Hi All!!!!
A little introduction here. I’ve always love clocks and the beauty in the wheels and levers and how they work together to display the time of day. I had my first try at cleaning and lubricating a clock when I was about 6 or 7 years old. My grandfather gave me an old Westclox Big Ben and said if I could get it working I could keep it. I got it working. I used it for 10 years before it died again. I’m not sure what happened to it. Oh…. I’m a mechanic and a Certified Engineering Technologist. I love making things work again.
I’m also a complete noob to clock making and I started off with a Welby 940-020 of a 1969 vintage. It wasn’t working when I received it. I decided to enroll in Bob’s course and see what makes it tick. Then, after inspecting it I saw that it was all gummed up with old, what looks like grease to me, gunk. None of the pivot holes seemed worn out. I spent some time cleaning all of the works. Manually cleaning pivots and pivot holes. I inspected the springs but without a proper spring winder, I’m hesitant to dismantle them and clean them. They seemed to be over lubricated and I can get a full wind out of them. I reassembled the works and lubricated them upon completion of assembly. I didn’t dismantle and clean the suspended balance though (a little intimidating).
On initial start-up, it seemed as though the amplitude on the balance was weak. After running for 30 minutes it looks as if the balance is more active and the sound of the palet is definitely louder. Does anyone have any experience (a dumb question I’m sure) with cleaning and lubricating the balance? Can you help a rookie out?
Thanks so much in advance!
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