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Thought I would just post up a couple of pics of the two clocks I bought today at an auction.
The first one is an English Smiths 1950’s Mantel Clock. It cost a whooping £12! I have serviced two of these, one of which turned out to be a complete restoration job as it had two coats of gloss paint on it.
The Second clock is a French Japy Freres white alabaster clock with brass trimmings. This will need a bit of work to tidy up but should look nice when finished. I have been trying to locate a picture of another one so I can see what it should look like as the brass balls glued on either side dont look original. I also think this would have been under one of those half oval glass domes as it has no glass to the face. This cost £60.00
One thing I did find out today about alabaster is that you should not clean it with water as it can dissolve and stain it! Those blue bits in the brass surrounds at the base of the clock have now been removed, they were bits of picture cut out of a magazine and glued to it. Some people!
Hey Paul, your a busy man, I find it interesting the kind of clocks you find over there compared to what I would find over here in my area, just seems different. maybe someday we could do a world wide survey of the migration of clocks.
Be good and have funIts funny you should post a picture of a misson clock, I saw one at auction last year and thought it was just something thrown together by someone who wanted a cheap clock. I think it sold for about £15. Here is an idea for you William, what if we set a budget of 30 Euros and buy each other a clock? We could help these poor clocks out with their migration
Well Paul, first of all I am not sure what a euro is. around here that is something you would eat. hop in your boat and come over and we will work together. some time ago I had thought the same thing about the mission clock but after further investigation have noticed that it is rather collectable. there are also shelf and grandfather/mother clocks in the same style. pretty interesting. Please anyone else dont be shy 😳 to interject thought or info, the more we are able to hear from you the more we all learn :geek: , and I need it most….
williamsomething about being different that makes it appealing, probably why my wife likes me
Ditto
You think the misson clock is ugly? Look at what I bought today!
Thats right, Frankensteins monster. A lovely Japy Freres movement someone has put in a dodgy art deco case. Dont worry, I will be putting it out of its miseryBob, the two clocks were bought at a real live auction, my friend buys and sells art and said I should go along with him as they had a few clocks.
Bought yet another clock today, this time from a charity shop. Cost £7.50 and it came with a free little sticker that says “Needs Attention” This is another ugly clock and I thought I would have a go at a clean and service and keep this one for my workshop as it is nearly as ugly as me
I got it home, took the hands off and the back of the case and suddenly this smell hit me, it stank like an old chainsaw or lawn mower. The complete mechanism including the platform escapement and hairspring was covered in 2 stroke oil! It must have had quite a good dose as some was still runny and some hard dried into a hard green goo. It has a mechanism built on levels and the escapement is a platform lever type. The complete mech had a strip down and good clean in brake and clutch cleaner which has a high naphter content. All the brass parts then went into a clock cleaning solution after scrubbing off some grubby parts with a glass scratch brush. My only question with this is it has pallet jewels and they are a little loose. How do you re shellac them in place? Do I have to take them out completely, clean them up and re-shellac. I could really use an idiots guide on this one as it is something I have not done before.
Anyway here is are pictures of the face and mechanism
You can see some of the green goo where I had moved the index arm on the lever.Update…..
Got it back together and it just wouldnt run, I thought the jewels were sticking out just a bit too far so back out they came, heated, tiny tweak with the tweezers, put back together and still not running. Process of elimination, took the balance off the platform, took the pallet fork out and, nothing, still not running. Undid the platform screws a fraction just to see and whizzzzzz…off it went! Did the platform screws back up, put the platform back together and guess what…thats right, I have moved the entry pallet in too far now so will have to take it back to pieces, re-heat adjust and then we shall see.
And I was going to start off with ladies watches? 😯 I think this has just changed my mindThanks Bob, one other thing I forgot to mention was one of the banking pins had been broken off. Whoever looked at this clock before me didnt like the idea of adjusting the pallet jewels so tried to bend the banking pins hoping extra movement on the pallet would give the right action, he managed to bend one ok as it is still there and quite bent but he must have used a little too much force and snapped the other clean off. I drilled it out using a .5mm drill and have used an epoxy to secure in a new piece of .5mm blued pivot steel as it is the only thing I had that would fit and figured it should be hard enough. I dont know if this is the proper procedure but I cant see any reason for it not to work?
My back has been gradualy getting worse over the last few days to the point where I cant put my own socks on in the morning and I cant drive. My pain killers are very strong so if you dont see me up on the board much for the next week or so that will be why.
You all take care and I will be back soon
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