I recently repaired this pretty clock. The back of the case is labeled:
PORCELAIN
Dresden
8-Day Hour and Half Hour
Cathedral Bell Strike
Manufactured Expressly For
The American Wringer Co
No 99 Chambers Street
New York
No. D-. 363
The number 363 is hand written.
The movement is Ansonia’s efficient running 8 day time and strike with the original thin mainsprings.
Time Mainspring: 3/4 x 0.0157 inch loop end
Strike Mainspring: 3/4 x 0.0153 inch loop end
I polished the pivots, installed 11 bushings, replaced the click rivets (so the winding mechanism will be reliable), installed new wires in one pinion, and made and installed new return springs on the hammer and count lever.
This Sessions oak kitchen or shelf clock may have been made in the 1920s or 1930s. The case form has been simplified from earlier models. The label on the back says at the top:
Superior Assortment
Manufactured by
The Sessions Clock Co.,
Forestville, Conn, U. S. A.
Eight Day Half Hour Strike
A metal plate inside the clock says:
Sensenbrenner’s
“Watch Shop”
Circleville, Ohio
This clock has the usual Sessions 8-day time and strike movement. The pivots were rough, so I polished them. I replaced the brass wire click springs with steel wire for reliability.
The time mainspring was a replacement that was too strong. The end was labeled “Usibel France”. It was 3/4 inches wide by 0.018 inch thick. I replaced it with a mainspring 3/4 x 0.0165 by 96 inches from R & M Imports. The original strike mainspring of 3/4 by 0.0177 inch was retained in the clock.
This Gilbert tambour mantel clock is unusual in that the dial is oval instead of round. The clock looks as though a clock with a round dial was stretched vertically! The overall height is 10 1/8 inches, and the width is 20 inches. The dial’s minute track is 6 5/8 inches tall and 5 3/16 inches wide. The minute hand is 2 5/8 inches long, center to tip. The movement has date code 28 (1928) in the back. The clock strikes bim-bam on the hour and strikes a single rod once on the half-hour.
Most of the pivot holes have been punched by a previous repairer in a poor attempt to close them (punched on both sides of the plate!). I installed brass bushings to create smooth bearings once again. The canon pinion had developed a crack in the past and had been soldered on. I drilled a hole through the pinion and arbor and inserted a steel pin to ensure that the pinion stays in place. The gear that drives the count wheel was loose on the second wheel arbor, I used Locktite to secure it.
Both mainsprings were original, 3/4 inch wide by 0.0173 inch thick with loop ends. They had a squeaky action during winding, so I replaced them. The original springs had special ends which allowed removing them without movement disassembly.
Time mainspring: 3/4 x 0.0165 x 120 inches, Timesavers 15959
Strike mainspring: 3/4 x 0.0168 x 120 inches, Timesavers 15959
The mainspring arbor hooks on the mainwheels were very tall, so I shortened them, to reduce the danger of mainspring breakage.
This nice old Ansonia wall clock has an 8-day time only movement. The case is 24 1/2 inches tall and 16 inches wide. The paper dial has an 11 inch time track.
The movement, like those in many Ansonia clocks, is an efficient runner, with the original mainspring being only around 0.0172 – 0.0174 inch thick. The mainspring is in excellent condition, so I retained it in the clock. If it needed replacing, the new spring should be only around 0.0155 – 0.016 inch thick. The movement appears to have been forced to run for may years by keeping it oiled without cleaning it, as 2 pivots and three pinions were quite worn. I polished the pivots and installed 8 bushings.
The movement is marked “12″, referring to the pendulum length.
This Gilbert tambour mantel clock is dated 1928 on the movement. The case is 21 1/8 inches wide, 9 1/2 inches tall, and the dial is printed aluminum with a 4 7/8 inch time track. The movement is 8 day time and bin-bam strike on 2 chime rods.
The movement has removable mainwheel bushings, and the original mainsprings have open loops, allowing the mainsprings to be replaced without disassembling the movement. The original time mainspring was stronger than necessary, and I replaced it with a Timesavers no. 18790 3/4 x 0.0162 x 96 inch (the original time mainspring was 0.0177 inch thick. I retained the original strike mainspring in the clock (it is 0.0165 – 0.0168 inch thick).
I polished the pivots. Some of them, especially the mainwheel pivots, were very rough when the clock left the factory. I installed 17 bushings.
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.
This Seth Thomas tambour mantel clock is 19 inches wide, 9 1/8 inches tall, and the aluminum dial has a 4.5 inch time track. The case has been refinished, and there is no label inside the rear door. It was made around the late 1920s or 1930s.
The movement is the popular and excellent No. 89, 8 day time and strike, with hour and half-hour strike on a cathedral gong.
The movement had a lot of wear. I polished the pivots and installed 14 bushings. I also straightened one bent pivot and tightened the suspension post.
The mainsprings were replacements that seemed too strong (both were 3/4 by 0.175 inch thick). I installed two thinner mainsprings to reduce future wear (especially to the mainwheel teeth). I used Timesavers part number 15959, nominally 3/4 by 0.0165 by 120 inches. The time mainspring measured 0.0162 inch thick, and the strike mainspring 0.0166 inch thick.
This one-day walnut shelf clock was made by Terry Clock Co., Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Terry Clock Co. was in Pittsfield from 1883 – 1888. The company was located in Waterbury, Connecticut from 1867 – 1880. In 1888 they became known as Russell & Jones Clock Co.
This clock is 19 7/8 inches tall, 13 1/2 inches wide and the time track on the paper face is 4 7/8 inches diameter.
The escapement is unusual. The entrance pallet has separate locking and impulse faces, as in a deadbeat escapement. The exit pallet has just one face, as in a recoil escapement. There is a slight recoil on the entry pallet, because the escape wheel teeth face backward as in a recoil escapement. This causes the contact area to slide up the tooth as it engages the entry pallet.
Here is a video of the escapement:
The minute wheel is mounted to a stud inside the front plate. The front of the movement is labeled:
Terry Clock Co.
Pittsfield, Mass.
The case has a cardboard beat scale, and a paper label inside the bottom of the case. There is also a paper label outside the case, on the back.The spade hands with hole and dial are original.
The mainsprings are original. Time mainspring: 5/16 x 0.0178 inches. Strike spring: 5/16 x 0.0172 inches.
The repair work included reversing the wires in the escape wheel pinion, straightening the tips of the escape wheel teeth, making a new tension collar for the center arbor (the old one was split and didn’t hold), and shape the warning lift lever correctly. I also polished the pivots, installed 13 bushings, and made a new door latch (the front part of the original was broken off).
