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.

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.

See more photos.

Repair job 5444.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Iron Case Mantel Clock with Small Round Movement
2. Ansonia Porcelain Cased Mantel Clock
3. Ansonia “Cabinet No. 56″ Mantel Clock
4. Ansonia Iron Mantel Clock
5. Ansonia Short Drop Schoolhouse Clock Movement

This clock with a nice oak case came in for minor adjustments. I think it is a great looking clock! The label inside the back door identifies the model as “Seneca”. It was made around 1894. Tran Duy Ly’s book “Ansonia Clocks and Watches” illustrates a whole series of these cabinet clocks.

The case is  15 1/2 inches tall and 11 3/4 inches wide. The minute hand is  2 3/32 inches long center to tip. The paper dial has 4 1/4 inch time track (outside diameter). Movement has number 5 1/2.

See more photos.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia “Cabinet No. 56″ Mantel Clock
2. Ansonia “Sharon” Cabinet Clock
3. Ansonia “Queen Elizabeth” Wall Clock in Oak Case
4. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks
5. Waterbury Oak Shelf Clock with Steel Plate Movement

Sessions Small Shelf Clock with dark stained pine case. Height 15 3/8 inches, width 10 3/4 inches. The dial is paper on a metal plate, and the time track outside diameter is 4 3/8 inches.  8 day time and strike movement.

This is a cute little clock. It appears to be a later design, judging from the use of pine instead of oak, and the simplified case style with no embossed designs on the flat pieces.  Perhaps it is one of the last of the shelf clock style in regular production, and may have been made in the 1930s.

Repair job 5500. This clock just received minor servicing including rinsing the bearings and lubricating.

Related posts:

1. Sessions Oak Kitchen (Shelf) Clock, 1920s – 1930s
2. Sessions “Stratford” Tambour Mantel Clock
3. E. N. Welch Walnut Cased “Kitchen” or Shelf Clock
4. Mainsprings for Sessions Black Mantel Clock
5. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen (Shelf) Clock

I recently repaired this walnut cased shelf clock, made in the 1880s – 1890s by E. N. Welch Manufacturing Co., Forestville, Connecticut. The movement is 8-day time and strike. The case is 23 3/8 inches tall and 14 5/16 inches wide. The original painted dial has a 4 7/8 inch time track. The hands are new replacements.

These old Welch movements are very solidly built, and this one is nice in having the extra feature of stopworks to limit the mainspring travel.

I polished the pivots and installed 16 bushings. The original mainsprings are 3/4 inch wide with loop ends. The time mainspring is about 0.0176 inch thick, and the strike mainspring measures from 0.017 to 0.0176 inch thick. These springs are good and were retained in the clock.

Repair job 5493.

Related posts:

1. Ansonia Walnut Kitchen (Shelf) Clock
2. Waterbury One-Day Walnut Cased Shelf Clock, ca. 1885.
3. New Haven Walnut Kitchen Clock
4. Sessions Oak Kitchen (Shelf) Clock, 1920s – 1930s
5. Ansonia Walnut and Oak Shelf (Kitchen) Clocks

This Schatz (Jahresuhernfabrik) standard size 400 day clock was made around 1949 – 1950. It has some differences from those made around 1950 – 1951. The “early” features include:

• No name on the dial;
• short sliding tube on suspension guard;
• the dial is secured with taper pins (instead of collars with screw);
• the minute wheel is held by a cock instead of a screw, and the canon pinion is larger in diameter than the later style.

This clock has its original instruction sheets.

The single sheet appears to have been hand typed, and is signed “Devon Sales Company, Devon, Connecicut”

The 4 page instructions were printed in Germany and contain both German and English text. They contain the heading “Directions for setting up ORIGINAL SCHATZ 400 day lever clock” The instructions explain raising the sliding tube on the suspension guard, hanging and starting the pendulum, the purpose of the cup in the base, how to tell if the clock is out of beat, how to adjust the beat, and regulating the clock. The instructions don’t cover winding and setting the clock, perhaps they assumed that people already knew how to wind and set a clock (which was probably true in 1950!)

See more photos.

Repair job 5494.

Related posts:

1. Schatz Standard 400 Day Clock with No Name Roman Numeral Dial
2. 1949 – 1950 Schatz 400 Day Clock With No Name On Dial
3. Schatz Standard 400 Day Clock with Early Logo on Dial
4. Kundo 400 Day Clock – Locking Suspension Guard
5. Schatz Standard 400 Day Clock with No Name on Dial, ca. 1950