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This is a good looking Seth Thomas oak kitchen clock.

Date stamp on the back reads 7981 which translates to the year 1897.

Movement Before Repair

Front of movement showing two crudely soldered on “Rathbun” bushings (on pivots T3F and T5F). This type of work is done by someone who does not like to take the movement apart.

The “Rathbun” bushing on the back of the movement (on pivot T4B).

Movement After Repair

The movement after repair. The previous repairer had gouged the brass very deeply. I didn’t want to remove too much material, so the gouges are still visible.

Movement Assembly

Showing the relationship of the lift/warning lever to the j shaped turnback lever. The turnback lever is riveted to the back plate. Its function is to hold the warning lever in the correct resting position so that the minute hand may be turned back past the numeral “12″ without damaging the movement.

Partially assembled movement showing the gears and levers.

I just repaired an Ingraham oak shelf clock, with a date of 6 14 (June 1914) on the movement.

A previous repairer had installed a time mainspring that was way too strong (.018 inch thick), which had caused about 50% tooth wear on the time mainwheel. After the overhaul, I installed a Merritt’s P1496 mainspring 3/4 inch wide, 0.0155 inch thick, and 96 inches long. This gives a moderate amount of overswing to the pendulum, only time will tell if the power is sufficient to reliably run the clock for a long period. If not, I will install a spring about 0.0165 inch thick.

The strike train has its original mainspring of 3/4 x 0.0172 inches.

My job 4469.

Follow up: On 2/28/08, the clock came back because it would sometimes stop at three minutes before the hour. I did two things to correct this:

1. Smoothed the tip of the strike locking lever.
2. Replaced the time mainspring with one of the new Merritt’s 3/4 x 0.0165 x 96 inch spring.

The dial on this Ingraham tambour can be removed very quickly. Instead of the 4 usual screws holding the dial pan to the case, it has 4 studs fastened in the case front, and 4 semi-circular openings in the side of the dial pan which snap over the studs.

The back door of the case gives these instructions:

TO REMOVE DIAL

The dial of this clock is fastened to the case at four points, opposite numerals 2, 4, 8 and 12 respectively.

To remove dial, open sash, and take off hands. Then with thumb press outward on matting opposite numeral8, at the same time raising carefully on sash. Repeat the operation opposite numeral 10, after which a slight pressure on opposite side of matting will entirely release dial.

To replace, hook one side of dial over two pins in proper location and snap down on other side.

The movement on this clock is dated 9-19 (September 1919). My job no. 4420 (clock not repaired, just lubricated per the customer’s request.)

One of the brass dial mounting studs is located to the right of the winding square in the photo below:

I just overhauled a lovely Russell & Jones hanging oak parlor clock. Height: 28 inches. It has a beautiful glass tablet with an image of a lighthouse. (My repair job no. 4341.)

The movement is 8 day time and strike, with plate size approx. 5-3/8 x 3-3/8

The original strike mainspring was 0.016 inch thick, it was broken so I replaced it with a Empire 280-19-009 mainspring. The new spring is 3/4 inch wide, 0.0146 inch thick, and 120 inches long. The strike mainwheel has about 10% wear on its teeth. The strike speed is plenty fast enough with this new spring. (Note: I had tried a Merritt’s 3/4x .0155 x 96 inch mainspring, but the striking was WAY too fast).

The original time mainspring was replaced by a previous repairer with a spring that was too strong - 0.0178 inches thick. This strong spring had caused about 50% tooth wear. I installed a Merritt’s Antiques P1496 in the Red and Yellow box. The new spring is 3/4 inch wide, 0.0157 inch thick, and 96 inches long. The pendulum motion is satisfactory and is approximately twice the escape arc. (The movement runs well in spite of the large time mainwheel tooth wear.)

Words on label on back of clock

THE BELLE
——————————
EIGHT DAY HALF HOUR STRIKE, CA
THEDRAL GONG AND ALARM
——————————
Manufactured by

Russell & Jones Clock Co., Pittsfield, Mass, U.S.A.

— For —

N. Y. INSTALLMENT CO.

Chicago, Ill.

History of Russell & Jones

With the failure of the Terry Clock Company at Pittsfield, Mass. in 1888, the Pittsfield businessmen who were large investors, particularly brothers Hezekiah S. and Solomon N. Russell and Edward D. G. Jones, took over the operation. These men and their associates had supplied funds to buy, the bankrupt Terry firm at Waterbury, Conn. in 1880 and move it to Massachusetts in the summer of that year. They built a new factory for the operation in 1883.

By January of 1889, the firm’s name had been changed to Russell & Jones Clock Company and a trade catalog was issued with few changes, if any, from the old firm’s line. In 1890, the new firm issued a new catalog with a substantial number of new and unusual models. As far as can be determined, the firm discontinued manufacture and was disbanded in 1893.

(History written by Chris H. Bailey of the American Clock and Watch Museum, Bristol, Connecticut)

Time train tooth count

Center wheel: 26 teeth

T2: 60/8 (wheel teeth/pinion wires)

T3: 40/8

T4: 40/7

T5 (escape wheel): 39/7

8277.55 beats per hour

After a clock movement has been repaired, it should look like it has always been well taken care of, and not show obvious signs that it has been “repaired”. As part of this, the cleaning process should not be harsh. For typical American antique clocks, I use “Historic Timekeepers” cleaning fluid (available from Timesavers as part #17863 and #17864). I scrub brass parts such as plates and gears with a fine brass bristle brush (stock #16.310 from R & M Imports). This results in a uniformly clean finish that is not too shiny (some repairers polish the brass parts with metal polish, but this leaves the parts looking too shiny, and American clock parts never looked this way when new. It is customary to polish the back of the back plate of a round French movement, and Vienna regulator movements look great when polished).

Some repairers use an electric motor powered rotary brass brush to polish the brass parts. I DO NOT like the way this makes the movement look, and so I am opposed to this practice.

Here are some things I check or do when repairing an antique American clock movement of the open spring type.

• Check wear on time and strike mainwheel teeth and record on log sheet.
• If mainspring arbor hooks have high backs, file down the backside to make it easier to unhook the inner end of the mainspring in the future.
• Check ratchets and clicks - do any repairs necessary. File burrs off bottom of clicks. Tighten or replace click rivets if necessary. Make sure click springs are secure. Be wary of round brass wire click springs such as used in Sessions clocks. If you have any doubt about their reliability, replace with click springs made of round spring steel wire.
• Check motion work and clean its pivots.
• Chamfer ends of pin that holds center wheel hand set tension spring.
• Check lantern pinions - make a list of those needing new wires or wires reversed. Check for loose holes in shrouds that might let the wires fall out.
• Check pivot holes - make a list of ones to bush.
• Check pivots - make a list of those to turn down and polish or just polish.
• Check for “tunneled” pivot holes - where pivot is too short for the hole. Deepen oil sinks so pivot protrudes past oil sink. Seth Thomas #124 movements and many German movement have this problem.
• Check pins: warning, lock, lift, etc for tightness.
• Check pins in plates for tightness and smoothness.
• Check for verge wear. Slight wear in a verge can be left alone, especially a deadbeat verge. If you decide to move the escape wheel to engage with an unworn verge surface, do it now, before pivot work.
• Repair pinions first, then do pivot work, then bushing work.
• Use a smoothing broach to polish any pivot holes not bushed. Polish large pivot holes with leather strip.
• Test each wheel pair for proper depth and proper pivot hole fit by putting each wheel pair between the plates. With your fingers on each end of the driven wheel for pressure, turn the driving wheel and feel how smoothly it turns the driven wheel. If the wheel depth is way off, you can feel it in this way.
• Assemble all wheels between the plates and tighten the pillar nuts and/or screws. Check sideshakes, endshakes and free rotation of wheels. Then install the verge and check and ajust the escapement.
• Check suspension spring - if it is merely dimpled to prevent it from sliding through the suspension post, punch a small hole (use an old staking tool) and insert flat brass wire. (Use #22 soft brass wire, flatten it slightly, bend it partly, insert in hole, comlete the bend and hammer it slightly.)
• Smooth and polish suspension rod where the crutch embraces it (take off enough metal to remove the worn spot).
• Polish the pallets if necessary. Install verge, test and adjust escapement. Check crutch to make sure it fits tightly into the verge. Check and adjust crutch loop.
• Clean pivots of strike lever arbors, smooth end of count hook, smooth lifting surfaces. Replace the leather in the strike hammer if it is hard or worn down close to the metal.
• After assembly, push mainspring loop ends toward back plate so mainspring won’t rub on mainwheel.

I prefer American made KWM size bushings of 1.8 millimeter height for for the train wheel pivots of antique American mantel, wall and shelf clocks with open mainsprings (clocks made by makers such as Ansonia, Ingraham, New Haven, Seth Thomas, Waterbury, etc). Commonly needed bushing sizes are L-41 through L-45, and L-88. The bushing is longer than the plate thickness, which is good for this type of clock. These movements are over-powered and the plates are relatively thin, and the longer bushing decreases the pivot and bushing wear. I polish the pivots before installing new bushings.

For movements with a between the plate verge, I use 1.3 millimeter tall bushings such as L-17 or L-18 for verge pivot bushings.

Note: if a pivot hole shows very little or no wear, bushing it is not necessary (I made this note because some repairers bush everything whether it is necessary or not, a philosophy I disagree with).

American made KWM size bushings are available from many clock parts suppliers such as R & M Imports.