Bushings

[twoess]

Hey, guys. Got a question. On a Modern type Cuckoo Clock Movement, about 15 years old approx. Do you put in Bushings if needed. I’ve heard other’s say that they can run a little loose without problems. What do you guys think. I’ve noticed in some of the holes they are hard to get into to bush.

[arutha]

Thats a tricky one to answer without knowing exactly how loose the pivots are in the holes, you are quite correct in saying there can be a bit of play. Does the clock still have the wood plates with the split type brass bushings? If they seem quite loose it will not do any harm to replace them, better to do it now while the clock is apart than put it back together and find things are binding because there is too much play.

[willofiam]

Hi twoess, I agree with Paul , when I first started in repairing clocks I bought a old coo-coo clock works and used that as practice for COMPLETE disassembley, which of coarse can be daunting 😯 but helps increase knowledge and allows you to properly bush or whatever. Is this the same clock you posted about the strike problem???? William

[twoess]

They are a little Sloppy. Three are a little more than that, They are quite a bit oval. I will replace I think. Better safe than sorry. No this is a different clock that came in after the one I posted before. Do you guy’s find you generally have to replace quite a few bushings in Clocks, not just cuckoo’s. I replace usually if they are getting oval any. But heard cuckoo’s have a little more leniency, so wanted to check what you guy’s thought.

[willofiam]

Hi twoess, If the pivot hole is worn oval 😯 then you want to rebush, I can get picky when I rebush a clock especially if it is for someone else, I see that the cost of a bushing is minimal compared to the time it takes to redo things later, and like you said @twoess wrote:

Better safe than sorry.

I like the idea that I did the best I could with it. I have been testing the bushing wear by seeing if the tilt of the pivot arbor is more than 5 degrees in any direction although I would like to hear some feedback on this from some others Soooooo if it were me and I had it apart already, I would bush whatever needed it. If I were looking at it and the clock was running and I wasnt going to go thru it, yes the coo-coo clocks have a little more tolerance for wear. Might be a good habit though to treat all processes for whatever clock it may be, the same. If you were to create any bad habits some things might not fly with, say, a turn of the century German Vienna wall clock. hope what I am saying is o.k., I hold myself to the same. I prefer my craftsmanship to be as good as I can make it bringing into account my limited knowledge. Have fun William

[twoess]

That helped me alot. I want to do the best job I can, and hold my craftsmaship to the highest level. Especially when working on a customers clock. I will definately hold each and every clock to the same tolerences. Even if Cuckoos can be a little more loose. Like you said it’s better than having to redo, and also having an unhappy customer.

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