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.
This Waterbury tambour mantel clock was made around 1920. The movement plates are steel that have been given a thin brass plating. Brass bushings were inserted in the plates so that the pivots (steel gear shafts) can turn in brass holes as usual (steel on steel would cause severe wear).
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:
I just repaired this Ansonia “Queen Elizabeth” mahogany wall clock. The top piece to the case is not shown in the photo, but the catalog illustration below shows the complete clock. The overall height with the top is 37 inches, and the width is 13 5/8 inches. The dial in this example has a replacement paper face, and the minute hand is not original (but similar to the original).
The top piece to the case is not shown in this photo
Ansonia “Queen Elizabeth” wall clock as shown in the 1906 – 1907 Ansonia catalog.
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.
My customer sent this movement to be repaired, because the clock fell off the wall, bending the center arbor and causing 2 gears to come out of the movement plates.
The movement has the nice thin original Seth Thomas mainsprings.
Time Mainspring: 11/16 inch wide by 0.0165 inch thick.
Strike Mainspring: 11/16 inch wide by 0.0154 inch thick.
Repair job 5539. I polished the pivots, rebuilt the pinion on the third strike gear, and installed 10 bushings. The movement might not be original to this case (the mounting feet are bent way back in an attempt to move the movement forward in the case).
This Ansonia mantel clock has a black enamled iron case, and was made around 1890 – 1910. It has Ansonia’s 4 pillar rectangular movement that uses thinner (weaker) mainsprings than most other American clocks. This reliable movement was used in many Ansonia mantel clocks.
The case is 10 7/8 inches tall, 11 1/2 inches wide, and the dial’s minute track is 4 1/4 inch outside diameter. The length of the minute hand is just under 2 1/8 inches.
This clock has its original, thin mainsprings: both are 3/4 inch wide and 0.0155 inch thick.
Manufactured by the: Ansonia Clock Co., New York, United States of America
This Ansonia oak cased shelf clock is called the “Bedford” according to the label on the back. The 8-day movement strikes the hour and half-hour on a heavy wire or Cathedral gong. The case is 22 1/2 inches tall and 14 7/16 inches wide. The dial has a 4 7/8 inch minute track (outside diameter). The minute hand is just over 2 3/8 inches long from center to tip.
Manufactured by the Ansonia Clock Co., New York, United States of America
Label on back. “Bedford” is the model name.
I first repaired this clock in 2004. The time mainspring recently broke, so my customer brought the clock back to me. I disassembled and cleaned the movement, and replaced both mainsprings (the strike spring was not broken but had a rough action that could indicate breakage in the near future). These Ansonia clock movements use thin mainsprings, so don’t let your clock repairer install the typical strong mainspring (this could cause undue wear).
Dimensions of the original mainsprings: Both are 3/4 inch wide and 0.015 inch thick.
Replacement mainsprings:
Time: 3/4 by 0.0138 by 120 inches (Empire 280-19-009)
Strike: 3/4 by 0.0147 by 120 inches (Empire 280-19-009)
Note: Empire is out of business and I have only a few of these springs left. I need to find another spring suitable for these Ansonia movements.
This Ansonia mantel clock movement was sent to me for repair. After examining it, I thought it might be too far gone to be worth repairing. The customer really wanted it done, and sent me a down payment on the repair, so I proceeded. After lots of cleaning and repair work, it operates like new and looks great too!
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.
The movement before repair
The completed movement
The parts after cleaning.
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);
This Waterbury oak cased shelf (kitchen) clock was made around 1903 and is called “Amherst”. It is 21 3/4 inches tall (a small piece is is missing at the top, it should be 22 inches tall) and 15 inches wide. The hands are original Waterbury blackened brass Maltese style. The minute hand is 2 9/16 inches long from center to tip. The paper dial of this clock is original but worn.
The movement plates are 5 inches tall and 3 7/16 inches wide, and marked 5 3/8 (referring to the length of the pendulum). This movement is designed to use thin loop end mainsprings 3/4 inch wide. When the clock came into the shop, it had a strike mainspring 0.0142 inch thick, and a time mainspring 0 .0172 inch thick. The thicker time mainspring has caused significant wear to the time mainwheel teeth (the teeth on the time mainwheel are 20 % worn, which the strike mainwheel teeth are only 5% worn). The springs were slightly rusty, and I replaced them with Merritt’s Antiques part number P-1496 in the red and yellow package. I selected a spring 0.0156 inch thick for the striking, and 0.0158 inch thick for the time. The pendulum motion is excellent and the striking speed could actually be slower and still be reliable.
This was one of the most badly worn clock movements I have seen! It was very dirty when received. All of the pinion wires needed replacing. The pinion wires of the fan fly were over half way worn through! The movement must have been sprayed with something to keep it going without being cleaned for many years, and the dust adhering to the gear teeth acted as an abrasive, causing the wear to the pinions). All of the pivots needed polishing, and I installed 12 bushings. The pallets had deep wear grooves which I polished out.
The movement plates are steel (with brass plating for decoration), and brass bushings (they were made like this instead of solid brass for a few years – Gilbert also made some like this, so did Ingraham but without the brass bushings!).
