Clocks

Ding Dong the Clock is Done!

• 

• 

• 

Movement: Hermle Westminster Chime – 351-830 – 8 day – 66 cm pendulum
Overall height: 41 inches
Case height: 34 inches
Case width: 11 1/4 inches
Case depth: 6 1/2 inches
Crown width: 16 inches
Crown depth: 8 3/4 inches
Weight: 38 pounds
Wood: American Cerry
Finish: Shellac and furniture wax

Making this clock has been a long journey. I purchased the plans, movement and lumber years ago. A variety of moulding planes and other tools accumulated over time, until I decided last fall to tackle this “bucket list” project. I have very much enjoyed every minute of the project, even the adventure of acquiring the glass. The result now hangs on the wall between a couple of large bookcases.

The last steps before final assembly were installing the glass. I used framing points to hold the glass in place, and supplemented those with a thin bead of clear silicone caulk to ensure the glass stays where I want it within the openings, and to dampen any tendency to rattle.

Wall mounting uses two screws. The top screw is one intended for plasterboard application and rated for 80 pounds. A single “hang hole” in the back board hangs the clock on that screw. A lower screw protrudes from the wall only far enough to fit into a snug slot on the back of the back board. This screw keeps the clock firmly positioned vertically. Mechanical clock movements are sensitive to the vertical axis for keeping the pendulum swinging smoothly.

Total weight is 38 pounds. Those two brass cylinders contain lead weights. Combined they weigh 12 pounds and provide very constant motive power for the time keeping part of the clock. Two chime movements, one for the Westminster quarter-hour melodies, and the other for the hour strikes, are powered by springs.

On being a “Regulator”

We all know mechanical movements are no longer the most accurate time keepers. Electronic crystal regulators surpassed mechanics long ago.

BTW, very few mechanical clocks or watches and the vast majority of electronic crystal regulated timepieces are still not accurate enough to be considered chronometers. Chronometer accuracy is critical to determining longitude at sea and is better than -4 to +6 seconds per day.

Accuracy is a relative thing. In the era where mechanical clocks were the only clocks, the Regulator was one of the more accurate. Every jeweler and clock maker kept at least one regulator which they used as the reference for setting all other clocks and watches they touched. The key to the regulator’s accuracy is the use of a weight driven timekeeping movement. Springs, the normal motive power for mechanical clocks, offer too much variance in behavior: strong when wound tight, weaker as they unwind. Gravity is far more uniform. The gravitational force on the weights provide a uniformity that springs can’t match. That uniformity gives the clock much of its accuracy.

Even with that uniformity of motion, this clock is not as accurate as a chronometer, no where close to being one. Yet this clock is currently running  to +/- a dozen seconds per day. Regulation is by a small nut that lengthens or shortens the pendulum.

Gratitude: hearing the chimes of a mechanical clock – video

Scratching? OK. Carving with a “scratch stock.”

Old saw blades should never go to waste. Little pieces of them can be cut for use in a scratch stock. A scratch stock is simply a device to hold a cutter. I made this one long ago. It was handy for decorating the edges of parts of my treadle lathe and a bit more recently for edges of some hand carved signs. For this project, the stock and 2 bits made it easier to carve smooth edges and several runs of fluting.

Once I had glass in hand (yes it arrived, more below) the openings could be checked for proper size and the edges around the openings carved to shape. The shape is simple, a slight recess for a shadow line and a round over. I made a cutter and scratched the long straight stretches with the scratch stock. The straight stretches went surprisingly fast. Scratch stocks can create tear out across areas where grain is changing. So, I used a few curved carving gouges to work the top arches and curved bottom corners. I repeated for all three glass openings.

The door features 3 fluted columns on either side of the glass. They are about 1/4 inch wide and 1/8 inch deep. It’s a real good thing if they end up straight and evenly spaced. This is where scratch stock work excels. Having a good registration surface keeps the flutes straight. The group of pictures below shows the process.

• 

• 

• 

Follow-up is very light sanding with paper wrapped around a dowel.

Glass – part 3

Yes, I have glass. After waiting months, I gave up on Mr. Holder and found a glass shop in Carlstadt NJ that took the order and delivered in 3 weeks. Accurate Glass and Mirror did fine work, exactly as I requested. Beautiful bevel on the door glass. I’m very satisfied with it. This would be a good place for a picture, but photographing glass is an elusive activity (not gonna show you the useless pictures I took).

Meanwhile, an acquaintance in a clock collectors group told me of another way to contact the unresponsive Mr. Holder, who still has an “F” rating at the Better Business Bureau and has upped the complaints count to 14. After several messages through a new path, he answered brusquely, advising me that (1) he “doesn’t do refunds” (2) everyone always get the promised glass (3) but not always on a schedule they like. The curtness of his message sounded like, “shut up, and wait … and don’t argue.”

Just for grins… If glass arrives from Mr. Holder, should I make another of these clocks? Anyone interested? Be forewarned, it’s not an inexpensive clock.

Gratitude – not having whatever problems leave Mr. Holder so angry.