Has anyone seen this?

[jbsiii]

Hello,
I’m brand new to clock repair, but realizing that the three old clocks I inherited and the two I purchased long ago need some work to get them running again, I figured this is a good time to take up a new hobby. I’ve enjoyed Bob’s course a lot, and am ready to tackle restoring the New Haven mantel clock I purchased back in the 70s while stationed in Grand Forks, ND.

The clock hasn’t run in quite some time, and is in dire need of at least a cleaning. The gears all appear to be in good shape, and it looks like from the bushings that it’s been repaired at some point as well. However, there’s a mysterious bit of wire visible on the back and wrapped around it looks like the hour barrel inside. Has anyone encountered anything like this before? Photos below.
The complete view of the back:

A closer view, with the wire showing a bit better:

A shot of the interior, with the wire shown wrapping around the barrel:

Thanks in advance for your insights and advice!
John Sims

[bernie weishapl]

If what I think you are talking about the small wire coming out the back and wrapped around a arbor is to return the strike arms the stop position. In other words when the strike is tripped allowing it to strike when it comes to the finish it pulls the arm down to stop the strike. Maybe I missed what you are talking about but what I see is a spring wire. See this post by William. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1809 That should help. My advice is to wind the clock up and take it thru the striking sequence. Make sure you watch all levers and how it is tripped into striking before any disassembly. Barrels generally house mainsprings. The wheels and striking arms are mounted on arbors.

[jbsiii]

Thanks, Bernie! That’s good to know. I’ll take extra care with it when I disassemble, and I’ll check out the video mentioned in the other post.

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