Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Steel

-

With apologies to the incredible Mr. Le Carré.

In our last episode your local horologist was unpacking some of the pending challenges entertainment of the Thomas Adams Astro Regulator. 

This clock is an English Bell Strike (EBS) clock - a classic style of tall case (AKA grandfather) clock that was extremely popular throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The style is emulated still today. Our Canadian colleague Ron did a nice write up of his service on a 170 year old Scottish variant.

Your clock collector wrote about his acquisition of a ridiculously inexpensive EBS that now resides in his dining room. 

Our English friend had a very interesting set of wheels that descended below the plates of the movement. 


They were... wiggly... as there was a loose screw on the minute wheel cock and a missing pin / post on the hour wheel cock.

With the loose cock screw it was clear that the plate and screw were badly stripped. So your local tap and die man experimented with a whole host of screw options and landed on one that didn't look too out of place.


That screw seated nicely and didn't clash too much with its compatriots.


As for the missing pin / post on the hour wheel cock...


Your metallurgist tried a few pieces until he landed on one that would both snug and cut down to size correctly.



So how was the meshing now that both cocks were tightly secured?

A later photo overlayed on the original problem example captures the satisfactory meshing results.


Next!

There was the question of the missing click on the Time train main wheel. 

Turns out that wheel had two clicks, one of which was missing. Clicks can be purchased from Timesavers but these are not an exact match to the very "old school" English clicks on this clock. Assuming the replacements could be used it's possible that a new hole in the wheel might have to be tapped or some other metal work required and a lot of adjustments made.

Conferring with Jeff we agreed that one click, in good shape, would suffice. 

It was in good shape.

Move on.

Well...

In examining the main wheel YLH discovered another problem. That wheel has an inner tensioning spring held with a screw that was completely stripped.

Your modest hoarder had a screw that would fit but...

The head of the screw had to be very shallowly cut and flushed directly to the surface of the spring in order to clear the arms of the wheel that slid over it. 

Your aspiring machinist had not the devices to correctly cut this.

Jeff did. 

He toiled on it for nearly an hour in his shop using several different tools to refine the cut.

And once the screw was sized and flushed to the spring surface YLH took it back and cut it to fit.


Next!

Then there was the bent hammer spring colliding with the Strike 3rd wheel. 

Man was that spring stiff. 

But many, many extremely careful bending and twisting efforts paid off.

And jumping ahead to a later reassembly.


Next!

Time!

So much more to come.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Draw your own conclusion

-
Image
In our last episode your local horologist was confounded by the "seconds" dial of the Vienna single-weight Regulator . Some of the answer to this conundrum lay in the history of the manufacture of these clocks.  The very earliest models of what became this classic style were created in about 1780 in Vienna. They were hand made by individual clockmakers and often of amazingly high quality. The style grew in popularity, over time evolving into several distinct variants matching the tastes of the times.  Of those of you familiar with Viennas the first image you might have when thinking of a one might be something more... ornate than our example.  Perhaps something like one these: Our Vienna is a bit more... modest in design. Again a photo as it was found on the wall when YLH first saw it. In that regard the observant reader / follower of this blog (thank you) might have noticed this tidbit from YLH's first posting about this clock, noted in its earlier owner's receipt ....
Read more

An adjustable deadbeat

-
Image
Wha'dju call me? Well let's explain. In our last episode your local horologist was just about to discuss the removal and examination of the wheel train of the single weight Vienna Regulator.  The wheels looked to be in good shape but YLH was focused on the clock's escapement and in particular, its anchor. Recent readers will recall that an anchor engages with the teeth of the escape wheel and together they form the escapement . The escapement is the heart of the mechanical clock and fascinates your amateur d'horologie.  The anchor is the principal component of the escapement that drives the pendulum. The two major types of anchors are the recoil (a very early form of anchor and most commonly seen in mass-produced clocks) and the deadbeat (a later variant and more prevalent in European and higher quality clocks). There are many other types of escapements, some very exotic . Frequently attributed to  George Graham , the deadbeat was actually created by Richard Town...
Read more

Of pins and needles

-
Image
In our last episode your local horologist was contemplating Newton and how his famous force enabled  was presently unsuccessful in the proper operation of the so called Gravity clock.  As a brief reminder our round friend rides a metal rack and when raised to the top and released it should slowly descend along the rack over the course of a day. See the prior post for details. Except our chonky ticker wouldn't.  It mostly fell (well if allowed to). This burgeoning clockmaker had a sneaking suspicion of what lay underneath the dial and the nature of the problem.  No time like the present! The dial is retained with two screws (crude design says this clock snob) and when lifted up and away must be carefully snaked along the hole from which protrudes the pendulum (as there is no way to remove the pendulum first) for proper extrication. A confession.  That's actually not a pendulum in the strictest sense because it cannot swing independently from the movement. It's a...
Read more