Graham escapement

[gerene]

Thanks David, that certainly is a good and practical way of doing things. I will remember your technique and use it on future occasions.

Jan

[gerene]

Thought I should give some update on this clock. I did not have much time to work on this clock lately but I did change the mainspring and cleaned, assembled and oiled the movement and it is ticking away since yesterday night. I did not do any performance checks yet because I called it a day after it started ticking. Testing and checking will be done soon

Jan

[mahlon]

Jan, good job. I just finished a clock with that same escapement. I am glad that yours started back so easily. I had a lot of trouble getting mine back it to beat. It would run fine on the test stand, but when I put it back in the case it would not. The problem I was having was, when on the test stand, I had room to get more swing, in order for the escapement to self adjust. The clock case was so narrow that I could not get enough swing. The problem ended up being that the clutch on the end of the arbor was too lose and letting it slip. Once I tightened it up, it would stay in beat. With that much ware on the pallets, what kind of shape was the escape wheel in? Mahlon

[gerene]

Mahlon, I understand your problem. Mine was working fine on the test stand as well, but getting it into beat in the case is not that obvious. After it had been ticking all night, I tought I would put it in the case and see what happens. Well it turns out that getting the movement level in the case is not simple. The problem is that the fixture which holds the movement was not placed level in the case and hence the clock is not in beat, unless the case it moved sideways . I looked at that fixture but someone before me had only been tampering with the screws that hold it to the case. I am not a woodworker (yet?) and don’t know what to do best. There are different worn out holes on the correct locations, so I cannot use those any longer. The newer holes are not placed correctly and there is no place left to drill yet another set of holes.
I solved the question for the moment by putting a shim underneed the movement at one side, it works but I am not really satisfied with the solution.
To answer your question about the escape wheel: no visible damage to the theet

Jan

[mahlon]

Jan, what I usually do with the worn holes, is to, use a small dowel and a little wood glue If you if you use a pencil sharpener to make a sharp point, it will fill the holes perfectly. Once it has dried it will drill nicely . It is funny that you mentioned it setting in the case, out of level. The one that I was working on was the same way. The mount was 1/8″ lower on one side. I could not lower the other side, because the dial would set to low, so I shimmed the low side and stained the shim to match the rest of the mount. Mahlon

[willofiam]

Hey Guys, there is usually a way to adjust so a clock can be put into beat, some by bending the crutch and others by moving the crutch on the arbor and several other methods, Jan it appears your crutch is pressed onto the arbor with a crutch collet. the slits that are cut on the crutch collet will allow for a adjustment to be made here (it is a tight press fit). hold the verge steady and twist the crutch in the direction needed, may take a few tries with small adjustments. Of course one of the issues I run into alot is when the movement is mounted making sure that everything is lined up properly thru the dial and the dial is plumb from 6 to 12 when the clock is hanging or sitting in a way that it is appealing to the eye. I cant say level as alot of clock cases have distorted over the years and it becomes a case of appearance instead of levelness. Hope I make some sense. I also do the same thing as Mahlon with the dowels to get the mounting screws to bite, if that particular area is visible you can try and match the type of wood and the grain pattern. I have a set of plug cutters that were real cheap but work great. you can pick a area of similar wood and grain pattern, match the stain color to make a almost invisible plug. Have fun, William

[mahlon]

What you are saying about appearance rather than level is correct.. If that clock came out of an old house like mine (1905) grandpas sometimes shaved of one side or the other just to make a grandfather clock stand on an unlevel floor. Maybe that’s where they got the name grandfather clock Mahlon

[gerene]

Thanks William for your explanation. The case of this clock is rather good, but the seat of the clock is not mounted plumb and level in the case, if you see what I mean. It is inclined about 5 degrees. I was reluctant to correct that with the crutch, but maybe that’s the way to go, or correct the position of the seat in the case, by plugging the wood as described by Mahlon and screwing it in correctly. The latter would be my preference since it corrects the root of the problem instead of working around it. The only thing is that I don’t have any experience in woodwork, but hey a few years ago I did not know anything about clocks, watches, metalwork and machining either.

Jan

[gerene]

As I said, I did not really like the solution with the shim. So I went ahead and corrected the problem by plugging the worn holes and putting the mount correctly in the case such that the movement is now level in the case. Thanks Mahlon for your advice on this. It was not all that difficult once I had an idea on how to attack the problem.
Then I went ahead and put the clock in beat according to Williams instructions about the press fit crutch. The clock is now happily ticking without shims
Now I can start regulating the movement.

Jan

[mahlon]

Jan, I’m glad to hear that it is working. After 8 or 9 month I finally got my Taig set up and played with it a little. I turned a piece of 3/16 brass down with two small shoulders, to 1/8, then drilled a 1/16 hole through it . The whole thing is only 1/4 in length. I am sure that it wouldn’t impress most of you people on here, with the kind of skills you all have, but I was pleased with my first attempt.
I think it is going to be something that I will enjoy doing, when I get to where I can make something useful Mahlon

[willofiam]

FANTASTIC!!!! Isn’t it great when a plan comes together good job Jan..

Mahlon, the more you do the more you want to do 😯 , you will build on your previous experience, everyone starts somewhere, I have not done much metal lathe work either. For your first attempt sounds like you did well , keep playing and next thing you know……in reference to another post you had I am under the impression that the cut-off tool can be straight or angled, the angle allows the piece to drop off clean. But thats about all I know. have fun today guys.

William

[mahlon]

William, I went out and tried it with the tool square with the end of the material, I must have been crowding it a little too much, because the cut off came off, leaving about a 1/16″, thickness of the cutter. 😯 Mahlon

[willofiam]

To me using the cutoff tool is the scariest 😯 , has to be dead center, sharp, and square to the headstock (or end of your piece if you have enough material to tell if your square and the piece has been faced). using a slow feed rate, lock down everything else so there is no chance of anything moving to cause it to bind. William

[gerene]

Thanks Mahlon and David, I was really pleased when it all came together in the end.

Congratulations Mahlon, you will get at my level very soon I did not have any experience either. In fact I never did anything with my hands until recently, but I do enjoy it now!

Jan

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