Coming soon, the online clock repair journal webpages and archive from perpetualpc.net in blog form, with all the info edited and organized. This clock repair journal blog will eventually be a record of hundreds of techniques used in the repair of thousands of antique and modern mechanical clocks. The original website pages have been on the net since 2002, as “Notes from the bench”.
Over the years there have been millions of clocks made; with thousands of various models and styles, both in case style and mechanism design. The scope of this journal covers clocks made from the late 1700’s to the present day (1990’s). The information presented here is based on approximately 25 years of involvement in various aspects of clock repair, which include: manufacturing of new clocks; retail repair at the bench; some counter work; many hours of customer contact on the telephone, and some management duties. I will be attempting to present all that I have learned so others will have the opportunity to benefit from this information.
One of the biggest problems in clock repair is, in my opinion, fixing clocks that have already been fixed and still don’t work. Look for blobs of solder, sheet metal screws super glue or other types of glue, and excessive amounts of oil. These are warning signals, if you see any of these, be prepared to find all sorts of problems when doing the work. Another problem which shows up when repair shops get busy is the continued barrage of interruptions from various sources such as telephone calls, customers, and questions from trainees. If you are managing a repair shop, keep in mind that after a certain point the number of interruptions that you allow your repair technicians to endure will reduce their efficiency so as to make them totally useless as technicians, or receptionists! Not that there is anything wrong with receptionists or technicians, just that their jobs are not compatible. I will be covering mostly mechanical repair, and not much on case repair, as this is woodworking and is not my expertise.If you are repairing clocks for a living, there is a balance to be maintained. Enough work needs to be done to make a living, but without sacrificing quality. Sometimes it is best to tell a customer no rather than do a halfway job because it will usually come back to haunt you; or worse it won’t come back to you; but to the other shop in town.
Repairing clocks requires the patience of a saint, resourcefulness and creativity, and far above average mechanical aptitude. Unfortunately clock repair is an occupation that has about as many ways to do things as there are people doing them . There are “correct” ways to do things that work; and there are ways to do things that work. “Correct” yes, but by whose standards? Usually if a clock doesn’t work there is not much physical danger to anyone. For example, if someone does work on your car’s brake system and that system fails, the results can be fatal. Much government regulation is therefore necessary to preserve people’s safety. So there are correct ways to fix brakes and incorrect ways to fix them and it is mandatory that they be fixed the “correct” way. Not so with clocks. In countries other than the U.S. there are clock guilds that establish methods of repair. These guilds have had in the past much power. Not so much now. If your clock gets fixed in a manner that is not “correct” it may still work, and work just fine. If you are a hobbyist fixing clocks for fun , then you make your own rules. When fixing clocks for a living, the temptation to get the job done as quickly as possible is often too great for many to resist; and as a result work is often done in what I call a “quick fix” manor ( blobs of solder; pieces of brass glued to the plate I guess to supposedly hold pivots in place; blobs of glue holding levers together; screw on bushings; teeth tack – soldered on the outside of gears; the list goes on). These tactics often work and work quite well for some time. Sometimes things go wrong that even the best repair person cannot anticipate.For example I have disassembled clocks that have come to me for repair with many nice looking bushings installed only to find pivots that have nicks and pits and scratches all over them. This can happen even if the repair person was very careful to polish the pivots and fit the new bushings before putting the clock back together.
My position is that clock repair should , as closely as possible, restore a clock to its original condition. How do you know what “original condition is”? You deal with customers over and over again who bring clocks in that have been in their family for 100 and sometimes 150 years and they tell you what its history is. You see these situations over and over again and after 10 or 15 years you will know the meaning of “original condition”. Often times it becomes painfully apparent that clock repair is not a good way to make a living because the time involved is too great , or the skills needed simply do not exist to restore a clock to original condition. However, in many repair situations where a part is missing or damaged beyond reasonable repair, modern replacement parts are available that will very closely match the original part. This helps. What I am attempting to do here is give my perspective on repair. I know what works and what does not work. I have seen many short cuts people have used that worked for a while. I have seen how those short cuts fail. This tells me not to use them.