Braintree Clock Repairs

10/12/2017

12/11/2017

Nice Bracket clock. Looks georgian but its orobably crossover Victorian. Fine mechanics but nothing too compicated on the design. Very trcky clocks to sevice - slow ultra careful work. Springs are a bastard (apologies) to source anf i often have to make mine up from steel clock banding which I can get in most guages.

On a completely different matter im after a precision desktop lathe. My current machine is only +/- 25% accurate on 2mm bar. I can ginish /0work finer pinions manually but a lathe that did it spot on would be handy. I need . 5mm pinions so its got to be accurate to those sort on tollerances ie. . 01mm.

Heres the expensive Bracket...oh.... Ive not got it on my phone so heres a picture of a mariners standard bulkhead clock movement Im repairing and fitting a new goliath sized spring to! Diffcult one as the spring has to be high gauge and operate in quite a tight power band - hence the fusee arrangement which is effectively a variable ratio gerabox to even out spring tension/torque throughout the 8 day wind cycle. Better than quartz properly set up.

Ill post some bracket clock pictures later.

03/09/2017

This is a recent resto Ive completed. Its a Metamec "time saving clock". You have to shove two florins a week in or it stops. The mech inside is a standard balance wheel affair with a simple coin handling assembly that flicks a switch releasing a lever that just touches the balance wheel and stalls the clock. Two florins in pushes the lever up which then drops down every seven days. Wow thats boring. It wasnt when I was doing it. This restoration was top to bottom. Everything down to missing numbers, broken hands, no glass and faded dull finish. And it didnt work. And there are absolutlely no reference books or manuals on this model. It genuinely belongs in a museum (shut up Indy).

10/06/2017

Lots going on at Braintree Clock Repairs. So much that I have not had time to post on here and there are a fair amount of people following me so....I feel like I should share some stuff.

The first thing is to let you know about my blog. A lot of my day to day stuff goes on there every week or three. At the moment Im restoring a 1730 brass dial grandfather clock by Wiliam Gough.

The main issue on a restoration like this is keeping it authentic. In this vein I am using shellac wax to fill the engraving on the face which then needs to be stripped back to leave just the numerals and marking.

When they made this clock paints and dyes that fixed to metal surfaces were too complicated so the best way to do things was engraving followed by filling with black wax.

Ive filled the chapter ring here and now it will need to be mounted on a lathe and spun against abrasives. You might have noticed circular markings / scratches on chapter ring of old silver dial grandfathers - this is why and where the style came from. Some repro and later clocks maintain this tradition of spining the face on abrasives to get the effect which they then print over (engraving was outmoded by printing later on).

These really old clocks are great fun to work on but remember - Ill still fix your mums 1980's kitchen clock - its what I do; all types of clock and I enjoy every job.

The absolutely best thing about fixing clocks for people is the reaction you get. Your working on something people love and cherish so when they get it back, better than ever, they are genuinely moved and delighted.

John is going to lose his mind and cry when he sees how well his will come out. Im actually spending more time than Ive budgeted for on this because I know the emotional payback is going to be enormous. Im looking forward to "the reveal" a great deal.

14/01/2017

Hi All - Ive not been posting on here for a while as my blog takes all my writing time. Lots of clocks recently including an amazing grasshopper escapement regullator - have a look at http://www.braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk/2017/01/03/possibly-the-best-mantle-clock-ive-seen-grasshopper-escapement/

Possibly the best mantle clock Ive seen…Grasshopper Escapement! Posted on January 3, 2017 by clockadmin I was called out on a grandfather clock repair and was asked to quote on a service for this one off grasshopper escapement clock. Normally I would do a long post but this time I have a video that…

18/09/2016

Another carriage clock repair - nice clock this one. You can pick these up for about £150 at the moment and my advice is to get one as they will only go up in value from hereon and you wont sell it anyway - addictive!.

http://www.braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk/2016/09/18/worn-carriage-clock-repair-a-tip-for-dating-a-carrriage-clocks-and-pocket-watches/

10/09/2016

A really interesting Crittall Windows factory clock - this has some cool things on it. Im going to buy one of these next chance I get.
http://www.braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk/2016/09/10/crittall-windows-factory-clock-discovered-fusee-platform-movement/

28/08/2016

Theres a new article on my website about a N**i uboat clock for those of you with Indiana Jones tendencies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sp3dIyNA2A.

Its a rare item and well worth a look.

Heres the link to the article on my clock blog which is awsome and you should follow it regularly. If anyone knows how to put an RSS feed on a website please tell me in comments below (thanks)

http://www.braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk/2016/08/26/nazi-u-boat-bulkhead-clock-marine-clock/

03/06/2016

This fantastic clock is probably a Walsh or Anosonia. Its better quality than most so probably walsh. Its a computer and I happen to know the movement type was patented in 1872. Alan Turing invented his machine in 1936 and was hailed as a genius. Us clock dudes had been doing it for ages we just didnt wave our bunsen burners around and start whooping like turing. Heres the bit from wiki about turings machine. My (Davids ehem!) clock does all these things.

The Turing machine was invented in 1936 by Alan Turing,[11][12] who called it an a-machine (automatic machine).[13] With this model Turing was able to answer two questions in the negative: (1) Does a machine exist that can determine whether any arbitrary machine on its tape is "circular" (e.g. freezes, or fails to continue its computational task); similarly, (2) does a machine exist that can determine whether any arbitrary machine on its tape ever prints a given symbol.[14] Thus by providing a mathematical description of a very simple device capable of arbitrary computations, he was able to prove properties of computation in general - and in particular, the uncomputability of the Hilbert Entscheidungsproblem ("decision problem").[15]

The picture shows the clock using what is effectively a punch card system based on a cog with the "holes of the card" being extra deep cuts in the cog teeth spaces. These are spaced out at 1, 2, 3 etc teeth intervals.

The blue arrow shows the lever coming down and the lighter blue arrows show where it will stick as opposed to being read as "pass" or blank or whatever!.

As usual clocks are the answer to everything earlier than everything else.

28/05/2016

While working peacefully on an 1820 grandfather (clock) my cat was involved in a territorial dispute with a lesser scum cat. This took place outside the back door where I keep the re-cycled cooking oil. Oh dear. I have just finished the cleanup which was equivalent to about 20 crude oil soaked penguins.

10/05/2016

My phone is my Nemisis. I have bought handset after handset in the hope that a "computer genius" has designed one that rings. What somebody needs to do is to invent a phone where the volume setting for the phone ringer is separate from that of the media player. I know you are going to tell me this is standard on all android and windows phones but it just doesnt work in practice. Anyway if youve rung me and Ive not answered its because my phone is actively sabotaging pretty much everthing it does for me. Be interested to hear about an app or solution that will ensure my phone makes a huge charging elephant noise when it rings without exception. The more I work with clocks the less I like computers. Clocks work and if they dont you can see whats wrong. Phones spy on you and prevent people from contacting you effectively. Go clocks lol.

01/05/2016

Ever had a party while your parents are away? Well you know what happens then. http://www.braintreeclockrepairs.co.uk/2016/05/01/clockgate/

Posted on May 1, 2016 by clockadmin — No Comments ↓ For a very long time now I have waited for a call to come in asking for assistance in repairing a clock that has suffered party damage in the abscence of parental law. Today it happened. These two are responsible for it. I cannot name t…