lock lever must snap out and up from the shutoff hole to keep it going. These are usually either 22 note or 18 note units. All of the music mechanisms have small dampers cemented to the bottom of the fingers on the sounding bar. These dampers must come in contact with the small pins on the brass drum the instant before the pin comes in contact with small finger on the sounding bar as the music mechanism is in operation. The purpose of this is to prevent a squeaking sound from occurring as the pin contacts the finger while it is still vibrating from the last stroke. If these dampers are missing or defective they must be replaced or the music mechanism will squeak. That is it. There is no other way, Do not attempt to oil the sounding fingers ; this will not stop the squeak without causing the sound to deaden, and will eventually thoroughly gum up the mechanism and ruin it. HUBERT HERR CUCKOOS: These mechanisms have a shutoff system that depends entirely on gravity to operate. Do not oil this system or it will not work.Looking at the mechanism from the front: the shutoff lever reaches across the outside and drops down on the rod with the little brass weight that looks like a bushing and pops it out of the way of the locking lever on the inside of the plate. The angles here are critical. Do not change them. Be sure the position of the 3rd wheel does not change ; if it is rebushed the lock will not set and hold if this wheel position changes.Oiling this causes the thing to hang up fr9om the surface tension of the oil. If it is hanging up , polish it carefully but do not oil the hook or the rod. some of the older cuckoos do not have an inspection hole in the back to allow access to the gong and hammer for adjustment. There are several ways around this. The least desirable is to drill a hole near the center of the gong. The reason I say least desirable is this : you may very well end up with a very angry customer when they see the hole you drilled in their prized 100 year old family heirloom that great grampa brought from germany during world war 1. Do not ever alter someone's clock unless you have a very good understanding with them; and even then you are taking a big chance. The best way is to adjust the hammer/gong clearance before the bellows are installed. The hammer and gong can be seen through the hole for the bellow. It is possible to reach the hammer with an adjustment tool. Bend the hammer not the gong. I am remembering here the time I was adjusting a cuckoo for a customer at the counter ; and just a slight adjustment on the gong and ........... OH NO!!!!!!!! Guess what happened ? the gong broke off in my hand. Unbeknownst to me and the customer the last person to work on the clock had taken the fatal short cut and bent the gong several times just enough. Hubert herr roof mount music mechanism : trip lever has to be absolutely free to move or the clock will not cuckoo because there is no return spring. Just enough to weaken it and now it was my turn to break it. Bend the hammer , not the gong. The 1 day regula cuckoo clock movements with 77mm x 75mm plates (stamped with 35) have common pendulum lengths of 28.5 cm and 20.5cm. The smaller regula movement 73mm x 63mm usually is available in 23.5cm pendulum length. These are the same chain size. 61links per foot and a wire diameter of .035in.. The pendulum length is measured from the suspension post to the center of the pendulum, bob or leaf. SESSIONS 2 SPRING W/C: Set the hour trip position on the front cam and coordinate with cam on the back of the centerpost: cam on back of centerpost should move the pin on the hammer lift assembly into sequence hole before the quarter hour trip and them drop off edge n the half hour . Be sure the idler gear on the front plate is tight. The cam on the back of the centerpost must be tight . Set the hammer sequence at the ¼ after position. QUARTER HOUR REPEATERS: The quarter hour repeaters of the small brass and glass french clock type will almost always have a button on top to push that activates the strike. If it has a button on top it is most certainly a genuine repeater. A true repeater does not have a warning pin or a lock position before it strikes. when it trips it releases that is it. One of the reasons for this design is so that the repeat button will work at almost any time . If there were a lock position , the repeat button would not work when the strike was in the lock mode. WEIGHT DRIVE VIENNA REGULATORS: PIN LEVER ESCAPEMENT (OLD SETH THOMAS): SETH THOMAS #2 REGULATOR: The Seth Thomas #2 regulator pendulum cannot be put on the stick upside down or the clock will run slow. The pendulum is not symmetrical. Be sure to check this. Some times there will be a clock that comes to you with a cam attached to a shaft with a setscrew that has been broken off making it almost impossible to get the cam off. ;Most of the time this cam can be removed by cutting a slot on the screw where it sits flush with the surface of the cam. Be sure to cut the slot deep enough so that maximum torque can be applied to the broken screw on the first try; you will usually only get one chance so make it count. To reposition the minute hand after removing the centerpost cam use the square end of an old file . Insert it in the hand hub bushing hold the end of the file with a pair of pliers and slide the hand forward or backward as needed until it matches the trip point at 12 0;clock . To loosen up the hub hit over a punch / anvil that just fits the edge of the hand bushing. This will loosen up the bushing enough to allow it to be moved. JAPENESE MECHANISMS: One that says crown on the front of the mechanism; it has a rack and snail, and a clutch system hooked to the hour hand. The mainsprings hook around retainer rids that make it almost impossible to disassemble and assemble the mechanism by clamping the mainsprings in the usual manner. The secret here is to repair the mechanism without clamping the mainsprings . Let them all the way down ; there will be about 8 or 9 feet of loose floppy mainspring dangling about the bench. take the centerpost cam off if possible before separating the plates; it will be much easier to disassemble. If you make a jig to hold the springs ,and steady the mechanism, it will be feasible to do the work this way. Be sure to double and triple check the bushings before the final assembly is done; its a long procedure to pre-disassemble this particular mechanism. It's cumbersome but is easier to get it back together without bending or breaking pivots. Be sure that the mainsprings are inside the retaining pins as the mechanism is disassembled; its too late to move them after the mechanism is reassembled. FLOOR CLOCKS: LORENZE FURTWANGFLER and SHONE: The initials on the back of this mechanism are l w s inscribed in a circle on the back of the mechanism. This is a westminster chime mechanism with some unusual sequencing levers. The drive gear shaft through the front plate serving also as the clutch is not so unusual. The trip lever is attached to the front plate on a post and held on position by a coil spring attached directly above it. The lock and warning lever are held in place by a coil spring also. The trip lever and the lock / warning lever works with the trip lever to keep it in place. If the hands get forced ahead one of the places that are affected is point a. It will get bent too far to the right and then the lift pins on the minute wheel will not be able to lift the lock/warning lever far enough to release the warning pin in the chime gear train. Pay close attention to the roller: it should move freely and when it drops into the shutoff areas it should do so almost immediately and at the same time the gear train should shut off.The roller is attached to a plate that is fastened with screws to the trip/lock lever: this allows for adjustment of the position of the roller as far as up and down is concerned (the holes in the roller plate are slotted) . When the gear train starts moving for the next chime sequence; be sure that the shutoff pin on the wheel does not catch the lock lever on the second time around.This will happen if the position of the roller is set too close to the next lobe on the sequence cam. The trip lever will hang up if the trip pin and the working face of the lock/warning lever gets worn. The mechanism that I worked on had that problem. the chime would trip but the lever would hang up. the working face at B had a groove worn in it and the trip pin had a flat spot in it. The trip pin can be twisted so a new working face can be utilized and face b can be filed and polished. If the pin can't be turned, it will have to be replaced if the mechanism will not work. the self correct pin does its job by moving the trip lever into position so the front pin can reach the front partition of the trip lever. It works on the high lift principal, its just that the lever A pushes the trip cam back farther back when the lock /warning lever drops into the deeper area on the ¾ hour position. KEYS: One of the biggest problems that customers have with clocks is winding them. Many times the keys that are available do not properly fit the arbors, and the customer ends up with a trashed clock and in some cases a very sore finger. Be absolutely that the clock you are working on has the correct key. When installing jewels be sure to check the edge of the hole that the reamer makes be sure the jewel seats down . If there is an edge with a lop in it; ore that likely the jewel will not seat properly and the WATERBURY CLOCKS : Waterbury made a triple plate self correcting lantern pinion mechanism with time and strike style shutoff wires. On the left side back plate looking at the unit from the front , the lever on top of the trip lever is the self correct lever. Stamped on the back of the movement: Patented 5/24/1910 ; 1/23/1917 ; 1/29//1918 ; 5/21/1918 ; 5/27/1919 6/5/1924 ; 4/14/1925. The best way to approach this mechanism, if an overhaul is planned , is to treat it as two separate mechanisms with a common middle plate. As far as bushings are concerned , this is the least confusing, in my opinion, unless you are fortunate enough to work in an environment where it is possible to work uninterrupted. I prefer to do the chime mechanism first, because it is often necessary to rebush the gear system that winds the mainspring. Those gears are hard steel so be careful. they are usually somewhat loose on the shaft, and that is not usually a problem, Just be sure the bushings are as tight as possible. Check the #2 wheel chime bushing on the long end of the shaft; it is very close to the movement post, and if it is worn too severely, it may be a problem to get a bushing to fit. Be sure to assemble the chime silent lever before the mechanism is completely assembled. The trip lever is the one with the flat blued steel arm that extends into the front mechanism (the front mechanism being the section that carries the centerpost and the hour tube hand end) . The self correct lever is directly above the trip lever. The lock pin for the self correct stop on the 4th wheel must go past the self correct stop on all but the hour; so that when it releases on the hour it will be clear of the lock pin when it starts the travel for the hour sequence. The short tab on the bottom of the self correct lever fits in the small hole in the middle plate. This mechanism has a rack and snail on the front plate. The gathering pallet has 2 pins. The chime is tripped by the chime trip cam in the front plate mechanism on the back of the centerpost. There is a high lift on this cam that is meant to trip the chiming mechanism at the hour on the self correct. Looking at the back plate from the back of the clock the self correcting lever is on the upper right hand corner. It has a 3 pronged tension washer to hold it in place when it is moved by the pin on the 3rd wheel. The triple plate design allows for the time gear train and the strike ear train to be positioned at the front and the chime at the back. The warning wheel (5th wheel)) in the chime gear train has almost one turn before the lock position; this allows for the self-correct to function properly. the pin on the 4th wheel is the self correct pin. It works with the self correct lever; the high lift moves the lever to clear this pin on the hour. the sequence cam is on the 3rd wheel. the 3rd wheel o has a pin on the front of the wheel to trip the strike and a pin on the back to set the self correct lever to grab the pin on the 4th wheel.All of the slots on the 3rd wheel are the same depth because the self correct is done with the levers, This mechanism has a through the dial regulator at the 12 o'clock position and a chime silent lever below that . the rack index arm will move: it is riveted on in the mechanisms i have seen. The setting of the index arm is critical because the shutoff arm that rides in the grooves must be adjusted so it will work in conjunction with the gathering pallet. It must shutoff with the last pin on the gathering pallet having just cleared the last tooth on the rack. The mainspring measurements are as follows: Time mainspring:.018in. X .750in. X 96in. Strike mainspring: .014in. X .874in. X 78in. Chime mainspring: .0225in. X .874in. X 78in. WARNING PIN POSITION: The warning pin position determines how much spin the strike or chime gear train has before the hammer load or any load is applied to it. This as absolutely critical on some mechanisms and on others not so critical.Generally speaking , if there is trouble with the chime or strike binding it may very well be that there is not enough gear travel before the load is applied. Seth thomas 124 seth Thomas 113 chelsea french clocks gustave bekker Hubert Herr cuckoos Regula cuckoos Junghans NOT SO CRITICAL: One day german count wheel cuckoos Quail cuckoos Seth Thomas Time and Strike with strike lift pins on the #2 wheel Remember that there must be enough spin left at the end of the chime to allow enough space between the end of the chime melody and the beginning of the strike count so that they sound separate. The governors must always be Balanced. If the strike or chime binds , it may be that the fans ore out of balance. Always check the balance on the fans; they must be as close to perfect as possible. This is true on all mechanisms with mechanical governors that operate primarily in the upright position. Chime bind on large 3/c popular european mechanism /kienninger grandfather clock movements: check pulleys; hammer lift alignment ; lift pin burrs; throw out arm must be perfectly straight ; 90deg. to hammer lift drum. Check hammer pivot shaft support and spring ten sion and amount of lift. On the Chelsea; watch the drive gear for the balance wheel unit ; it can be put in backwards. To protect a wheel while heating a shaft; drill a hole in a piece of brass the size of the shaft that the wheel it on . A piece big enough to cover the wheel. Some hammer assembly shafts on floor clocks are threaded that will make the hammers not line up with the hammer lift pins if the shaft is un-threaded slightly; be sure to check this. THE SETH THOMAS 115D: The seth thomas 115d is a ships strike round mechanism. It Has a non-imported balance wheel unit . It uses a cam in the idler gear to make odd count lifts lever that catches hammer. gravity-spring-counter weight return on rack. ].010in.spring. spring loaded rack index end pops back in case mechanism runs down this spring ..021in..brass. Trip lever return:.013in.brass;-.010in.inside plate on this also. Hammer return spring .016in.; brass.Be sure there is at least 180 degrees of rotation on the warning wheel after the warning position; or the odd hour strikes will be erratic because the hammer catch wont always hook. In the event that the balance wheel unit on this clock is damaged beyond repair, an old popular european mechanism PIN lever platform escape unit will work ; however the escape wheel will have to be turned over on its shaft because the gear train of the seth thomas turns the opposite direction of the popular european mechanism mechanism. The pinion gear tooth count is 8 leaves , the same is in the orig. seth thomas. The regulator device needs to be modified to fit in the slot on the dial. A small hole drilled in the regulator arm of the popular european mechanism unit with a taper pin carefully riveted in will work just fine. The popular european mechanism unit will just fit under the dial. The mounting holes do not fit exactly ; however some careful modifications will allow the use of the popular european mechanism platform escape unit. It must be a pin lever though because the unit with the jeweled fork will see the escape wheel backwards unless the jewels are reversed , which i haven't tried. MAINSPRING END REPAIR Often it will be necessary to repair the end or a mainspring because it will be impossible to find a suitable replacement. This can be done by drawing the temper on the end of the spring after the bad end has been cut off. Heat the end )before the new hole is drilled) until it is cherry red and then reduce the heat slowly by slowly . About ½ inch per second or slower will work until the flame is about a foot or so away. Be careful. The end will still be hot for a few minutes. Put the spring in a vise with the length that is to be softened exposed so that it can be worked on safely with the torch. After the end has been softened and completely cooled; take it out of the vise and punch a dot (at the center of the spot where the end hook is to be( and drill out the new hole. I prefer to use a found hole that just fits the hook inside the barrell. be absolutely sure that there are no sharp edges or cuts where the hook holds the end because that will cause the end to break again. Be sure to leave enough on the other side of the hole to protect the end. GONG REPAIR Coil gongs can be repaired . No need to solder them. Solder will not work unless you have the skill to work with metals this way.Soft solder will not work. Press a b;ushing in the old hole , the press-fit the gong back in. Carefully clamp the gong ind in the vise and tap the black in. This will work if the gong end is properly sized to fit tightly in the bushing. SALEM SHIPS BELL Setting the sequence on this clock can be frustrating.I suggest starting the process of setting the sequence at the 1 bell interval (12:30; or 4:30; or 8:30). The small pan shaped washer that is attached to the back of the centerpost with a nut must be in the Up or high lift position on the half hour position.The triangular shaped cam on the 3rd wheel must be attached so that when the gear train is in the shutoff position , the pin on the shutoff lever rests on one of the 3 flat sides of the cam precisely in the middle the side. The star wheel consists of alternating lift teeth in pairs. At the shutoff point; the second tooth must have just let go when the gear train stops (only 4 or 5 rotations of the fan); this allows for the hammer end to be in the down position for the pin to catch the end and hold the hammer up in the air for the half hour thing.Always check the stetting of the rack indexing lever; i have found that in most cases these have been forced somehow and they have slipped and are not accurately dropping in the rack teeth. If you do all the adjusting and don't check this first you will most likely drive your self nuts. The index pin must drop exactly in the valley of the rack tooth. RACK AND SNAIL PRINCIPALS SHORT PENDULUMS Clocks with short pendulum lengths(5 inches and shorter) will be very prone to errors due to loose suspensions , loose regulator assemblies and loose bushings in the verge. The reason for this is that the error caused is a large percentage of the total pendulum length. If a clock with a 45 inch pend has a loose regulator screw that varies by .1inches , then the percentage is .22%. The same variation on a 5 inch pendulum would be 2% or almost 10 times as much error. KEY OPERATED REGULATORS Clocks with key operated regulator assemblies that typically adjust from the dial are exceptionally prone to error from loose parts. If any part of the regulator is excessively loose ; the clock will not keep good time. The part above the stationary post is also included in this. If the regulator is going to be used it must be tight tight everywhere. Take it completely apart if need be ; but take care to tighten up all parts on it. The threads must be tight on the shaft that runs the device up and down as on the seth thomas movement. HAND TRIP POSITION Many minute hands have a hub with a square hole in the center and the hub is usually riveted or friction fit in a round hole in the hand use the end of an old file to fit in the square hole. Hold the file end with a pair of pliers and slide the hub until the hand trip position is accurate. Modern DOUBLE DIAL CALENDAR CLOCK The wire spring on the feburary. cam will come loose often.The position is critical~ Won't advanced the month if its too shallow; and advances the month on each day if its set too deep. The lift of the trip mechanism is also critical; it must be just high enough to change. Also the lift pin on the trip mechanism comes loose often. the double ratchet spring on advance shape is absolutely critical. Month Advance must be flat on all surface of Tooth. REVERE ELECTRIC W/BALANCE WHEEL AUXILLARY The revere electric with balance wheel auxillary has auto-shift from electric motor to balance wheel unit. The shift lever is weight / gravity activated. do not oil.Engage- disengage is auto-activated by a lift pin on the minute wheel: the weight drops in and engages the balance wheel. The pin on the minute/second hand wheel pushes it out again. While the minute wheel is in the disengage position about 10 degrees or so of rotation. the clearance between the coil field and the hold in lever will determine whether or not it hums loudly or just barely. TUNING GONG RODS Generally speaking, if two rods are the same length, the rod with the smaller diameter will produce a lower note. It is possible to lower the pitch slightly by filing off some at the top of the rod where it is tapered at the point where it joins with the threaded end. SELF ADJUSTING VERGE The self adjusting verge is used on many of the modern mechanisms. The idea is that if the tension of the verge clutch is set just tight enough to push the pendulum ; but loose enough to allow it to split the difference between each side of the impulse with a specially designed escape wheel that has indentations on the teeth. After running for ten or fifteen minutes and having the difference split minutely at each tick , the clock will be in beat. Its a good idea and it does work usually. The most common problem with this kind of verge is stopping. Typically they will not stay in beat if they are too tight, and then they will stop. If they are too loose, they may stay in beat , but will not run dependably. DO NOT EVER OIL ONE OF THESE SELF-ADJUSTING VERGES. YOU WILL RUIN IT IF YOU OIL IT. DO NOT EVER PUT ONE OF THESE IN AN ULTRASONIC CLEANER ; THIS WILL DO THE SAME TYPE OF DAMAGE AS OILING THEM. BARRELL CAPS describe how to install barrell caps if they are loose.Installing a barrell cap on a mainspring barrell can be a frustrating experience if the cap does not fit snugly.Many times the caps have been forced or gouged and distorted from mis-handling.More often the barrell itself has been distorted where the cap fits on. There is usually a small groove with a shoulder that keeps the cap from sliding too far into the spring.If the barrell has been soldered; expect the cap to be loose .If you see scratches and deep gouges around the edge; this is another warning sign. If the cap has been removed and installed too many times,the barrell will get warped and the cap will not fit tightly. A barrell cap can be installed by clamping the barrell and the cap at one edge snugly ,but not destructively, in a vise with SMOOTH jaws , and then with a leather or hardwood mallet, the other edge can be installed with some sharp tapping. PICTURE.Do not squeeze the barrell/cap combination tight enough to distort or destroy the small edge that holds the cap. I have also installed the caps by holding one end of the barrell/cap in my hand and tapping on the cap with a wooden mallet with the tooth side of the barrell sitting on a SOLID spot on the bench.This is faster but a little bit more difficult.PICTURE. If the cap is loose IE: doesn't stay put DO NOT START WITH TRYING TO MAKE THE BARRELL OPENING SMALLER. DO NOT TRY TO MODIFY THE BARRELL. Start with the cap.With a polished piece of hard steel as an anvil ; work the edges of the cap outward gradually by hitting the cap evenly around the entire circumference of its outer edge with a polished hammer. Stay as close to the edge as possible without actually hitting the edge. If the cap is steel ; this method will work ; however it will take much longer to get the diameter of the cap increased. If one is very careful the diameter of the cap can be increased enough to make the cap stay put nicely. Be sure to carefully check the barrell for cracks in the sides.As one can imagine; it will not be possible to get the cap to fit tightly if the barrell is cracked.Again; do not try to modify the barrell edge; the cap will hold if it fits snugly. Always check the barrells before you take them apart. If there is evidence of butchery , plan on much grief in trying to get the barrell caps to fit properly.Don't forget to check the cap to be sure it is flat and not cupped before installing it on the barrell.

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