This beautiful model of Schatz 400 day clock was made from the mid-1950s into the 1960s or early 1970s. Here is one that I just finished repairing. The case is in good original condition. The movement needed cleaning, one pivot polished, and a new suspension spring.
Below is a photo of the gears and anchor before the back plate and anchor bridge were put on, followed by photos of the complete clock, the back, and a closeup of the back showing the locking device engaged with the pendulum (there is also a locking lever on the front, which is moved to the left to lock the pendulum).
Below are videos of the escapement in action, and the complete clock running with and without the dome.
Job 4785
Back plate: 1013A
Suspension unit: 10A
Suspension spring: 0.0024 inches (most of these clocks need a .0023 inch thick spring, but this one needed a .0024 to rate properly
Movement date: 8-55 (August 1955)
This model of Schatz standard 400 day clock, having an picture of a man and woman sitting on a bench in the center of the dial, is seen occasionally. I just finished repairing this one. It needed cleaning, 6 pivots polished (quite often Schatz 400 days clocks need pivot work) and a new suspension spring.
Below is a video of the complete clock running, and then a close up video of the escapement in action.
Job 4781
Back plate: 1014A
Suspension unit: 9
Suspension spring: 0.004 inches
Movement date: 3 55 (March 1955)
I just repaired this Kundo standard 400 day clock. Below is a photo of the gears and anchor before the back plate was put on, photos of the complete clock, and videos of the escapement and the complete clock.
Job 4779
Back plate: 1004
Suspension unit: 3C
Suspension spring: 0.0032 inches
I just repaired this clock. I polished 6 pivots and replaced the suspension spring. Here are the gears and anchor before the back plate was put on, and the complete clock:
Here is a video of the escapement action:
Here is the entire clock operating (with background chime accompaniment:
Job 4780
Back plate: 1404
Suspension unit: 11A
Suspension spring: 0.0036 inches
Here is a Kundo miniature 400 day clock that I just finished giving a general service and repair. The pivots were in good condition, but it needed cleaning and a suspension spring replacement.
The photo below shows the gears and anchor before the back plate was put on, and the complete clock:
Here is a video of the pendulum motion when the clock is fully wound:
Here is a video of the escapement action:
Job 4773
Back plate: 1406H
Suspension unit: 5E
Suspension spring: 0.0023 inches
I recently overhauled this Seth Thomas shelf clock. This clock has an excellent movement design, as it runs very efficiently, allowing the use of thin mainsprings to reduce wear. Both the time and strike mainsprings in this clock are the original springs, and measure 11/16 inch wide and 0.015 inches thick. This is much thinner than the so-called standard American clock mainspring of 0.018 inch thick. These springs provide approximately half the force of the thicker mainsprings, yet the movement takes an excellent pendulum motion (plenty of overswing or supplementary arc). The good efficiency arises from the use of a semi-deadbeat instead of a recoil escapement, and the use of 4 instead of 5 wheels in each gear train. This movement has stop works to keep the mainspring tension more constant. I set up the stop works so that when the spring winding is stopped by the stop works, the spring is unwound 1 turn.
The video below shows the action of the escapement, starting from minimum pendulum arc:
The video below shows the escapement action when the clock is fully wound. Notice that the escapement is very nearly deadbeat, there is only a slight recoil on the exit pallet near the end of its travel:
The video below shows the escapement action when the clock has run down 7 days:
The video below shows the pendulum motion when the clock is fully wound:
The video below shows the pendulum motion when the clock has run down 7 days:
The video below shows the clock striking (it strikes only on the hour):
Here is a closeup video of the striking, showing the action of the count wheel and the locking cam:
I just overhauled another 8 day cuckoo clock from the 1950’s with a Regula movement. This one is interesting in that the back of the movement is labeled “Hubert Herr, Triberg” beneath the Regula logo. Later, Hebert Herr manufactured his own movements in competition with Regula.
This movement differs from the previous one in having the two cuckoo bellow lifters located in opposite positions. This points out that before disassembling a cuckoo clock movement, you should note the location of the hammer and the two bellow lifters.
The customer has the top carving, so I couldn’t illustrate it here. The case body is 13 inches tall, and the dial’s overall diameter is 3 3/4 inches.
One repair often needed on these clocks is to replace the clicks. Correct replacement clicks are available in “Chainwheel Repair Kits” available from suppliers including R & M Imports, Timesavers, and Mile Hi Clock Supplies. The last photo below shows the contents of the repair kit. For the movement being discussed here, the click is used, and the larger rivet is used if necessary (for this movement, it is okay to reuse the rivet if it came out cleanly. For clocks with mainsprings, new custom made rivets should always be used). The other parts are not needed (save them for possible future use.)
The weights weigh 1505 and 1460 grams. It doesn’t matter which weight goes on which side.
