In between

Off with the plates.

For the most part removing the wheels and such is very straightforward but I do like to capture each wheel removal to ensure I know the corresponding pivot hole.

Guessing afterwards, what goes where on the plate, could be a long game.

The Brocot suspension was in fine shape.

The suspension spring itself was a little bent but I've come to understand that with gentle straightening is will not effect the functioning of the clock.

That notch in the brass end on the right... classic French, Brocot suspension spring. It's designed to clear the edge of the adjustment wheel on top of the unit. Here it is installed before cleaning. Held in place by a pin going through the unit (right below the adjustment wheel) and then down through adjustable plates. The arrow is pointing to the very top of the suspension spring and the notched part is facing inwards and is under the adjustment wheel.

Now to clean the parts of the movement. Base grime removed by hand.

I used Dr. Johnson's handy mainspring winder to remove the mainsprings.

Looking at the deeply embedded and corroded grease on the interior of the case of this spring... I'm having a hard time guessing when, if ever, this clock was last cleaned. 40-50 years ago? Maybe?

That photo above was after I scraped most of the sludge out.

Unless a clock's movement is meant to be displayed directly I've come to adopt the philosophy that I call "functionally clean." I clean the parts well enough that dirt, corrosion, etc. does not interfere with the clock running. Moreover, in my approach, I clean well enough to help minimize the risk of the movement needing to be cleaned again in the near future (call that 10-20 years).

Yes I could go the sparkly route and with some parts of a clock, I have, like with cases and exterior, but it is a lot of extra work and the benefits are few.

I use standard clock cleaning solutions and make sure the essential parts susceptible to friction, like pivot holes, are deeply cleaned.

So in reassembly there are still some slightly grubby bits but in no way should that hurt the clock.

Despite the heavy crud in many parts of the movement, overall I found it to be in excellent condition. Little wear, nothing missing or broken. Putting it all back together was quick.

Getting the top plate to seat correctly against all the various pivots and arbors is an art. As part of my learning journey my earliest efforts to seat a plate over all those pivots took the better part of an hour to get everything aligned. I'm getting the hang of it. This one took 10 mins.

Can't help but add... see how thick the brass plates are? Quality.

Putting on all the exterior components, I got that spring back in place.

Remarkable how my different lights on the bench can effect the color of the brass in these photos. The shot above and the one below are very close to "true" color. 

And now the clicks, levers and more.

See that red grease under the clicks? That's a special type for clock movement parts to ensure smooth operation. Clock oil is specific to reduce friction in very small/fine parts. Clock grease is specific to larger pieces of clockwork that slide against each other like clicks and springs and levers that push up and down. Just a bit of it. Too much grease, and especially oil, will attract dirt.

Here's the Brocot suspension reinstalled. You can clearly see the shape of the spring clearing the adjustment wheel.

Up on the test stand with the pendulum installed.

It's running well.