I just finished fixing my Gerard clock! It was in a box in my parents' basement for years! It hasn't been working since the 1960s . I couldn't get the clock in beat and it stopped working after about a minute. After close inspection, I noticed slot on the crutch was squeezed in so it couldn't fit over the two pins as it should. I opened up the slot with a screwdriver, reassembled and it works great!
These mantle clocks are often called Napoleon Clocks, because they look like the hat that Napoleon used to wear. The funny shape adds to the resonance of the gong when struck, and makes them sound more mellow.
That piece of brass, bent at one end with a screw thread on it, isn't from a clock. It is from a piano music rest, and swivels up to hold the pages of the music open.
Beautiful movement, love the engine turning, which is not so common. I've seen so many of these clocks totally disregarded in the auctions, it's such a shame. I own a grandmother clock with the Westminster chimes, I bought it about 5 years ago for a tiny sum of £30. Anyway Chris you've done a good job getting it back together, and as you say just don't wind up the chimes if you don't want them on! I have known people who wanted silence 🔕 them temporarily by putting a small piece of foam rubber or something similar, between the hammer and chimes, and on some of these mechanisms they have a little lever to hold the hammer back when the chimes are not required. Anyway, good on you Chris, saved another piece of history! ✌♥️🇬🇧
Nice job Chris. I did a similar clock from about 1963. You said a four minute error in 24 hours was 'not bad'. I break out in a cold sweat if mine is out 4 minutes in a week. I need to lower my standards and sleep nights 🤣🤣😃😃
Haha, your standards have always been too high Dave! 😆 Four minutes a day can certainly be improved upon - I think I meant (in the video) that it was 'not bad' without any initial adjustment. However pendulum clocks will always vary a bit with change in temperature and humidity so four minutes a week is almost unachievable. Sleep well mate! 😊
Good one! Thanks for that. Only wish I had seen your video sooner. A few years ago I gave away a bracket clock kit that I put together about fifty years ago. It had stopped working. So the other day i found a Forestville mantle clock that needs help. These clocks were assembled locally (Toronto) in the fifties with English and German made movements. I'll be putting your excellent instructions to work, very soon
that was very interesting, I was given a mantle clock about 20yrs ago missing a lot of parts in the back, so i fitted a battery movement in it's place, adapted the original hands to the cheap ones and used it for 4yrs before passing it on to someone else when i moved(it's likely still going). i haven't wound a clock in use for probably 35yrs when we had them as alarm clocks (oval shaped orange thing you've likely got similar, was a matching blue one also in the house)
Nice job, interesting, and kind of you. I have a similar clock from my Granddad, but it's on the shelf now just for looks and memories. Exploring the insides are too scary for me.
You might consider looking up Garrard of Regent St, the royal jeweller. The staff antiquarian horologist from the 1980s was a lovely chap by the name of Douglas Belton. I believe that he's still alive for what it's worth. Nice video, thanks!
I buy non-working clocks from eBay, restore them and sell them on again. As often as not, all they need is a clean and the pivots lubricating. Quite often there is nothing wrong at all, they just need setting in beat. usually, the suspension spring needs replacing, occasionally they need bushing or the mainspring replacing. Very rarely there is something more serious wrong, maybe a broken pivot or broken teeth which are a bit of a pain but still fixable. If the case is in good condition, everything mechanical can be repaired but sometimes it isn't cost effective and they just go into the spare parts cupboard but that is probably less than 5% of all the clocks I buy.
Us pommies did make good clocks 😊 I like the westminster chime clocks and you may or may not know that you can get eletric clocks that chime ,very similar movements but driven by a motor ,benefit of thoose was they took the frequency from the mains supply so never run to slow or fast and they never need winding we also made self winding mechanisims
For future use, on the right of the mechanism, looking into the back, there should be a small lever behind the plate which regardless of the position of the hands will allow you to step forward the hour and half hour chimes.
Only on a countwheel strike. The rack strike used in this movement is fixed in position and has to be set up as the hands are put on. Once set up, it can't go out of sequence.
I wonder who the engineers were for these movements. I searched up the patents and got to a website that said Garrard Clocks LTD used clocks from other manufacturers so possibly an engineer working for a subcontractor of them?
It constantly amazes me what people were able to do with old style tools back then - let alone the clever people who actually came up with the mechanical ideas!
Ha ha “That’s a bit agricultural” I’m enjoying this one as well 🤠 I did get something out of this video. Can’t quite find the right app though. I never even thought of that before. A quick search found one for $80 that ain’t going to happen 🤠
@@DavoShed It's trial and error to some degree as the beat of a clock can be adjusted independently to the actual level. Therefore if you have a crooked mantlepiece, you can adjust the beat so that it runs perfectly without being chocked at one end. So a level isn't really necessary!
Thank you for this vid. I've only just started to work on an old one chime clock. I finally have it working properly now and this vid would have helped me a lot earlier - it is a really great tutorial too, makes a lot of sense. I did note the Clock Tuning app and Googled it - they don't support my Android One UI 5.1 - I haven't found another as good - hoping someone knows another that is as good?
It's fairly easy to do, on some clocks you will have an adjustment screw or thumbwheel, to make the pendulum longer or shorter, the longer it is, the slower it will run and vice versa. That clock could be trimmed a little closer but it could take a week to do it! Having to check the time over day and making the very small adjustments necessary. These types of clock will always vary due to temperature, on a hot day the pendulum will expand slowing the clock down and on a cold day it will speed up! 🤣🤣 This is quite normal on this kind of clock, Back in the day, people had to regularly ajust their clocks and watches usually from a radio time check, church hour bell or just a friend who had updated their watch just recently, it seems crazy now but that's how it was, unless you had a very expensive time peace. On the larger more expensive pendulum clocks they counteracted the expansion and contraction by using multiple spokes, where the spokes would work against each other to keep the pendulum at a constant length. On good quality watches, which is even more difficult to keep regulated, high precision gear's, (cogs) springs were used, the gear's under stress were sat in Ruby bearings. Back in the day, some people would brag about how many jewels they had in their watch. 🤣😂🤣 Hope this helps Regards from a crazy old English man.
What would you recommend if the escape wheel doesn't turn past the pallet? When I've removed it, all the wheels turn and the hands spin round, however, when I go to put the pendulum parts back together, the escape wheel stops turning. Also if you were to move the pendulum to the left or to the right, it would stop half way, so I guess not a full tick. I'm new to clocks but I wanted to get my fmaily clock up and running again. It's a similar design to the one in your video but not that make.
It's a bit hard to tell without seeing it in person Grace, but it's possible the pallet needs some sort of adjustment or the pendulum has some limited swing movement issue. It sounds like the rest of the movement is ok.
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Very interesting.👍 Agriculturally wired! 😂
Haha, most farmers are good at twitching fencing wire Geoff! 🤣
Great job Chris. And thanks for showing the clock tuner app.
Thanks Glen! 😊👍
I just finished fixing my Gerard clock! It was in a box in my parents' basement for years! It hasn't been working since the 1960s . I couldn't get the clock in beat and it stopped working after about a minute. After close inspection, I noticed slot on the crutch was squeezed in so it couldn't fit over the two pins as it should. I opened up the slot with a screwdriver, reassembled and it works great!
That's fantastic John, I love a good news clock story! 👏😀
These mantle clocks are often called Napoleon Clocks, because they look like the hat that Napoleon used to wear. The funny shape adds to the resonance of the gong when struck, and makes them sound more mellow.
Yep, correct Dave! I didn't know there was sound quality reasons but I guess that makes sense! 👍😊
I enjoyed that, I think I could do that level of cleaning, well you have certainly given me the confidence to think I can :) Thank you for sharing
Thanks Campbell! I'm sure you can do it! 👍😊
That piece of brass, bent at one end with a screw thread on it, isn't from a clock. It is from a piano music rest, and swivels up to hold the pages of the music open.
Ah yes Rolf, I thought it looked familiar! Thanks mate 😊👍
It's a 'G' for gong of course 😁 That was a great repair Chris. 👍
Haha, yep should have thought of that! 🤣 Thanks Alex 👍
Beautiful movement, love the engine turning, which is not so common. I've seen so many of these clocks totally disregarded in the auctions, it's such a shame. I own a grandmother clock with the Westminster chimes, I bought it about 5 years ago for a tiny sum of £30.
Anyway Chris you've done a good job getting it back together, and as you say just don't wind up the chimes if you don't want them on! I have known people who wanted silence 🔕 them temporarily by putting a small piece of foam rubber or something similar, between the hammer and chimes, and on some of these mechanisms they have a little lever to hold the hammer back when the chimes are not required.
Anyway, good on you Chris,
saved another piece of history!
✌♥️🇬🇧
Thanks Les! It is such a shame that these old mechanical marvels aren't appreciated so much anymore!
Nice job Chris. I did a similar clock from about 1963. You said a four minute error in 24 hours was 'not bad'. I break out in a cold sweat if mine is out 4 minutes in a week. I need to lower my standards and sleep nights 🤣🤣😃😃
Haha, your standards have always been too high Dave! 😆 Four minutes a day can certainly be improved upon - I think I meant (in the video) that it was 'not bad' without any initial adjustment. However pendulum clocks will always vary a bit with change in temperature and humidity so four minutes a week is almost unachievable. Sleep well mate! 😊
Good one! Thanks for that. Only wish I had seen your video sooner. A few years ago I gave away a bracket clock kit that I put together about fifty years ago. It had stopped working.
So the other day i found a Forestville mantle clock that needs help. These clocks were assembled locally (Toronto) in the fifties with English and German made movements.
I'll be putting your excellent instructions to work, very soon
Thanks Geo! Good luck with your repair jobs! 👍😊
that was very interesting, I was given a mantle clock about 20yrs ago missing a lot of parts in the back, so i fitted a battery movement in it's place, adapted the original hands to the cheap ones and used it for 4yrs before passing it on to someone else when i moved(it's likely still going). i haven't wound a clock in use for probably 35yrs when we had them as alarm clocks (oval shaped orange thing you've likely got similar, was a matching blue one also in the house)
I've had a few old clocks through the shop Dean where people have replaced the movement with a quartz one. A fairly common hack.
How very interesting. Thank you
Thanks Cynthia 😊
Love the effort that went into the Jeweling (engine turning, pearling). The fact that they even did the fly.
Yes, the quality of workmanship always amazes me on these old things - it really shows pride in their work! 👍😀
Your mechanical expertise showed, Chris. Another fine job of restoration. Well done.
Thanks Uncle Jack! Clocks are always enjoyable to bring back to life! 😊
Good onya Chris.
Good gob well done.
Many thanks Dazz! 😃👍
Nice job, interesting, and kind of you. I have a similar clock from my Granddad, but it's on the shelf now just for looks and memories. Exploring the insides are too scary for me.
They are not scary after awhile Christine! 😊
A nice repair! But I thought for sure you'd finish the repair by updating and applying an Ultimate Recycler sticker over the old one!
It's not too late Martin, it is still ticking away in my workshop! 😁
You might consider looking up Garrard of Regent St, the royal jeweller. The staff antiquarian horologist from the 1980s was a lovely chap by the name of Douglas Belton. I believe that he's still alive for what it's worth. Nice video, thanks!
I buy non-working clocks from eBay, restore them and sell them on again. As often as not, all they need is a clean and the pivots lubricating. Quite often there is nothing wrong at all, they just need setting in beat. usually, the suspension spring needs replacing, occasionally they need bushing or the mainspring replacing. Very rarely there is something more serious wrong, maybe a broken pivot or broken teeth which are a bit of a pain but still fixable. If the case is in good condition, everything mechanical can be repaired but sometimes it isn't cost effective and they just go into the spare parts cupboard but that is probably less than 5% of all the clocks I buy.
Excellent, that's great work mate! I would do the same if I didn't have three lifetimes worth of projects ahead of me here already! 🤪
Where are you located and do you fix a mantel clock for me.
Nice one
Thanks Longship 😊
Us pommies did make good clocks 😊 I like the westminster chime clocks and you may or may not know that you can get eletric clocks that chime ,very similar movements but driven by a motor ,benefit of thoose was they took the frequency from the mains supply so never run to slow or fast and they never need winding we also made self winding mechanisims
Yes I have a few English electric clocks here try and restore at some stage! Thanks for watching
For future use, on the right of the mechanism, looking into the back, there should be a small lever behind the plate which regardless of the position of the hands will allow you to step forward the hour and half hour chimes.
Ok cool - I'll check that out! Thanks mate 😊👍
Only on a countwheel strike. The rack strike used in this movement is fixed in position and has to be set up as the hands are put on. Once set up, it can't go out of sequence.
I wonder who the engineers were for these movements. I searched up the patents and got to a website that said Garrard Clocks LTD used clocks from other manufacturers so possibly an engineer working for a subcontractor of them?
It constantly amazes me what people were able to do with old style tools back then - let alone the clever people who actually came up with the mechanical ideas!
Ha ha “That’s a bit agricultural”
I’m enjoying this one as well 🤠
I did get something out of this video. Can’t quite find the right app though.
I never even thought of that before. A quick search found one for $80 that ain’t going to happen 🤠
I forget the app I used Davo, but I didn't pay for it!
@@TheUltimateRecycler
I put my level on the shelf
Two pieces of card .040” under one end seems to have done the trick.
Only time will tell 🤠
@@DavoShed It's trial and error to some degree as the beat of a clock can be adjusted independently to the actual level. Therefore if you have a crooked mantlepiece, you can adjust the beat so that it runs perfectly without being chocked at one end. So a level isn't really necessary!
Thank you for this vid. I've only just started to work on an old one chime clock. I finally have it working properly now and this vid would have helped me a lot earlier - it is a really great tutorial too, makes a lot of sense. I did note the Clock Tuning app and Googled it - they don't support my Android One UI 5.1 - I haven't found another as good - hoping someone knows another that is as good?
Thanks Mark. There may be other good apps out there - I haven't looked for awhile!
Jack of all trades, nice repair. Quick question, did U say the click going to lose 4 minutes a day, if so. Could U fix it? Cheers Graham.
It's fairly easy to do, on some clocks you will have an adjustment screw or thumbwheel, to make the pendulum longer or shorter, the longer it is, the slower it will run and vice versa.
That clock could be trimmed a little closer but it could take a week to do it! Having to check the time over day and making the very small adjustments necessary. These types of clock will always vary due to temperature, on a hot day the pendulum will expand slowing the clock down and on a cold day it will speed up! 🤣🤣
This is quite normal on this kind of clock, Back in the day, people had to regularly
ajust their clocks and watches usually from a radio time check, church hour bell or just a friend who had updated their watch just recently, it seems crazy now but that's how it was, unless you had a very expensive time peace.
On the larger more expensive pendulum clocks they counteracted the expansion and contraction by using multiple spokes, where the spokes would work against each other to keep the pendulum at a constant length. On good quality watches, which is even more difficult to keep regulated, high precision gear's, (cogs) springs were used, the gear's under stress were sat in Ruby bearings. Back in the day, some people would brag about how many jewels they had in their watch.
🤣😂🤣
Hope this helps
Regards from a crazy old English man.
Yes, Graham the pendulum can be adjusted as explained by the crazy old English man!! 🤣
Thanks Les! 👍😊
@@TheUltimateRecycler 🤣🤣🤣
@@TheUltimateRecycler lol. I glad U didn't call me the crazy one. Mayb next time
It's a shame when someone with good intentions makes a hack at it, I am glad there wasn't any permanent damage.
Yes Rick, at least nothing too drastic was done and the parts were put back in the clock!
What would you recommend if the escape wheel doesn't turn past the pallet?
When I've removed it, all the wheels turn and the hands spin round, however, when I go to put the pendulum parts back together, the escape wheel stops turning.
Also if you were to move the pendulum to the left or to the right, it would stop half way, so I guess not a full tick.
I'm new to clocks but I wanted to get my fmaily clock up and running again. It's a similar design to the one in your video but not that make.
It's a bit hard to tell without seeing it in person Grace, but it's possible the pallet needs some sort of adjustment or the pendulum has some limited swing movement issue. It sounds like the rest of the movement is ok.
10 years old oil. Needed to take apart and clean, as pivots and bushings are gummy.
Yes Gary, to do a proper & full service that would be required 👍
yes oil the pallet.
Thanks Mark! 👍😊
What is the name of the app you downloaded?
I think it was called 'clock tuner'. I haven't used it for ages!
Can I have it?
The clock?
Yes
No, sorry - it's not mine!