Horologist Please!!

Do we have any resident Horologist,s in the house.

I’ve been asked by my Brother in law, too have a look at his grandmothers mantle clock.

This is a little out of my scope of specialty subject matter, but have said I will look into it.

The case finish has seen better days, so will need advice on what the best approach is there.(It was kept in an outside garden shed for quite a few years, I know don’t ask.).
The glass bevel is heavily tarnished, should I lightly clean that with some white scotch bright and Silvo ?.

The Mechanism stoped at exactly 12 mins to 5, day month and year unknown [emoji6].
So I don’t want to wind that till I’m advised there on what too do, we do have the key tho!.

The only makers mark I can find so far is on the clock face “WESTM. Silent” can’t seem to see anything else.
Looked inside the case underneath it, behind the door, nothing.

Also found this in the case on floor of the case ?

Please help a Little clock.

Cheers Matt.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cbfd624c2e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...aed27610ad.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...acfa67732c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...646e697807.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8dd1082adb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2b0343084a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e60c6353df.jpg

That is a pawl and it would be for one of the springs; the clock has three in total. The mainspring which drives the clock, one which plays a tune on the hour (probably the “Westminster chime”) and the last one is the hourly chime; one “bong” per hour on every hour. Really fancy ones give one bong at 15 minutes past, two at half past, three at a quarter to and then they play the full chime tune on the hour followed by the hour chimes. Lunchtime can be extremely noisy…

If the pawl has come away then so will have it’s securing screw. If you’re lucky it’ll be jammed somewhere in the casing but expect to need to have a replacement one made.

Couple of pictures of my Koma anniversary clock rebuild; you can see how the pawl engages the ratchet on the winder.
Attachment 498091 Attachment 498092

That mark on the face is for that little lever you can see in the slot; WESTM means it will chime and play the Westminster Chime on the hour; SILENT means it won’t chime at all. You would change it to SILENT last thing before retiring to one’s chambers for the evening.

Thanks Chief,

That’s excellent stuff.
Is the mechanism hard to remove from the case, I think it would only be four or so screws somewhere?.

Cheers Matt.

The movement probably comes out the back but with the securing screws or pins hidden behind the dial.
Attachment 498095
You first need to remove the hands; pull out the little taper pin on the end of the shaft and the minute hand should be able to be slid off. The inner shaft will have a square drive that the minute hand locates onto. The hour hand will be a friction fit on the outer shaft, don’t try to twist it off just pull it gently but firmly. I have a little puller for this.
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H643b694f..._Q90.jpg_.webp

Once the hands are off you need to work out how the dial is removed; hopefully it’ll be a friction fit in the casing. Once the dial is off you should be able to see how the movement is attached to the frame inside the casing.

Taper pins often get bent and mauled; don’t worry about them as they are easy to get hold of. I have some spare ones that might fit if you end up damaging any.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

The movement probably comes out the back but with the securing screws or pins hidden behind the dial.
Attachment 498095
You first need to remove the hands; pull out the little taper pin on the end of the shaft and the minute hand should be able to be slid off. The inner shaft will have a square drive that the minute hand locates onto. The hour hand will be a friction fit on the outer shaft, don’t try to twist it off just pull it gently but firmly. I have a little puller for this.
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H643b694f..._Q90.jpg_.webp

Once the hands are off you need to work out how the dial is removed; hopefully it’ll be a friction fit in the casing. Once the dial is off you should be able to see how the movement is attached to the frame inside the casing.

Taper pins often get bent and mauled; don’t worry about them as they are easy to get hold of. I have some spare ones that might fit if you end up damaging any.

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Thanks Ghief,

I report back with my findings later.

Cheers Matt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

You first need to remove the hands; pull out the little taper pin on the end of the shaft and the minute hand should be able to be slid off. The inner shaft will have a square drive that the minute hand locates onto. The hour hand will be a friction fit on the outer shaft, don’t try to twist it off just pull it gently but firmly. I have a little puller for this.
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H643b694f..._Q90.jpg_.webp

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simplicity

I report back with my findings later.

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Matt,
perhaps try and borrow Chief Tiff's "little puller"

Tonight I’ve stripped the case,

And have the mechanise out,I was quite easily able to see were the dropped Pawl had been,also it’s mounting screw was also in the case.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...84155d64ba.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2d4866e47a.jpg

So it’s now back we’re it should be!

So next I tried turning the three barrel springs(Is that the right term)
The middle one and the one to the right I was easily able too turn two clicks each,the one on the left is locked solid ?.
So I need to further investigate that,there’s no tick tock yet [emoji17].
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...033f256e7d.jpg


Cheers Matt.

Glad the pawl screw was found!

You may find that the LH spring has been over tightened and is just bound up. In order to check this you need to use a tool called a “let-down” key; it's essentially just a square socket held in a thick, round handle. Similar to a file handle. You hold the let-down firmly and lever the pawl open against it’s spring, the shaft is then free to rotate under spring tension. It may initially be stuck and need a gentle twist anti-clockwise but as soon as the spring frees up it will try to unwind with a fair amount of force. The handle of the let-down needs to be big enough so that you can overcome the torque generated by the spring, and by making it round you can allow it to slip in your hand and therefore control the spring unwinding. It’s not a hard thing to make; made easier by the fact you have the key so you know the exact size of socket to file.

Don’t try and let down the spring with the key! Just DON’T!