Escapement

In our last episode your local horologist was fretting over corrosion on the Peter Green clock . Paul, the owner, had decided to pull us up out of that rabbit hole. There was another issue that presented itself rather early in the examination of our Danish friend that was both more concerning and far more subtle to see. This brass jockey was gaining a richer understanding of what he lovingly referred to as the "snail unit" ie. the whole gizmo that encompasses the inner and outer snails and the wheel behind them.  It was that large wheel at the back of the snail unit and the little pinion gear above it that caught the eye. There was something off... in there. In the photo below the pinion is hard to see as it is covered by a hand cut brass washer with a copper wire to anchor it. But can you see the issue?  Here's a tighter look at another angle. See it now? What we have there is a rather severe depth problem with the meshing of the teeth of the big wheel and the little p...

When your local horologist was called back to take another look at the Peter Green clock  he discussed addressing the problems identified by Paul and Jane (the skipping strike and the non-moving moon dial ) but also pointed out that an examination of the clock may reveal other issues that merit consideration for repair.  This was not meant to be a full service, rather an effort to fix the identified issues and discuss any others revealed. Any such issues would be assessed for risk and estimated for work effort and discussed with Paul and Jane in advance of any action such that they can assess and decide yea or nay. The clock is about 270 years old so unsurprisingly this clock fool saw a number of problems that warranted consideration. Many of them would be ranked by this horological calibrator as "perhaps one day" or "worth considering but not essential."  Two areas of concern pushed the horological worry meter above the yellow mark. The first issue was corrosion....