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This clock strikes the hours and half-hours on a heavy coil gong. The case is 17 1/8 inches wide and 9 3/4 inches tall. The dial’s minute track is 4 3/8  inch diameter, and the minute hand is 2 1/4 inches from center to tip. The video below shows the clock striking:

When the clock arrived in my shop, the finish had been stripped from the case. I stained it with brown mahogany gel stain, and finished it with spray semi-gloss Deft lacquer.

This movement is a good example of an American clock movement with weak mainsprings. The springs are open (no barrel), 3/4 inch wide, 0.014 inch thick, and about 8 feet long. Many American movements have stronger springs (0.0165 – 0.018 inch thick). A 0.018 inch thick mainspring provides over twice the force of a 0.014 inch thick spring (because the force is proportional to the thickness cubed).

This movement has a strip deadbeat escapement with a very small escape arc (the minimum swing needed for the clock to tick). The running arc is over 3 times the escape arc, showing that the thin springs provide plenty of power for this movement. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find weak enough springs if replacements are necessary. Springs that are too strong will cause wear. The video below shows a closeup of the escapement, and shows the amount of pendulum swing, starting from the minimum:

Repair job 5675.

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:

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Repair job 5640.

The movement is the 5-pillar Ansonia 8 day time and strike, with plate dimensions 5 7/8 by 3 5/8 inches. Repairs included polishing the pivots and replacing improper bushings (3 Rathbun and 2 screw-in) with KWM-sized American system bushings. I replaced the strike click rivet.

I retained the original strike mainspring, which measured 3/4 x 0.0175 – 0.0185 inch. The original time spring was very thick (0.019 inch) and causing mainwheel tooth wear, so I replaced it with a 3/4 x 0.016 x 120 inch mainspring, part no. 280-19-003 from Colonial Clock Shop.

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Repair job 5634.

The movement has thick brass plates and hard steel pivots. The escapement is the Graham deadbeat, there is maintaining power to keep the clock going during winding, and stopworks to limit the amount of winding. The 7 pound weight is hangs on a pulley, and there is a pulley at the top right of the case so that the weight descends at the right side of the case. There is a tie-down at the bottom to secure the pendulum while the clock is being transported.

When the clock came in for repair, one pulley was missing. There was significant wear to the pivots and pivot holes. I believe that the clock was run for years with only the top right pulley, resulting in twice the driving force applied to the movement. This could explain the wear, which seemed abnormally high.

Having the weight hang on a pulley reduces the driving force by 50%. The pendulum has a lot of overswing (supplementary arc), and would probably run on 30% less weight and still have good overswing.

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Repair job 5281.

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.

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.

The pin is 1.3 milimeter diameter steel wire with one pointed end, 9.5 mm long. It has 2 (sometimes 3) convex steel washers with square holes, 8.15 mm diameter, .3 mm thick, domed to 1.1 mm high.

Most antique clocks don’t have their original hand retaining pin, but I seen many Seth Thomas clocks over the years with pins and washers like those shown here.

• 11 40 (November 1940) on left rear movement leg;
• 4506 (June 1945) on strike hammer bridge.

I can’t explain why there are two date codes, perhaps they made the movement before World War II, then finished and sold it after the war (they discontinued clock production for several years during the war). (Note: the owner of this clock states that it was bought during the war. This would mean that the 4506 is not a date code, perhaps it is a model number?)

The case is 8 5/8 inches tall and 12 3/4 inches wide. The dial is silver plated brass, with printed numerals, etc. The minute hand is 2 1/2 inches long from center to tip. The hands and hand nut are silver-plated. The minute track is 5 inches outside diameter. The movement runs over 8 days on a winding and strikes the hours and half hour on 2 chime rods.

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This clock has Seth Thomas’s later type of mantel clock movement (the one that replaced the No. 89). In the past, I didn’t like this movement, because it is subject to severe wear due to its overly strong mainsprings. I have discovered that it will run well with weaker mainsprings (see 1940s Seth Thomas 8 Day Time and Strike Clock Movement for another example of this movement, and Two Seth Thomas “Plymouth” Tambour Mantel Clocks, 1938 and 1945 for another example).

This movement has suffered wear (see photo of the worn bushing above). A previous repairer installed many bushings off-center. It appears that first, off-center rear mainwheel bushings were installed, then all the other bushings were installed off-center to keep gear depthing correct. I tested all the gear depths, and left the bushings off-center except for one that needed moving. The rear time second wheel pivot was rough (the surface was like a fine file), which is why there was so much wear to its bushing. I polished all the pivots and replaced a bent wire in the center pinion.

I replaced the too-strong original mainsprings with weaker ones.

Original mainsprings:

• Time 11/16 x 0.0183 x 80 inches;
• Strike 11/16 x 0.018 x 80 inches.

New, thinner mainsprings:

• Time 11/16 x 0.0161 x 80 inches (Timesavers 20506 shortened by 16 inches);
• Strike 11/16 x 0.0167 x 80 inches (Empire Clock 280-17-505 shortened by 16 inches).

(Note: supplier Empire Clock is no longer in business.)

The movement runs extremely well these mainsprings, and would probably run well with even thinner springs (perhaps 0.015 inch thick for the time mainspring). Both mainwheels are 25% worn due to the original strong mainsprings. The clock runs well in spite of the tooth wear.

The pendulum bob is 1 13/16 inches diameter and weighs 4 ounces. The suspension spring is 0.004 inches thick, and the pendulum rod is 2 millimeters diameter.

The inside of the rear door has an instruction label. The label includes the following:

Guarantee and Directions
Covering Clocks equipped with
No. 4300, 4500 and 4600 Series 8-Day Pendulum
Strike Movements in Tambour Cases.

Text here about the clock

Instruction text here

The Plymouth Clock
Thomaston, Conn.
Z-34P

The number 414 is stamped at the bottom.

Repair job 5534

Key: No. 6 large end, No. 0000 (4/0) small end.

I really like the reverse painted glass tablets in the doors. The middle glass shows “Public Square, New Haven”, and the “S” in “Square” is printed backward. The lower glass shows “Smithsonian Institute, Washington”

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Birge, Peck & Co. was in business from 1849 – 1859. The backboard label says at the bottom: “Press of Elihu Geer, 10 State Street, Hartford; which dates the clock from 1850 – 1855.

When the clock came into the shop, the dial had brass grommets around the winding holes. These grommets were not original to the clock, and I removed them per my customer’s request.

The verge (the antique American term for pallets or anchor) had been replaced in the past with an incorrect part. The old replacement verge spanned only 7 teeth instead of 8, so I installed a new verge of the correct size. I moved the saddle (brass piece with the bearing holes) toward the exit pallet to be half way between the pallet tips to make their motions equal (before moving it, it was too close to the entry pallet, causing the exit pallet to move too far and dig into the escape wheel teeth). I also moved the crutch wire toward the exit pallet.

The backboard label has the following headlines:

Extra Eight Day
Rolling Pinion Steel Pivot
Brass Clocks
Birge, Peck & Co
Bristol, Conn.

The label features  a picture of a locomotive named “The Breeze”. The case is 32 1/2 inches  tall, and 19 3/8 inches wide at the top. The dial’s minute track is 7 inches in diameter. The minute hand is not original.

Birge, Peck & Co. was one of a series of clock companies involving John Birge. They used rolling pinions, a form of lantern pinion in which the pinion wires or “trundles” are pivoted on each end and rotate in the brass shrouds. Regular lantern pinions have the wires don’t rotate.

Here is a summary of the Birge companies as listed in “The Contributions of Joseph Ives to Connecticut Clock Technology 1810 – 1862″, by Kenneth D. Roberts, Revised Second Edition, Bond Press, Hartford, Connecticut, 1988.

• John Birge    Birge & Ives 1831 – 1833;
• Birge, Case & Co. 1833 – 1835;
• Birge, Gilbert & Co. 1835;
• Birge & Gilbert 1835 – 1837
• Birge, Mallory & Co. 1837 – 1843;
• Birge & Fuller 1843 – 1848;
• John Birge    John Birge & Co. 1848 – 1849;
• Birge, Peck & Co. 1849 – 1859.
• Clock manufacturing was discontinued in 1859 and John Birge died in 1862.

When setting up this clock, the heaviest weight goes on the right (time) side. The weights weigh as follows:

• Time weight (right): 7 pounds 11 ounces
• Strike weight (left): 5 pounds 10 ounces

The pendulum bob is 2 3/16 inches diameter and weighs 2.4 ounces. The regulating nut is not original, it should be a thin, straight knurled disc.

References:

“The Contributions of Joseph Ives to Connecticut Clock Technology 1810 – 1862″, Kenneth D. Roberts, Revised Second Edition, Bond Press, Hartford, Connecticut, 1988.

“The Greek Revival Influence on  American Clock Case Design and Empire Clock Case Development”, Lee Davis, NAWCC Bulletin Supplement 18, Spriing 1991.

Repair job 5524.

The movement has the patent date of June 18, 1882 and says 4 1/2 on the right rear movement leg.

The pendulum is not original to the clock, but it is an old Ansonia pendulum of the correct style that is probably about an inch longer than the original.

I disassembled the movement, and let the parts run in the cleaning machine for most of the day. Every half hour or so, I scrubbed the parts with a fine brass bristle brush. (I don’t use a motor driven brush, because the resulting finish doesn’t look right.)

The mainsprings were rusty, so I replaced them. Here are the measurements of the original mainsprings:

Time: 3/4 by 0.0159 inch, Strike: 3/4 x 0.0156 inch. Notice that these are thinner spring than user in many antique American clocks. I replaced them with mainsprings from Empire Clock, part number 280-19-009, measuring as follows:

Time: 3/4 x 0.0142 x 120 inches, Strike: 3/4 x 0.0147 x 120 inches. Notice that these are even thinner than the original springs, but they provide plenty of power, as you can see in the video below. Unfortunately, Empire Clock is out of business, and I have only a few of these springs left in stock.

I made the following repairs to the movement:

• Install a new crutch loop (the original had been cut off!);
• Shape strike locking lever correctly (it had been badly bent);
• Straighten and smooth strike warning lever;
• True the escape wheel teeth;
• Polish the pallets to remove wear, then adjust the escapement;
• Install new pins in 5 pinions (the small gears with wires instead of teeth) and polish and reverse the wires in one pinion;
• Replace the click rivets in the main wheel (they were loose);
• Made new tension springs for the strike hammer and warning lever;
• Straighten the center arbor (the shaft the minute hand goes on);
• Replace the suspension rod (the rod that the pendulum hangs on);
• New leather in strike hammer;
• Polish the pivots;
• Install 14 bushings.

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Repair job 5444.