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Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock, Silvered Embossed Brass Dial

Bill Stoddard — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:00:30 +0000

Here’s another classic tambour mantel clock by Seth Thomas, this one in a dark mahogany case. The dial is a brass sheet with embossed numerals, lettering and time track that has been matte silver plated. The hands are the modern “ST” pattern (S on the minute hand and T on the hour hand).

The 8-day No. 89 movement strikes the hour and half-hour on a cathedral (heavy flat wire) gong.

The case is 9 3/16 inches tall and 16 3/4 inches wide. The dial’s minute track is 4 1/2 inches in diameter, and the minute hand is 2 5/16 inches long.

See more photos.

The original mainsprings have the following measurements:

Time mainspring: 3/4 inch wide x 0.016 inch thick;
Strike mainspring: 3/4 inch wide x 0.0159 inch thick.

Repair job 5740. Polish pivots, install 16 bushings.

Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock, Printed Aluminum Dial

Bill Stoddard — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:12 +0000

The American tambour mantel clock was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. This example by Seth Thomas is a classic that uses the reliable No. 89 movement. It strikes the hour and half hour and is an 8-day clock (intended to be wound every 7 days, but will often run 14 days on a winding).

The case is 9 1/4 inches tall and 19 1/2 inches wide. The dial is aluminum with printed markings. The minute track is 4 5/8 inches diameter, and the minute hand is 2 5/16 inches long.

The pendulum bob is 45.3 mm diameter, and weighs 5.4 ounces.

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Repair job 5697. Pivots polished, 12 bushings, new time mainspring (3/4 x 0.0163 x 120 inches – R & M 77.303).

Seth Thomas Round Top Mantel Clock with 48-R Movement

Bill Stoddard — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:00:54 +0000

This small round-top Seth Thomas mantel clock uses the no. 48-R round movement, 8-day time and strike with rack and snail striking (so it won’t get out of synchronization). The mahogany case is 10 3/8 inches tall and 7 3/16 inches wide. The white enamel dial has a 4 1/2 inch minute track, and the minute hand is 2 3/16 inches long.

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Repair job 5673. Polish pivots, 12 bushings, re-stake strike gear #4 on its hub, install new wires in S4 pinion, straighten 2 bent pivots.

Seth Thomas “Cathay 3″ Electric Alarm Clock

Bill Stoddard — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:00:26 +0000

The owners of this clock received it as a wedding gift in 1955, and were dismayed when the clock stopped working during a thunderstorm. It needed cleaning, pivot polishing and two bushings. The coil smelled burnt, and I was lucky to find a good used replacement. The fiber gear had several damaged teeth, so I replaced that as well.

The clock has a walnut case and is 5 1/8 inch tall, and 5 5/8 inches wide at the feet.

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Repair job 5680.

Plymouth by Seth Thomas Small Wooden Wall Clock, ca. 1937

Bill Stoddard — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:00:56 +0000

This wooden case time only wall clock is labeled “Plymouth” on the dial but was made by Seth Thomas. The time-only pendulum movement appears to use some parts from their no. 124 chiming clock movement. The case is 14 5/8 inches tall and 9 5/8 inches wide. The minute hand is 2 3/8 inches long, and the minute track on the dial is 3 3/4 inches diameter.

The pendulum weighs 3.2 ounces, and is 6 1/2 inches long overall. The pendulum cylinder (bob) is brass, 1 15/16 inches long and 5/8 inches diameter.

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Repair job 5668.

Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock, Adamantine Finish and Bim-Bam Strike

Bill Stoddard — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:36:59 +0000

This Seth Thomas mantel clock from about 1910 – 1920 has an Adamantine (celluloid) wood-grain finish. The movement is marked “89″ and has bim-bam striking on the hour and a single tone strike (the high note only) on the half-hour. The case is 19 7/8 inches wide and 9 1/2 inches tall. The dial is silvered brass with printed numerals and a 4 7/16 inch diameter minute track. The minute hand is 2 3/8 inches long.

I cleaned the movement, polished the pivots, and installed 13 bushings. The pendulum rod and pendulum bob were previous replacements. The clock was losing time, so I shortened the pendulum rod by 3/8 inch.

I replaced the time mainspring because it was causing wear to the mainwheel teeth. I intended to keep the original strike mainspring, but it broke after cleaning and lubrication, as I was winding it into the clamp for re-assembly. The original mainsprings have the following measurements:

Time: 3/4 wide by 0.0185 inch thick (thicker than usual for a Seth Thomas No. 89 movement)

Strike: 3/4 inch by 0.017 to 0.0172 inch thick).

The replacement mainsprings are no. 280-19-003 from Colonial Clock Co., and have the following measurements:

Time: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0158 – 0.016 inch thick by 120 inches long

Strike: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0162 inch thick by 120 inches long.

The movement is a variation on the basic No. 89 having bim-bam strike. It was made before Seth Thomas started giving different model number to variations on the basic movement.

Here is a video showing the pendulum motion and the striking:

See more photos.

Repair job 5640.

Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock with ST Hands

Bill Stoddard — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:35:04 +0000

This Seth Thomas tambour mantel clock has a heavy brass dial that is engraved and silver plated. It was made around 1910 – 1920. The hands are the modern “ST” style, with the minute hand having an “S” at the base and the hour hand having a “T”. A different style of ST hands were used back in the 1860s.

The case is 19 1/2 inches wide and 9 1/4 inches tall. The minute hand is 2 5/16 inches long. The movement is the no. 89J. It is similar to the standard no. 89, with the addition of a two-piece back plate.

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I did limited repair on the movement, cleaning it, polishing a few pivots and installing 3 bushings. Three screw-in bushings had been installed in the past, these are not good to use, but some repairers use them because they could be installed without dismantling the movement. The screw-in bushings are large and ugly.

The original mansprings are the following sizes:

Time: 3/4 x 0.0165 inch

Strike: 3/4 by 0.0161 inch

The pendulum bob is gold painted lead, 1 3/4 inch diameter, weight 5.4 ounces.

Repair job 5586.

Late Seth Thomas Adamantine Mantel Clock, 1918

Bill Stoddard — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:54:23 +0000

This Seth Thomas Adamantine mantel clock is dated June 1918 on the bottom of the case (date code 81F, where F represents the month, and 81 are the last two digits of the year reversed). I’ve seen many examples on earlier clocks where the date code has all 4 digits of the year, but this is the first time I’ve seen just 2 digits.

This later example of the Adamantine case has a simplified design with no pillars or Lion’s heads, and the dial is painted metal. See Seth Thomas Adele Adamantine Mantel Clock for an example of the earlier case design.

Case height 10 inches, width 12.5 inches, minute hand length 2 9/32 inches. The pendulum bob is lead with a brass cover on one side, weighs 5.4 ounces and is 45 mm in diameter.

The original mainsprings have the following measurements:

Time: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0175 inch thick

Strike: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0171 inch thick.

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Job 5577. I did limited repair on the movement: cleaning, polished the worst pivots, installed 8 bushings (correcting 3 that were previously installed off-center), and tightened the strike click rivet.

Seth Thomas “Adele” Adamantine Mantel Clock

Bill Stoddard — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:00:38 +0000

The model name of this Adamantine mantel clock is “Adele”. When it was new the case was deep red, but it has faded to red-orange. The clock is 11 1/2 inches tall and 12 1/2 inches wide at the feet. The minute hand is 2 1/8 inches long.

The movement is labeled “4 1/2″ on the back, but it is the same as the No. 89 movement. The name “Adele” is stamped in ink on the bottom of the case. There may be a date code as well, but it is very faint.

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Repair job 5564. This clock has its original mainsprings marked Seth Thomas. They are both 3/4 inches wide and 0.0175 inch thick.

Seth Thomas Sons & Co. Figural Mantel Clock

Bill Stoddard — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:00:46 +0000

Seth Thomas Sons & Co. was a division of the Seth Thomas Clock Co. from 1865 to 1879. Their figural clocks such as this one have a round time and strike movement loosely modeled after the round French clock movements. They are very good runners, but have a problem with the gear teeth bending too easily. I first repaired this clock over 10 years ago, and had to straighten some bent time mainspring barrel teeth about 7 years ago and again this month. Also there were 3 bent teeth on the strike second wheel, and the time ratchet gear has needed replacing twice.

The case is 17 3/8 inches tall and 13 inches wide. The dial’s minute track is 2 31/32 inches outside diameter.

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Repair job 5550.