When customers come to see me on Saturdays at the Antiques Centre its always fun to see what turns up. It can be anything from a 17th Century £15,000 bracket clock to a Smiths Car clock.

It can be quite challenging to make a diagnosis and offer options and costs in a 10 minute window but 90% of the time I am able to do this accurately and very much so when it comes to Franz Hermle movements. Spares for these are still made and parts are often generic accross the range so everything is fairly easy to estimate and get a price on.

Labour costs are lower, but at the end of the day its still a significant cost compared to replacing the mechanical movement with a quartz or cabled synchronous movement. For this reason, if people just like the look of the clock and want an more affordable repair, I am happy to convert clocks between movement types that achieve this objective.

The main issue cosmetically on a quartz or sychronous swap outs is matching the hands. I often have to craft hands both in terms of fit and shape to replicate originals. It can be quite a job to do properly. Then there is the job of fitting the movement securely and in a fashion that does not stress the face of the clock around the collet causing “face warp”. Fundamentally, the clock has to look the way it did or the whole point of the job has been missed.

Ive not come accross a clock from Tony Guilbert of Dersingham and when I first saw it I wasnt particularly over awed. It looked like a repro styled 1940’s school or station clock.

I see a lot of the originals and its really hard to compare the new ones favourably with the originals. Its about character and the hand crafted element of the older clocks. Im not a clock snob at all but good is good which means it has to be better than something!. Part of the fun of clocks is the variety and mixture of crafts required so theres a large playing field.

Making clocks with modern manufacturing techniques is fine but the clocks have an anonymity as a a result. I know the same manufacturing methods were used on the old clocks but there was less machine automation in the assembly and construction process. For instance, the tolerances in panel size could be looser in the good old days of full employment because there was a man or woman on the production line who did the final fitting by hand. You can see that in the clocks. Even clocks by Smiths of this genre, the same Smiths of “Smiths Enfield” rifle production / armourers, have this hand finished feel.

Older examples back to the Victorian era are genuinely hand made panel by panel, with individually hand cut fixing dowells. These act as securing pegs for the back “box” of the case which can be removed by pulling the pegs out via their hand carved ball ends. Very nice. Each clock is different and I have recognised clocks Ive worked on before when they have changed ownership

Anyway, the point is I wasnt expecting much from this clock and happily accepted instruction for the cheaper electric conversion.

Having measured up the movement cavity in its various critical demensions, I opted for a high torque movement.They have better gearing for larger hands and I will use them, despite the extra cost, on anything over 4″ hands if I can. The standard movements, and even some of the high torque variants for sale, have problems with play in the minute hand. The hand wobbles around laterally meaning the time is out by a minute each side of the hour. Annoying.

So, selecting the right quality of movement and weighted hand match is important on larger faces. On this occasion I sourced hands that were a close match and then shaved them down where required to the correct proportions.

At this point I was ready to fit it all together, which providing you have done the groundwork, is a ten minute job.

Then I noticed this…

This is whats called “a good job in the first place”. Its been pinned with brass spiggots in the traditional four sections of the Victorian clocks. It could have easily been done with two panels and some glue. You wouldn’t really know, as the owner or potential buyer.

Shaving hand pinned brass flat over wood is not something I would trust a machine to do. And if a machine had done it, then why are the pins in varying position on each panel…..because a this is a hand made clock.

I had a look at the rest of the case and started to notice other things.

The joinery was perfect and delicately finished without any frills. Basically this looked like a lesson in craft joinery. Then I noticed the quality and weight of the wood. Its a heavy clock and the little Hermle wasnt contributing much weight so its probably light oak. Its hard to tell on the varnish finish but its good timber with offset grain in each section as in the originals.

This clock has a floating balance wheel regulating it. Normally, this type of clock is traditionally pendulum driven and quite frankly hard work. It was the cost of accuracy before decent floating balance wheel movements came along  because pendulums are accurate. They are however sensitive to positioning. A lot of these clocks were positioned high up on wall and hung by a single point. Winding them can stop them because you tend to move the clock a little when you do so, as any owner will tell you.

Because people and processes were measured by the beat of these clocks, in schools and factories, they had to be as accurate as possible so the pendulum was the regulator of choice often with a fusee drive to even out the power delivery over a 7 day cycle (old basic clocks gain and lose at the top and bottom of their winds to some degree).

The floating balance movement in this clock is the right choice for what it does. As a nice touch, the maker has used a two hook mounting that maintains the convenience of a hanger while securing the clock horizontally for perfect tension on the balance wheel. So many clocks with Hermle movements are badly thought out and suffer medium term wear or fragility because of it. Not this one.

It has a twin note chime that mimics the gong function of the original clocks It is a nice reference, and, actually its a nicer sound on two small bells. Consider that the norm on the older clocks is a rather dour chime bar or clang once the hammer  leather is worn.

In short, its really well designed and thought out as well as being well constructed from good materials.

So what to do?

The problem with the movement in this clock is that its running fast, even with the regulation set to account for this at maximum. This means that a few things could be wrong.

When a clock with a balance wheel runs fast it means theres may be problem with the main spring losing power, counter intuitive as that may sound. The power may also be leaking somewhere in the gear (going) train through partial obstruction or fouling. Or, on top of this, the balance wheel coil spring may have faded. Or the pinions worn. Or any or all of those.

Where modern replacement movements are available it is common sense to pay for a replacement movement to be fitted, rather than repair one with so many potential faults that are complex and therefore costly to address and even diagnose.

From the clients point of view, a new mechanical movement is clearly going to be a more expensive and less practical solution than a quartz, hence the instruction by the client to “go quartz”. Common sense and great value.

We do what we are told. We really do. Ask us to repair you clock and that is what will happen. Unfortunately due to various superstitions and implausible beliefs I have concerning clocks it is impossible for me to murder one that has been hand crafted in the way this one appears to have been. If your into the Shinto belief system, everything made by man has a soul. I dont want to meet this clock on the other side if I’ve cut its movement off in a previous life.

Consequently we are going to revive or replace the Hermle at our expense and simply charge the client the quartz replacement cost.

Its that or end up as a pair of smoking boots outside the Antiques Centre having been struck down by lightning while trying to beat off a swarm of locusts.

Another reason we are doing this is because I’m not sure that this clock isn’t made by a small independent maker and it just seems a bit more personal.

A quick search of the internet produced nothing and the label on the front of the clock is a laser printed clear sticker. I bet this chap only made a few clocks very well, and no others. Nice work.

 

 

 

Ok so I hate computers. I really do with a venom. So, in perverse fashion, I’m going to use the tech for a bit of fun and education in order to expand the average brain size on the planet. And because I love talking about clocks.

I like showing people how clocks work. I just do. It gives me great pleasure to introduce people to mechanical science and talk to those who already understand it. So, clock workshops it is!.

No doubt it will be a complete technical disaster and flop with 2 people logging in trying to get me to fix thier clocks for free online. Thats NOT what this is about, we are going to go about this a different way. Each meeting is going to focus on a topic. So, here are some suggestions Ive come up with but I would welcome plenty of suggestions so I can come up with popular content that will get a good look from a reasonably decent audience.

My firs workshop will probably be “Setting up a mantle clock” thats stopped and diagnosing what the problem is with it. I get a lot of this and I do over the counter fixes for it at the centre for a small fee. Lots of people all (over the world now – this is a well read blog!) cant get to the centre and a bit of tweaking on a mantle clock can usually get it going or get a fix plan in place. So what we will do in this sessions is set up a “knackered” clock and get it going. Ill have a few examples on hand to show so we cover a few variants and it should be a really useful session for getting grannies old mantle clock thats been stuck in the attic going with a home clock repair!.

The second workshop (or maybe the first – I dont know) will be “Understanding your grandfather clock”. Right. This is a bit of a bug bear to me. It gets my blood up (a tiny bit). PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO OWN A GRANDFATHER CLOCK. Its like people nowdays not knowing how to own a car. They would have no idea where the oil went, would clean it with paint thinners, and leave it in the drive for six months before replacing a faulty windscreen wiper blade. Knowledge out there about grandfather clocks is that bad and its leading to good clocks being undervalued, scrapped and abused. Our mission at Braintree Clock Repairs is to stop this appalling grandfather abuse. Some of these clocks are only turned once every seven years. Weve got to stop this so log onto my grandfather clock talk and Ill explain how your clock works, what all the bits do, and how to date your clock. I will do this with a few movements in different states of deconstruction rather than a live strip down as I dont want to break my John Mason 1730 London Brass face which we may as well use as the demo dolly.  This knowledge will help you extend the life of your clock for the next generation and you will love your clock even more once you know how it works – its almost devine in its simplicity and accuracy and its no cooincidence that its pendululm design was by one of histories greatest astronomers and atrophsisysts – Christian Huygens (wikki link to him).

If you would like to attend either of these events Ill let you know when I have enought people interested – say 20 people, assuming 5-10 can make it live. That should mean we can really make it two way like a consultation along a common theme.

This is a contribution to our clock friends and community so don’t hold your breath on either of them as its probably going to be late January are the earliest.

To sign up to the events just email me at admin@braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk with the subject of your email as “EVENT MANTLE” or “EVENT GRANDFATHER. Dont bother with a message as I wont read them – Ill just put them in a a folder until its time to group email you all instructions with how to attend the Google+ meeting. To prepare you will need the following

1. A gmail email address e.g. john6787876@gmail.com If you dont have one its very easy – you can just go here and it will take you through it. I assure you its perfectly safe and secure and gmail is one of the best systems out there and I find it much easier to use than hotmail and outlook which seem completely {legal department deletion}
2. Once you have a gmail email address then you will be able to get on google+. If your signed into your gmail account it just lets you onto the google+ page. This is a bit like facebook without all the Facebook. Its a basic service that allows you to leave posts, see others posts and join video chats. You can join without a camera at your end so you can see me but I cant see you, or, if you want to show me your clock and ask questions you can turn your camera on. In either case you will be able to see me live and I will just see you as an icon or, if you choose, see and/or hear you. If your already a gmail user, are signed in, and have not looked at google+ then the main page is https://plus.google.com/ – as I say, its basicly google facebook but its not as family centric or enclosed. Its a great way to meet people from other nations Ive noticed; facebook works on locality with a lot of its services whereas google+ is more global. The google+ system I am going to use is called “Hangouts” if you want to familiarise yourself with what a “Hangout” is and what it looks like on the screen etc.

So – please send in your emails and we can get this off the ground at some point in 2018. I hope.

Happy new year to all my customers and the people Ive met along the path of clocks this year. It has been inspiring. Thank you.

As you know, if you read this blog, or you’ve read the main page of the  site, I manage an antiques centre as well a the clock business with my son, Edward. Im only on site there on Saturdays now and Tom will be happy to help you in my abscence, however, to get to the point, the BBC pitched up to film Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.

I probably work a 50 or 60 hour week and enjoy my work. Consequently, I don’t watch much TV and when they rang (the day before they wanted to come along) I didnt really know the show or when it was on, what it was about, who was in it. Nothing. I just said “yes” as soon as they said “BBC”. Anyway I made an appearance in the haggling and paying bit . Yes I did fund the £45 discount myself if you wonder about that. Quite frankly I would have paid them to take the stuff and filled up their petrol tanks just for the advertising so it was an easy discount to give.

Overall I didnt rate the experience and wouldn’t recommend it to any but the most confident. The effect of some BBC boffin pointing a huge nose lens thing right into your face is astonishing. You cant get words out and because of all the adrenaline its really hard to concentrate on what you are supposed to be saying and in what order. Basicly the camera may as well be a slow burn death ray. I think I would have been fine had they got me on clocks but they bought a pipe. Damn.

The director was a really nice chap and gave me a fantastic edit, but the reality is that there is far more film on the edit room floor of me looking like Im having a stroke while waffling rubbish backwards.

They shoot the whole show with a crew of 7 which I found surprising, and no lighting and just one camera. You could have made the whole thing on an iphone from the way they used the kit and shoot progression – very clever actually. The other thing worthy of mention is that there are multiple shots of the same “scene”. What I mean is that that make you do it again if they don’t like the way you did it. This happened so much with me I think there must have been some sort of camera fault. That will be it – camera fault. Anyway I think a few of my clocks are in shot and you can see where I work from and take in clocks  on Saturdays at least.

Heres a link to the episode if you want to see me look about 1000 years old and tight fisted for 10 seconds of screen time. My 15 minutes of fame.

If they ring up again Im only doing it if they agree to do a clock repair bit and I want a script and some notice. And a dressing room. And a limo. And Im not working with Jim Carey or Costner. Imbeciles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09j0lrj/celebrity-antiques-road-trip-series-7-episode-13

 

This is just a short post by way of a NEWSFLASH!. I don’t do newsflashes but this is probably worth mentioning.

Due to our extensive experience in repairing all types of antique and modern cuckoo clocks we are shortly to appointed Loetscher UK service centre for the UK. This will cover warranty repairs, out of warranty repairs and means we will be carrying and extensive parts stock with a view to offering a 5 days service (plus postage times) for warranty work.

We will of course to continue to provide repair services for all modern and antique cuckoo clocks so if yours inst a Lothcher then we can still repair any fault.

 

Today I visited the Clock Makers Museum in the Science Museum London. It was pretty much a religious experience. I saw clocks by makers I had only seen 2D without getting to know a clock when you can see right into it and uderstand… lots of things.

The first thing that is absolutely shocking is just how good the early clock are, 16th century specially so. Theres art and passion and science in these devices, and despite being the preserve of the wealthy, it shows that there was a very real commercial and skills based Britain at that time. It wasnt all tax and farming, walloping iron with hammers and building galleons. Fine engineering and mathematics was going on. This is less surprising in the 17th century really I suppose as munitions manufacture was advancing with its own driving force and many of the crafting skills, at least, would have grown as well as the opportunities to learn them.

Point in fact..

This clock was made by a Cap called Kratzner who was the kings clock supplier to Henry the VIII. Thats 50 years before Blackadder the 2nd to put it into context for those without a date lined knowledge of the monarchy.

They handn’t opened it up so I couldn’t see the movement but they had another example by another maker who, more than likely produced lower quality work than Kratzner because of his Royal appointment which was based on work quality. He was the big noise in astronomy at the time and a leading mathematician and lecturer at Oxford. Theres every possibility he might have pointed and laugh at the clock innards below.

Theres a lot of precision metalworking and maths in there whatever Kratzners imagined view. Note the early use of a cone shaped cone fusee barrel which is essentially a variable ratio gearbox that evens out the surge of strength a rough steel spring has when fully wound. The stiff curve on this can be seen in the ratio of the top to the bottom of the cone. Improvements in steel generally and springs generally meant that over time fusees were not needed as spring power delivery was smooth enough over the run and new methods of regulation using balance wheels and lever escapments means the regulation would function accurately in a wider power band. Having said that, taller springs on much later clocks still use this method of power distribution over runtime and its always been widely used in pocket watches where fine accuracy defined quality. Despite its limitations and lack of technical refinement the maths and the knowledge is all in this little table clock and its shows the desire to miniaturise technology and make it portable that continues to this day.

Me and my son repair clocks and Ive seen most now up close. The exception is of course the majority of the clocks I saw today which you can only see in museums or if you know a multi-millionaire or two. The he clocks I have seen, however, are  simply a technical improvement on this clock with refinements in regulation, gearing and power. This is basicly where it started for British clocks if you dont count turret clocks.

Heres one from about 1350 or so out of Winchester cathederal and while you might not recognise the architechtural similarities I assure you they are there. these things were not that accurate either and read in quarter hours. Time didnt become that much of an issue to any more than 15 minutes. This was until Christian Huygens invented the pendulum as a regulator in 1558  and got it down to three minutes a week for the masses whos households could now afford the cheap and simple pendulum clock (comparatively). Thank Christian for having to get to work at exactly 9 or whatever but bear in mind that before it was “get up as soon as it is light, work, get beaten with a knobbly stick on principle, return to hovel when dark. , sleep, repeat” unless you were a clock maker or similar.

Anyway, its a big table clock. You cant really tell how big it is so I did a second shot…

Thanks the the random woman who was kind enough to pose for scale.

I should have asked her name really but I was in clock frenzy research mode and she was just a tool to a means. So sorry and thank you mystery woman. Also she was off less than average height so it doesn’t really do the scale thing justice bearing in mind shes a good 2 feet away from the glass case and I was using a wide angle depth distorting lens. If this was to scale this woman would be the size of bigfoot considering the unit is mounted on a 1ft plinth.

A better guide might be that you could just fit a fiat 500 in the perspex case.

Once clock makers started trying to make them more accurate thats when modern mechanical evolution really started in earnest. It spread like wildfire with the development of materials technology including of course the silicon chip which is now what tells us the time. If it wasnt for the innate curiosity we have for technology and a desire to prove we can master it, then we would still be in the middle ages and this little clock is one of the quick steps we started taking which soon turned into leaps and nuisance telephone calls from robots.

Technology advanced automation which created wealth and the two became linked in an upward spiral at an accelerating exponential rate to the bloody iphone and computer fraud. Look heres the Turing machine (2). I found it at the end of the clock exhibition not surprisingly. QED.

Clocks didnt start in 150 however. It was a process of miniaturisation (sound familiar?) as the turret to table clock shows.

 

Overall I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the clock museum in the science museum, London, Exhibition Row.

As a general review heres the low down.

Theres a couple of Tompions there and the best work of the 17th and 18th century makers. Its mainly about that and for good reason as its when the biggest leaps in craftsmanship really happened. By 1800 things were getting mechanised but all the stuff you see at the museum is hand made and quite incredible because its all the best golden age clobber!. Theres a ton of pocket watches if thats your thing and some really impressive engraving although you want to reach through the glass an pick one up for a closer look!. Its not for kids and dare I say wives. Skive off to it after work if you can get out early as it closes at about 6 I think – check the link at the end for the google listing.

Well done and thank you to the http://www.clockmakers.org/ for making this happen and organising such a well date lined example of clocks with some good internal views that give you all the engineering buzz and appreciation of the beauty of some of these things up close. The grandfathers – seriously valuable ones, are there without glass cases although the Tompions are an understandable exception. Still, you really get to see the best grandfathers in the condition they were sold in. For an enthusiast its a 45 minute tour, for the interested about 20 minutes but theres plenty more steampunk tech to see in the rest of the museum and it was two hours of selfish pleasure. Nearest tube South Kensington + 5 minute covered walk to entrance.

Heres a google business listing link to how to get there and all that stuff . If you know London its just off the staircase on the second floor of the science museum if you use the Exhibition row entrance go to the lifts and stairs at the end of the entrance corridoor.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C2CHBF_en-GBGB734GB734&source=hp&ei=DkIbWv_CB9D9kwXx9rnYAw&q=london%20clock%20museum&oq=london+clock+museum&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i22i30k1l4.877.7346.0.7674.32.21.5.2.2.0.432.3789.0j15j2j2j1.20.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..5.23.3638.0..35i39k1j0i131k1j0i10k1j0i10i30k1j0i13k1.0.LCUFluisJgU&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=51506889,-131303,3313&tbm=lcl&rldimm=2736474298214855188&ved=0ahUKEwiQu-Xppt3XAhVRyKQKHWO1D8sQvS4IRjAA&rldoc=1&tbs=lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2#rlfi=hd:;si:2736474298214855188;mv:!1m3!1d10554.215149663847!2d-0.13130329999999998!3d51.5068897!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i592!2i204!4f13.1;tbs:lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recieved this letter and this clock. It requested a sympathetic restoration to quartz for this attractive wide faced mantle clock. I swapped the quartz in without too much trouble although the hand appetures needed resizing which is often a bit fiddly and comes with a high risk of hand destruction (worry not I carry spares for most).

The thing was that from the back those quartz movements dont look good. We all know they go in cheap clocks and in reality almost every clock you buy for the look of it as a useful timepiece. Its down to standardisation more than anything else. The mass market clockmakers need to know what appeture they are working with…what the standard is, if you like, for a cheap reliable movement that does the job no frills. But, in the case of this this chap he clearly sort of cared about it being seen if the clock was placed on a table or large mantle – it was the subtext of the letter for me at any rate.

So a cunning plan was required.

I noticed the inner movement was almost exactly the same size (57mm) as the standard high torque quartz I had put in. The Bakelite surround enclosed it beautifully.

The problem was that three screws need to be taken off to romove the cover every time battery or hand change access is required. Twice a year at least for season change.

I therefore devised a plan to use the screw holes in the Bakelite as hangers for pegs. I duly drilled out the screw holes to 3mm, fitted 1mm/3mm pipe rod pegs. This allowed me to sink a pin into the centre of the rod to secure the peg at exactly the right angle where there was enough friction to hold the whole thing up – sort of like a friction clip spread across three spiggots.

I then dummied the holes for the winder and hand turner with their original brass fittings which I angle ground off the original 30 hour movement. I used the cogs from the movement as securing plates for the dummies just because I could and it looked good – it was going to be visible during battery change etc. so it may as well look as good as the rest.

 

Now to be fair the speed regulator pin is missing so its not perfect but there was no way of really securing anything of that sort without drilling a fixing hole.

The butterfly key on the 30 hour Metamec is mounted on a spiggot that sticks out of the back. Because I had gutted the case, and therefore removed the spiggot, I had to cannibalise a perfectly good stock spares clock to get it. It was the only one with a thick shank I could use to fix from the inside and by this time I was in cannibal frenzy restoration mode . I even compound polished the key back to the brass so it looked shop new which for some reason had now become my aim in the project. It felt like building a hidden compartment in something – I really enjoyed it!.

This was an awesome project and one I can repeat on your clock if you have the same objectives – geunuinely authentic look with reliable modern mechs. The sphynx in the photo is contemporary to the clock, as is the base of the Grandmother clock in the background. The first half of the 20th century has some excellent standout design trends I dont think will ever go out of fashion. At the Antiques Centre the era remains the single most requested in terms of general antique product demand. I am there Saturdays if you want to visit www.braintreeantiquescentre.co.uk. Counter staff can take your clock in my invariable absence during workshop or callout hours which is basicly all the time.

A big shout out to Paul at Polishes for making astonishing “polish reviver”. I dont do product ads or advertise on this site other than trade partnerships. I am the repairer for www.cuckoocollections.co.uk for instance and I manage an antiques centre which I often mention if theres something interesting to reference on the clock front. As far as going on about this reviver, its simply that this is good stuff and I like to see small specialists flourish when they deserve to. Its hard to find good people.

It brings faded 50’s varnished clocks back to life very well for instance. On that era of clock  the varnish tends to have flaked in the grain a bit. If you put normal polish wax on them it goes into the cracks and often remains visible as sort of inset stippling unless you really polish it hard. The reviver doesnt leave any residue I could see.

The other thing it really really does well is return Bakelite back to what I imagine is how it looked when it was made. Bakelite often has an almost walnut pattern that is hidden by oxidation. The one above was certainly like that and now it has an obvious textured pattern.

Its only £11 for half a litre which is loads and would probably do two grandfathers. I bought 250ml as I am generally skeptical but Ive used it a lot,  just to see what happens. Some of the transformations I’ve seen even after using it for a short time are impressive. Its not polish and its not cleaner – it seems to do something else. It doesn’t leave grease lines like wax but you polish it off and its..polished and glass like. It responds particularly well to high pressure e.g. a hard rub with kitchen roll seems to bring it up to a mirror finish Ive noticed.

The clock in the picture above did not have the shine you see when I got it. It was dull and slightly matt. And quite frankly a different colour.

Anyway Im only going on about it because Ive bought loads and loads of clock related chemicals from reputable suppliers that have been little better than much cheaper and often better cleaning stuff from the supermarket. Its refreshing to come across something that works well and I can genuinely recommend knowing it will reflect well on me because it will work.

Get it here and I bet you end up buying more  http://www.priorypolishes.co.uk/shop/front/polish-reviver/polish-reviver.html

I am please to announce that Braintree Clock Repairs is now taken on repairs for the very popluar cuckoo clock website, www.cuckoocollections.co.uk.

This is a good business partnership as Braintree Clock Repairs has somewhat of a speciality in cuckoo clocks and holds vintage and modern spares for service work. Cuckoo Collections, however, are on the other side of thing sourcing and selling the best contemporary clocks around so this partnership should work well.

Just to stress at this juncture…this is ADDITIONAL work to Braintree Clock Repairs other types of clock, we fix ANY clock and are quite proud of that. We have a 98% fix rate and if we cant fix it….we dont charge. A no fix no fee service in clock repair is unheard of for good reason. Its about being good and knowing it by proving it on every job. Crikey – Ive strarted bragging – I do apologise but it is true and its worth knowing if your a potential customer reading this.

The same goes for Ryan at Cuckoocollections. He is a swithced on chap with good product knowledge and will be able to give you excellent advice if you have any queries on stock or options on a modern clock or some of the repro classics (email is best to get hold of him).

As part of this service partnership Braintree Clock Repairs is now going to gradually add a more extensive range of services for the modern electronic clocks. Not too much of a change from normal operations, however, it will allow us to continue to enjoy the genre through all its eras, be it a fantastic Victorian automater with a superb music box, or the simple every day later cocks from the 20th century that get passed down as family heirlooms, and now, the contemporary clocks you will see on Ryans site as well.

Thanks to Ryan at CuckooCollections.co.uk for coming up with this idea – the more cuckoo clocks I get to work the happier I am. As long as I get all the normal  1710 London Grandfather and 1950;s Smiths Bakelite in as well of course!.

In all honestly doubt I soley do cuckoos….serious risk of mental meltdown. Some of the old clock were build by dyslexic maniacs with reverse finger joints and you can only absorb so much of this insanity before you want to track the guy down and say “but why this way? you could have mounted this part so it was as least accessible”. Cant afford the air fares so Ill try and keep my cuckoo addiction manageable and my engineering critique to my blog.

This is the inside line on how to move a grandfather clock with lots of good clear advice and a step based tutorial approach. I do this from time to time to……keep clocks going and keep people involved with their clocks. Moving your own grandfather clock gets you into the clock a bit more. You will see some of how it works and it might even lead to you attempting some of your own service jobs – a bit like owning a classic car. This article tells you how to move your clock safely and professionally. Thanks for visiting my site and taking and interest.

If you clock is worth a great deal you should probably get somebody like me to move it. Its an odd thing to open with in terms of a DIY tutorial but the process does have some risk, which while I tell you exactly how to avoid, is still present.

If your clock is a mid-range two weight affair (and very nice too!) then you can move it yourself because it comes apart easily and fairly robust. Its the more expensive clocks that tend to have the more fragile key components. Grandfather clocks are almost modular in design and tradition of manufacture has meant this modularity is consistent through grandfather clocks manufcaturing history. This is partialy because all the parts were manufactured by guilds specilising in each area. Cases were produced and sold to clock movement makers who in turn were buying face plates and dials from engravers and sheet metal producers. This even applies to the face components like spandrels and hands, but dont worry, you wont be removing those. In fact there are only five elements to the breakdown for transport. Head, case, movement and face assembly, weights and pendulum (and key!)

So this is a step by step guide on moving a 1700 – 1860 clock. Broadly speaking they share identical overall construction.

Before you do anything to the clock record the angle of the clock on two horizonal axis. You are going to need to set the clock up at exactly the same lean and yaw as it is currently set to or it wont work when you put it in place at the new location.

So, you need to measure the lean and yaw from the hood of the clock .The hood is the box head of the clock with the glass door. It slides off as a separate assembly, but we will come to that, firstly you need to measure. To do this get two small spirit levels and a whiteboard marker. Put one on the side ledge of the clock hood and the other on the front ledge. Mark the edges of the spirit level bubbles and mark each level with its identity / side / front.

Remove the hood. What you are dealing with is a box with an open bottom, back and of course a glass door. It slides forward so just get a hold of each side with the flat of your hand and pull it forward. If the clock has not been taken apart for a few years you might need to lightly jiggle it. You will see some movement on the edges and you can than work that into a slide with a bit of perseverance. But stop…..

Before you do this secure the glass door catch because the clock head will likely lean forward in the last stages of sliding free. At this point the door, if not locked, will open and hit you directly in the face. The higher the clock the worse this is. I was working on a 1900 8 bell that was 7.5ft high the other day and if that had opened I would have been wearing the whole head door like a jagged glass necklace. So worth mentioning.

Ok so the hood is off. Now you remove the pendulum. Look behind the movement and see whats going on.

What you will see is the pendulum rod become a leaf suspension spring in its top 6″. At the top of this leaf spring, if you look carefully, you will see that the leaf spring is sitting suspended from a slit cut into a support. It isn’t slipping through because there is a brass stopper at the end of the leaf spring so the whole pendulum is hanging from this brass stopper.

The next thing you will notice at the bottom of the leaf spring is that there is a dog leg shaped wire protruding from the movement which appears to cross the leaf spring. This is usually at the junction between the pendulum rod and the brass block that joins the rod to the leaf spring. That dog leg is a lever that moves back and forth with the pedulum because it has a fork or loop in it that surrounds the brass block. You cant see this loop / fork arangement easily form a side view so you have to know what your looking for beforehand if its the first time youve had the head off. Rest assured what you are looking at is a leaf spring running through a fork or loop attached to a dog leg lever that leads into the clock movement.

To remove the pendulum you need to reach inside the clock and get a grip on the pendulum rod as far up as is comfortable. It must be comfortable because you may need to support the pendulum for a few minutes and a tricky job is badly effected by discomfort. If this bit goes wrong it starts to cost money. Dont unscrew the pendulum weight off to make things easier. It needs to be exactly where it is for the clock to keep the same level of accuracy as it currently does. If you replace the pendulum weight even a few MM down the thread when you reassemble it the clock will gain or loose time significantly and need regulation which is a time consuming week long process of change, measure, change, measure etc. to find the precise bob position that results in perfect time. Grandfather clocks are designed and valued for their accuracy so messing up the timing on one is a cardinal sin! Certainly to the owner.

You should be looking directly into the back of the clock so you can see the leaf spring, its brass block, and the crutch (dog leg wire), while at the same time holding the pendulum rod as described.

Lift the pendulum slowly. The stopper at the top of the spring should lift but if its sticky the spring will flex to account for your lift. If you bend the spring to much its had it, so take it easy on the lift and – 1cm should shift it. If it doesnt get your spare hand on the stopper and pull it up while SUPPORTING but NOT PUSHING UP the pendulum with your other hand. If you push and pull at the same time you can snap the crutch / fork join.

If, as I hope, the spring comes free without event, then get your free hand on the stopper and push it back to release the spring from it slit. Once thats free of the slit then slowly lower the rod, BUT….

This is the tricky bit. The crutch or loop round the block is a tight fit and the blocks are square. If lifting the pendulum to detach the leaf spring from the slit has pushed the brass block right up through the crutch then it can be really trick to pull it back through because the fit can be very tight.

This is why I recommended a comfortable position which you should test with a measure of how heavy the pendulum is before you go for it. You cant hurry this bit or force it because the crutch is and expensive component to get fitted and the join on the dog leg is often 100 years or more old. The crutch will break easily under any kind of strong force. Its about as fragile as plastic to give you an idea. If its a bad one then soft plastic thats already perished is the norm – an accident waiting to happen.

Im not saying your clumsy, the fact of the matter is that you will be supporting a kilo or two on a thin rod in a stress position which encourages you to hurry. If you loose your grip on the often thin an smooth pendulum rod and it drops, then the block will catch on the fork and the weight of the pendulum accelerating downwards will break the crutch at the solder point.

You will either be fine or swearing a lot or probably both about halfway through.

Once you’ve done the pendulum wind the weights right up. When I say right up I mean until you feel the very first hint of extra resistance caused by the weights locking at the top. Go really slow at the end of the wind to find this sweet spot.

Now take the weights off. Wrap both in a single towel and tape it. If you wrap them individually they roll and bang into things unless you pack them in packing in a box. If you bubble wrap and tape them they invariably break loose and you have the same problem. Towel.

If you look up into the clock you will see the weight wheels bunched up against the supporting plank. Wrap a few layers of packing tape loosely around them to maintain their position. You want to be able to easily cut off the tape at the other end so that the wheels are sitting there with the cable in their grooves ready for the weights. Don’t worry if the cable falls out of the grooves during transit too much and better lightly tape them and have them come lose than fight a tape ball in low light near easily cut weight cable. If they do fall out, because you wound them to the sweet spot you can just sort of clip the wheels back to the cable – its not hard. If you overwind it however you will have no end of trouble so go light on the initial wind up and try and wind the wheels so they are just lightly clamped against the board by the wound in cable.

Your now ready to remove the movement assembly. The face is attached to the movement by three pins. That in turn is attached to the wooden base plate via two bolts. If you look up into the clock you will see these. The face, the movement, and the board are therefore a discreet unit for transport. You will be able to lift it off as such. Dont do this until you have read the rest of this article by the way – guaranteed fail if you do.

If you cant lift it off then its screwed or nailed on where the board meets the side support it sits on. For some reason there are normally four screws or nails, I suppose because this creates the best flat and even connection between parallel supports without risk of distortion. Anyway, remove the screws or in the case of nails lever the board up with a chisel so the nails detach. Do not use a hammer fork or nail remover from the top of the board. A 2″ chisel used judiciously is the path of least destruction. Expect some damage here and if you’ve got a brass face 1700 london clock in walnut phone Pickfords or me at this point. Move the whole clock rather than damage a rare and good one. Condition is everything at the top of the market.

The movement assembly is the the riskiest part to transport. Pay attention to the back and the front specially. While it looks like the sides are vulnerable with the exposed cogs, its actually the hands face and the fragile crutch at the back that are going to get you if anything does.

The movement assembly is unstable by nature. Its just the wrong shape and will fall forward or backwards if you put it down on a flat surface or lean it up against a wall – it has a deceptive centre of gravity. Even if yours seems to be fine at about 25 degress off vertical I guarantee you it will topple easily backwards and that invariably snaps the crutch at its weak point.  It will happen if you trust your luck when you need at third hand. Its one of the reasons l come well prepared or with my son if we need to collect, deliver or install a whole clock

The highest risk period of this whole job is from the moment you lift the movement assembly to the point where it is placed in prepared packaging. If you digress from the direct transfer from clock to packaging it all goes pear shaped quickly. You will place or rest the movement for a moment while making final adjustments to the packaging and it will fall over guaranteed and bend the hands or break the crutch. If your really unlucky you will scratch the face which on a brass faced clock is not something you can really come back from. Ive scratched a white face on one and only occasion.  The restoration was 30 hours because its like filling in an oil painting as opposed to painting a surface with defined lines due to the variance in ageing coloration. I think I’ve probably made my point – get it off the case and in the box directly.

“The box” should be big and full of polystyrene worms ready to place the clock head in upright as if it were mounted on the clock.

DONT use bubble wrap or towelling or anything fibrous or snaggy to surround the clock in its box. This is because the hands on these clocks are pretty much like fishing hooks and will adhere to any of the aforementioned. Before you know it youve bent or snapped a hand off while removing the packaging. Its a really common mistake to make. Equally the crutch at the back is perfectly designed to snag on packaging and actualy moves around as well so its almost willing itself to snag up on something.

Fundamentally, its worth the hassle of getting the right packaging materials for this bit and while it will mean pulling poly worms out of the movement at the other end its better than a key component break. Don’t use beads – it has to be worms. Beads, the small ones, will get in the clock and you will be spending some time locating and removing the ones that fit perfectly wedged between overlapping cogs and are a swine to get out. I know because some people use them when then send clocks to me for repair. Somebody did it with a cuckoo clock once which I shall not forget.

In terms of the pendulum, make a two piece cardboard sleeve from cardboard and tape it around the leaf spring. Now  heavy tape it inside the case. Its easy to do if you lay the clock on its back. If the clocks only going down the road then just take it along but if its part of a big move where its going to be stored prior to installation the pendulum tends to be the problem part to go missing. Weights can be replaced but pendulums are weighted to individual clock to a degree although many are about the same. Theres no reference material available publicly that will tell you the weight range of yours and Id decline sourcing one if asked as it would be a matter of trying a few quite frankly – over to you!. Some would be easier than others but its not worth the risk of losing it.

So everything is now good to go and can be transported in the same way as, a television – with care. You cant shock it but it can be handled in pedestrian fashion providing of course you take due care with the head which has particularly fragile glass. If its original beautiful uneven glass with faults its a terrible shame to loose it so I would actually recommend boxing it up with bubble wrap like a vase.

The case is worth wrapping in a sheet. The case is awkwardly weighted when you carry it, solo specially so, and its easy to mis-judge it and catch the edge of a door frame on the slide as the case tries to turn in your grip with the uneven weight distribution. The uneven weight is mostly front and bottom heavy but only by about 60%. You will likely need to rotate the clock to get in through any awkward space and the clock can easily spin and slip during rotation even with two people. As long as you keep a firm grip and are aware of where the majority of the weight is at any given time, its ok.

When you reach your destination simply do things in reverse order and the clock should be standing infront of you almost ready to go.  When you test you clocks position against your desired spirit level records it will almost certainly tick unevenly and stop after a short while. This is why it needs levelling to its native gradient.

In addition to the uneven, cantering tick the pendulum swing may well rub on the weights or the back of the clock if its tilted even slightly backwards. Correction is therefore invariably required even if its close to level and actually runs – it wont for long. But it might run badly and you will be tempted to leave it as that. This is a bad idea because what you dont want is a clock functioning but huffing and puffing along, if only for what it does in terms of uneven wear long term. If you leave it like that you might find it will ONLY run like that after a few years irrespective of adjusments you can make on crutch which is the only alternative adjustment.  Basicly it knackers the clock over time and your giving it a death sentence.You might ace it and it goes in exactly right – 1 in 10 or so do perfectly but just be sure it really is right with a perfectly even tick tock and at least 5mm clearance from the pendulm back and front. If you dont give it a good 5mm any shifting of the surface its on over time eventually means the pendulum clashes with the weights. For instance carpet compresses flat over years for instance, and not evenly because of the front weight distribution of the clock. It leans forward over time which is a good reason to fix it to the wall towards the top of the clock. You can use glued wood spacers and screws on average clocks – a couple of holes / rawplugs is perfectly acceptable and all clocks mostly already have them. Its actually part of the character and shows you, in some cases, that the clock has had many lives.

We took some spirit levels measurements earlier that you now use to correct the difference. To do this is as simple as putting spacers under the corners of the clock to get the clock to the correct spirit level settings. You will need spacers on at least 3 corners in order for the clock to be stable. If you only do two corners and the spirit levels line up you will find that the clock rocks a little diagonally which is no good long term even if it appear to sit reliably perched on three corners. Just make sure its solidly planted as well as lined up with the levels.

In terms of what you use for the foot spacers, do not use box cardboard despite the fact you will have plenty about at this point. It compresses over time and the clock will go leaning tower of Pizza. This goes for any compressible material like that e.g. carpet shards to match the floor are a particularly poor forming choice but amazingly popular for some reason in my experience (I end up troubleshooting a lot of botched well intentioned moves).

Good materials are wood and paper but the best is probably game or business cards or thick paper or some sort. This can be divided up very accurately and cut to shape so they can be hidden away from view. It doesnt compress significantly which is what you are looking for in whatever you select as spacer material and of course its very easy to get the exact height you want. Variance is rarely more than 5mm on any foot as the cases are produced well and fit for purpose, they feature a good four point connect on a perfectly flat surface. I expect it was part of the art of producing the cases.

When most older grandfather clocks (130 years) were produced there were guild controlled method based apprenticeships which seems to have standardised both the basic design of the cases and the key quality points. I expect some things you were obliged to get right at the required standard!. A level base was I imagine probably one of these. Its certainly borne out in the clocks I have seen across all quality levels, but to be fair there are not many non-guild bad ones about and you might have one of those so it might be off…but its probably bang on so 5mm is where you should be aiming for on a reasonably even surface.

Note that there there are two legged variants that rely on tight wall fixing and have the advantage of often recessing into skirting board due to the lack of back pediment. If you dont screw this type on it will slip forward at the bottom very easily, scratch the wall, and break its glass as it grand slams on its back on the floor. Ive only imagined it by the way, thank goodness. But it is what would happen for certain because of the top heavy nature of the clocks.

Overall, to be fair, this method of propping the clock level is a bit bodge. The crutch angle at the back should be set instead, BUT, if I tell you how to do that you will only break it as it invloves bending it with measured force in the right location and understanding whats going on in the clock. This guide is for everyone so its a one size fit all!.

Oh – I almost forgot – get the winder and tape it inside the case with the pendulum.

So thats it. Keep on clocking and dont be afraid to give this a go. Ive stressed the risks so that you get it right, not to put you off. If you do what I have said you will be more than fine and a few hundred quid richer on re-location fees. Good luck and if you have any questions I can usually find time for a brief reply on email.

Some people are unable to, or don’t want to personally move their clocks for good reason. If you would prefer me to handle moving your Grandfather clock email me a picture and details of location, destination, time frames and Ill get back to you with an estimate.

 

Ok this article was inspired by a clockist who came to me with a problems he just couldnt figure out.

He brought the movement in for us to have a look at and see if two heads etc.

The movement was perfect and correctly set up. It functioned under test well and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it at all. Yet it stopped after 5 days on what should be an 8 day cycle. Ive seen this a few times and the first time I encountered the problem it was infurating. I had to return to the clients house on two occasions because the problem would occur sometime within a 3 hour time frame after about 5 days.

I had opened the clock on each visit to see what might be wrong with the weights. They appeared fine on the first occassion and then on the second I noticed something.

To explain. Almost all long case clocks are fitted with externally mounted doors. They are effectively a plank over an slightly smaller appeture. This creates a ledge on the inside of the clock wall when the door is closed.

As youve probably guessed what was happening was that the the edge of the weight was catching on the ledge in the clock and just sitting there. Theproblem wasnt apparent on the clock I looked at because the weights were light and the clock strings were holding them upright even though most of the weight was on the shelf. The result was weights that looked like they were doing the job but secretly had one foot off the scales at the back! (so to speak).

Ive published this article because since then Ive seen this a lot. It happens when clocks get moved and are set in place leaning very slightly forward or the head is repositioned too far forwards or both.

So if you just moved you clock and it only runs for a few days check everything is in order as above before you call me. Then, if this turns out to be the problem, you can text me on 07462 269529 with “5 DAY FIX DONE” and ill update this article if I get any just for a laugh.  The point is that for every text I get I guarantee there will have been a long period of consternation about what the bloody hell is going on with their clock  – its a hard one to spot.