This Ansonia mantel clock is named “Cabinet Co. 56″ and has an oak case with a fancy metal dial. The case dimensions are 12 15/16 high and 9 5/8 wide, with a 5.5 inch time track on the dial. The dial is metal (zinc or aluminum?) with applied gilt spandrels (corners) and embossed numerals.
This clock is a good example of mainsprings that are too strong causing mainwheel tooth wear, and making the timekeeping inaccurate. This clock has 3/4 inch wide loop end mainsprings. When I received the clock, the time mainspring 0.0178 inch thick, and the strike mainspring was 0.018 inch thick. The tooth wear on the time mainwheel was 25%, and the strike mainwheel teeth had 15% wear. The timekeeping was inconsistent – the clock would gain 3 – 4 minutes during the first half of the week, and lose it again during the second half of the week.
This type of Ansonia movement needs thin mainsprings. I installed replacement springs, part number 280-19-009 from Empire Clock, 3/4 inch wide x 120 inches long, and around 0.015 inch thick (the time spring measured 0.0148 inch thick, and the strike spring 0.015). With these springs, the timekeeping is very consistent, with mid-week error less than one minute.
This clock had had many bushings installed by a previous repairer. I polished the pivots (which hadn’t been polished by previous repairers) and replaced 5 bushings.
The pendulum illustrated above is a replacement that isn’t Ansonia style.
Repair job 5277.
