Escapement

In our last episode your local horologist was polishing pivots and finally got the Thomas Adams Astro Regulator English Bell Strike clock to run.   But despite that which is first amongst this horological mechanic's principles : first getting the thing to run; often that isn't enough. Getting a clock to run well can be quite a different story. And indeed our English friend, now running, still evidenced several concerning behaviors. The escapement  (that part of the clock movement that transmits and regulates power from the wheel train to the pendulum) was noisy. Instead of an even tick-tock it had a few "extra" clicks and other bits including a subtle but quite noticable scraping sound. Hmm... Reader, your correspondent will spare you the details of the endless listening and examination that ensued. Instead we will focus on the two primary underlying causes that were made apparent. To be fair YLH has heard noisy escapements before  and had an idea of where t...

...friction was not our friend. In our last episode your local horologist had the Thomas Adams Astro Regulator English Bell Strike up running on the Johnson Arts test stand .  For a few minutes. Until it stopped. Earlier in our adventures with this fine clock YLH had referred to the occasion where friction was missing and needed in the function of the friction fit of the anchor arbor . More often friction is a source of trouble and excess friction is typically the single most common reason for a clock to slow / stop.  And your clock doc suspected that unwanted friction was at play here. But where? Boy howdy can that be a long fishing expedition.  You see gentle reader there are so many parts in a clock that engage, slide along, mesh, bind, press, rub against... one another.  But there are the more common sources of friction that can rob power from a clock and your plumber of horological depths had a couple ideas right from the jump. One was the suspension bridge....

In our last episode your local horologist was trying to get the Thomas Adams Astro Regulator English Bell Strike to just run.  Rather to get the necessary repairs, adjustments and various tweaks done so we can see if the clock will function. This in service of YLH's first principle :  first get the thing to run . Your correspondent needs to apologize as he realized that he had jumped ahead rather rapidly in the last episode. Going from the installation of the cords directly to ready to test, he left out some of the good stuff. Specifically all the reassembly, tweaking, aligning, checking, testing and then the final installment of the weights, cords, etc. So summarily, with all those prior repairs in place,  reassembly of the movement commenced. One item in particular that YLH was watching carefully was the formerly bent hammer spring and how it would operate in action. Lots of parts for the motion works  (wheels that operate the hands) and the strike components ...

Patient readers, we have traveled far from what started as a review of parts on Jeff's kitchen counter... In our last episode your local horologist was still working to just get the Thomas Adams English Bell Strike clock  to run. This most recent essay was a flailing at friction to enable  beat adjustment of the movement. In particular that effort was to ensure that the precise angle between the crutch and the anchor would align correctly to the slot in the pendulum. Once again the image of the gizmo in question: Effectively speaking that crutch has to hang inline with the center of the anchor and the pin itself should point straight along in vertical alignment with the anchor arbor and at an angle such that it is centered and perpendicular to the slot of the pendulum and entering roughly at its center. Whew. Like this: Your bender-of-metal will spare you the details but between now being able to adjust the beat and seat the pendulum suspension spring in the suspension brid...