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"The Clock Fixer" Repair of Antique and Modern Clocks

The Clock Fixer - Repair of Antique and Modern Clocks

Repairing clocks in the Denver metropolitan area since 1978  This site is a collection of clock repairs performed thru the years.  The intent is to provide a detailed perspective of what constitutes a complete clock rebuild.  Most major repairs are documented on this site.  These blogs are also used to inform the customer in detail what was repaired.  This is a valuable tool in explaining the intricacies of a repair by providing pictures and video along with a text explanation. Service area includes Parker, Castle Rock, Aurora, Littleton, Lone Tree, and the surrounding areas.  We do house calls! We provide free estimates by appointment only.   Specializing in: Early American, German, and English clocks (Hour & 1/2 hour strike clocks) Cuckoo clocks (both 1, 2, & 3 weight) 400 day/Anniversary clocks Grandfather clocks (Certified Howard Miller & Ridgway service center) Tall clocks, Shelf clocks, Wall regulators, School clocks, American banjos, Mantle clocks, Advertising,

What happens when a mainspring breaks?

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This post demonstrates what could happen when a mainspring breaks.  The clock in question is a standard American time & strike clock movement.  When a mainspring breaks at the tip where the spring attaches to the mainspring barrel, that can be repaired.  If the mainspring breaks in the middle (like our example) or where it attaches to the mainspring arbor, the spring needs to be replaced. The image below shows the broken mainspring in the middle of the spring.  Note the remaining spring is still attached to the mainspring arbor. This image shows damage to the 2nd wheel arbor.  Luckily only this arbor was damaged.  Pinions and/or trundles can also be damaged.  In our case here only the 2nd wheel arbor too the brunt of the breakage. Usually the bend is primarily located right next to the lantern pinion.  The repair this the wheel was chucked into a lathe close to the pinion.  The arbor was gently tapped and checked until the arbor bent back to true position.  It should be noted that

Gilbert 1940ish Wall Clock

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 In for repair is a Gilbert time & strike wall clock.  The age is from the 1940's.  It was purchased in 2005.  Overhauled in January 2024. The case and face is vintage 1940's with cut glass and a very nice full gong sound. The image below is an example of a very  dirty clock.   This image was taken before any work performed.   Upon further examination, there were 12 pivot holes that needed rebuilding.  This image shows the plates and what pivot holes needed bushings .  Inspected all the pivot holes and found very few that needed polishing.  Given the significant wear in the pivot holes, I suspected more pivots needed attention. The canon pinion had globs of old oil between it and the minute arbor.  Definately needed cleaning.  Follow this link to see a short video of the significant wear in the pivot holes. This next image is all the wheels seperated by train.  Strike on the left, time on the right and the motionworks in the middle.  Just like how they are positioned betwe

Seth Thomas #120

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 In for repair is a Seth Thomas number 120 mantle clock movement.  Only the movement was given.  There was no pendulum bob.  The work begins......... The image below shows the front plate before any work has been completed.  The mainspring power would be let down and wheels rotated to see how much wear is present in each wheel.  See below for a short video demonstrating the wear. Back plate Front plate partially disassembled.  Mainspring plate and wheels removed along with the front motion works and levers removed.  As you can see the worn pivots holes were marked.  There were 5 pivot holes on the front plate that needed rebuilding and 7 holes on the back.  12 in total. Back plate marked.  Click this image below to display a short video of the pivot hole wear This image shows the front plate removed and the location of all the wheels. The video below demonstrates a clock wheel after the pivot was polished and the pivot hole was rebuilt.  Smooth running wheel.  This is an example of all

French Picture Clock

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  Set of three movements on board Front Plate Front Plate with partial lever removed Top plate removed Back plate Front plate showing the amount of dirty oil in pivot holes Broken Suspension  The suspension was a thread like material.  To regulate the clock there is a keyed arbor that wraps the thread materal around the arbor thus making the suspension loop longer or shorter. Damaged mainspring end.  The mainspring end was chiped and down at the bottom of the hole the material is cracked.  This must be rebuilt.  About one inch of the  mainspring was removed.  The end heated and tempered.  From there a hole was punched and filed to size. Repaired Mainspring End.  This image is not the finished product.  As you can see the hole was not centered.  This was corrected with a little more fileing. The barrel was repaired by a previous repairman.  This image shows the repair After all the repair work was completed.  The movement parts including plates, wheels, mainspring and barrels were ultra

Cuckoo Clock - Musical

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 In for repair is a 3 weight cuckoo clock.  The movement is made by the German company Regula.  This is a 30 clock to be wound every day.  The case is in fairly good condition.  The movement has been repaired at least a couple times.  The repair methods in my opinion are questionable.   A nice looking musical cuckoo with dancers The clock movement removed from the case.  Note the red lines pointing to the pivot holes needed attention.  There were 5 worn holes on the back plate and 4 holes on the front for a total of 8 pivot holes needing rebuilding.  The label A shows a bushing placed on the strike side.  Note that there was a problem with the installation of the bushing.  This is seen by the solder used to keep the bushing in place.  The B label and the pivot hole below B was repaired by crowding the brass metal into the hole to close the diameter of the hole to keep the wheel from shaking back and forth.  The C label shows the original plate not repaired.  The pivot hole curren

Waterbury Clock with Extreme Pivot Wear

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In for repair is a Waterbury steeple clock with alarm and pendulum indicator bob.   When it was brought into the shop, the customer provided information about a slipping/grinding sound coming when the minute hand was manually adjusted.  The clock is in nice condition given the age of the clock.  An estimate for this particular clock is about 1885.  A short history of the Waterbury Clock Company can be found by following this link .  Below is a picture of this nice clock: After the clock movement was taken out of the case, it was obvious what the problem is.  Follow this link for a short video of the excessive wear.  The customer stated and I proved it that the clock still runs.  This is also a verification that these American time & strike clocks are overpowered, i.e., the mainsprings are too strong.   Another interesting tid-bit of this previous repair was the clock was worn out a long time ago and the previous repair person corrected this pivot hole wear by punching the worn hol

Kienzle Wall Clock

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In for repair is a german wall clock made by the Kienzle Company.  There were no markings on the clock movement except for the Kienzle stamp.  This short history of the Kienzle factory was taken from various links from Wikipedia:  Kienzle Factory and History . Here is the clock as it came into the shop.  At the bottom of the case was a wood screw (A).  When first arrived I had to scratch my head wondering if this screw really belonged to the clock.  Upon further disassembly, it was one of two screws that secured the chime rod block.  The chime rod (B) was loose and just sitting at the bottom of the clock.  Before disassembly, the thought the chime rod was broken.  It was not, the chime block was not attached to the case.  (C) loose glass on the side of the case.  This needed some TLC. The chime rod and block repair is depicked in these next two images.  As stated above, there was one wood screw in the case but not a 2nd screw.  When the movement was removed from the case it was discove