My first practice piece!–updates

[mahlon]

Peggy you can check it by just replacing the strike train, and the center arbors, but I usually put it all back together, leaving both mainsprings wired. Then just wind the strikes side a couple of turns, just enough to give it enough power to strike a few times. If it is not where it needs to be, you can let off the power to the spring and loosen the plates enough to make the adjustments Mahlon

[peggy332014]

Okie dokie!

[bernie weishapl]

Good point Mahlon. I always check the strike before taking off the restraints on the mainsprings. Once I have the strike functioning then you can wind up and remove. If you just wind it a couple of turns Peggy you can see if it is functioning properly and if not let the power down and then you can separate the plates safely to move the wheels where they need to be. Then recheck. Follow that process till it functions every time.

[peggy332014]

I will see how it goes! thanks fella’s!

[peggy332014]

A couple of days ago, on my first try to set the strike timing, I did it well and it was striking properly. I then started adding the timing gears one wheel at a time…being careful not to lift up the plates too far and losing the positioning of the striking gears. I had got to the very last piece which was the verge piece, and uh oh! I couldn’t quite get it in there, and the strike side came out of their pivot holes. I worked so desperately to re-align them into the holes. but just couldn’t get it done! So I ended up just starting all over!

I have 2 questions… on the center hand arbor, those two pegs on it.. one is shorter than the other.. which one is the hour peg, the long one? And how should I have it lined up? Should the long one be after the jay hook or ahead of it? I;m struggling to get in sync again! Maybe I’m trying too hard! 🙄

[peggy332014]

🙄 🙄 Well….

I got the movement back together! The strike does work like it should, and I hung the pendulum and it does tick tock! I did unwire both springs and it is doing fine.

I’m having a little problem with the governor on the strike wanting to not start like it is trying to gum up on me. I have to give it a finger nudge. Mike said that the gun oil he let me use would work good, but evidently it is not.. the governor was running good at first and then when I put the hands on it to test run, it acted like it wanted to be off strike time. So I took the hands and pendulum off, and tested some more. The strike is in sync with the hands, but the governor is sluggish.

The center arbor acts like I need to loosen the nuts and see if I can move it a cog or two, it kind of hangs up on the j hook. Would giving the j hook a slight bend.. be a ‘no no’? The gun oil is pretty much what we have available, other than 3 in 1 machine oil. I did go ahead and recapture the mainsprings again, so I can fine tune the governor some more.

I may see if a little wd40 on just the governor would help loosen it up some…?? Then see about a lighter oil.

Overall I’m well pleased with my progress! Any suggestions on the governor?

Here’s what I got done today!

[willofiam]

Hey Peggy, W-D40 would not be something you want to put on, What it seems like to me is that there is a bent pivot, a sluggish fly (governor) means it is not getting power all the way thru the train, also check for anything that might be out of place or binding in the strike train, the fly should have some tension on the arbor and not freely spin to do its job properly.

yes bending the J hook is the way to adjust for the top of the hour strike. using a old narrow blade straight screwdriver with a 3/32 wide or so and at least that deep slot filed into the end makes for a great tool for bending these types of wires, round the edges a bit so it doesnt leave gouges in the wires.

The guys give great advice about leaving the mainsprings captured, I will even test run for a day or 2 with them on just in case there is a issue I can quickly just let down the mainspring again and address the problem, saves time. William

[peggy332014]

Okay, thanks William! Everything seemed to be fine at first, but as I continued hand testing it, to seemed to be sluggish, even after giving a few more cranks into the mainspring.

I’ll take a closer look on it Monday. Tomorrow is my church time.

I’ll see what I can do on the j hook. It did good even the other day. I was so careful not to force the fly pivot, but I may have tweaked it today somehow.

Thanks!

[bernie weishapl]

Peggy I would be a little careful about bending stuff and IMHO no WD 40 in a clock. To me that is a no-no. There has to be something wrong like William said maybe a bent pivot. I do not take of the mainspring restraints under it has run at least 2 days with no problemss with the mainspring only wound 1/2 up or less. If the time and strike won’t run on less the halfway wound up then it is time to take a look at what could be the problem. Bending levers is my last resort. So my first check would be to rewire the mainsprings and let off the power then check your fly and see what is making it drag. Whenever I get a movement back together I lay it flat and take a small screwdriver to lift each wheel. If you lift them up they should fall right back down. If they don’t you have a bent or damaged pivot. Every wheel should have free movement. As for striking exactly on the hour if you want dead perfect then yes you could adjust the J arm. If it is striking within a couple of minutes before the hour I never mess with them.

As for the oil if I had only gun oil or 3 in 1 I definitely would use the 3 in 1. I have found some gun oils sometimes also have graphite in it which can gum things up. As was said no WD 40.

Let us know what you find Peggy.

[peggy332014]

Hi Bernie!

Actually, as I was fitting the gears in, I did make sure the pinions were free to move up and down. I don’t think there are any bent pivots. I was careful not to force any pinions. Mainly the governor arbor itself was a little fussy going in, but did okay. Also, I made sure I wasn’t bending or binding any teeth. It actually went together very well.

It was running free before I was using the gun oil. I can move the strike arm without using the main hand arbor, and it does spin freely. I think it’s the oil I’m using. I will make sure all the gears are mesh, and keep working it manually. I do have the springs wired, and will leave them in for awhile yet. It does tic and toc, which it wasn’t doing when I got the clock. I had the pendulum on and it was working, the escape wheel and verge is doing good. I’m actually well pleased that it is working! That’s a great accomplishment for me! I might loosen the frame screws a little and work the gears a little, maybe it will help re align them if they are a little off. Everything does move, just slow. And I know partly because the spring hasn’t got much power in it with a few turns.

[willofiam]

Hey Peggy, yes Bernie is right and I forgot to mention when thinking about bending things, a good rule of thumb is to think twice and make sure it would be the direction you want to go, sometimes you can really chase your tail adjusting these when first starting out, also what he mentions about checking the freedom of the pivots and end-shake is a great way to do that, With the power down a light touch of a finger on the great wheel should move the train and if anything is hindering it you can “feel” the difference in its movement and alot of times catch the problem area. That Bernie is on top of it, must be that he is seeing clearer lately. William

[bernie weishapl]

Thanks William. Yes the Doc told me Thursday when I was in for my post-op checkup that my left eye was 20/20. I am working on my computer and reading a newspaper now with no glasses. Haven’t had them on since a week ago yesterday. Only glasses I wear now are sunglasses when I am out and about styling and profiling. 😆

Oh and I went to the shop today. I can actually see the pivots on a watch now.

[peggy332014]

Thank you fella’s! I will check it out on Monday. Sunday is a lazy day for me.. LOL!

[willofiam]

That is great Bernie I am very happy for you., my eyesight has dwindled in the last few years, very frustrating and I am afraid of doctors 😯 , say, I would love to chat with you on the phone sometime, If you want get ahold of Bob and get my # or email. William

[peggy332014]

Oh, I did have one question from an earlier post, on the main hand arbor, those two pegs on it, the one is long and the other one short.. which one does the minute and which one does the hour? Or does it make any difference? How do I line those up to the warning stop. Should one of those pegs actually face toward 12 o’clock? Or just passed the j hook?

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