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I recently repaired this Schatz cuckoo clock. It has the KU50 movement, and the case is the bird and leaf style with light color shaded finish. See my previous post, Four Schatz Cuckoo Clocks, for some other case styles. The top piece of the case isn’t shown in the photos.

Dimensions: Height (no top) 11 1/4 inches, width 8 1/16 inches, dial diameter (black part) 2 7/8 inches.

See more photos.

Repair job 5571. I polished the pivots and installed 15 bushings.

Related posts:

1. Four Schatz Cuckoo Clocks
2. Schatz Standard 400 Day Clock with Cream Color Painted Finish.
3. Schatz Black/Cream Color 400 Day Clock, 1954
4. Schatz 8 Day Cuckoo Clock
5. 1950′s Regula Cuckoo Clock Movement

I recently repaired 3 Schatz cuckoo clocks, and have photos of another I repaired several years ago. These examples show 4 case styles: maple leaf, hunting, oak leaf and multi-color. An earlier post shows the movement and gears of the Schatz hunting model cuckoo clock.

Schatz introduced their cuckoo clock movement in 1950, and probably made cuckoo clocks up until the late 1950s or early 1960s.

The movements are the same design, but I noticed some variations:

• There are 2 different logo circles on the back plate. The earlier ones say: ”Jahresuhrenfabrik Germany” around the circle and “50″ in the center.  The later ones say: “Aug. Schatz & Sohne Germany” around the circle, and “KU 50″ in the center.
• One of the “50″ movements has a brass lever to open and close the cuckoo door, the others have a blued steel lever.
• The clocks with “50″ movements had lighter weights that clocks with the “KU 50″ movement. See bottom of article for a list of weights.

See a Schatz sales brochure that shows 2 models of cuckoo clock.

See more photos of the maple leaf cuckoo clock (has a “50″ movement).

See more photos of the hunting cuckoo clock ((has a “50″ movement).

See more photos of the oak leaf cuckoo clock (has a “KU 50″ movement).

See more photos of the multi-color cuckoo clock (has a “KU 50″ movement).

(Three of them don’t have their top piece in the pictures.)

I measured the chains on the multi-color clock: 42 links per foot, 1.2 mm wire diameter.

Weights:

• Maple leaf cuckoo clock: about 2 pounds 12 ounces each.
• Hunting model cuckoo clock: 2 pounds 12 ounces and 2 pounds 14 ounces.
• Oak leaf cuckoo clock: 3 pounds 5 ounces and 3 pounds 6 ounces.
• Multi-color cuckoo clock: 3 pounds 4 ounces and 3 pounds 5 ounces.

I believe the above list is in chronological order, it seems that Schatz used heavier weights for later clocks.

The Schatz is different from most cuckoos in that there are separate controls for door and bird – bird goes in and out with each cuckoo while the door stays open. Here is a video showing this:

Repair jobs 4492, 5325, 5537 and 5351

Related posts:

1. Schatz 8 Day Cuckoo Clock
2. 1950s Quail & Cuckoo Clock, Welby, Germany
3. Antique German Quail and Cuckoo Clock
4. Another 1950′s Regula 8 Day Cuckoo Clock Movement
5. 1950′s Regula Cuckoo Clock Movement

A customer recently brought in this 1950s quail and cuckoo clock for repair. The case was dusty from years of storage. I cleaned it with Natchez Solution and it came out looking great. This clock has the solid brown finish that was used on many cuckoo clocks from the 1950s and 60s. The case is 18 inches tall and 13 inches wide, with a 4 inch dial. The clock was made in Germany and imported by Welby.

Below is a video of the clock in operation.

The instruction sheet on the back of the clock is not the correct one for a quail and cuckoo clock, it describes a cuckoo clock with rack and snail cuckoo that is self-synchronizing. On this quail and cuckoo, if the clock runs down, the quail and cuckoo may get behind and will need manual synchronization.

Synchronizing the quail and cuckoo:

The quail should call once on the first quarter, twice on the half hour, 3 times at quarter to the hour, and 4 times on the hour. If it does not, you advance the quail by moving the minute hand forward to 3 minutes before a quarter hour (3,6, 9 or 12) then moving the minute hand back 10 minutes. Each time this is done, the quail does the next quarter hour. Do this until the quail is correct.

To synchronize the cuckoo, move the minute hand forward (allowing the quail to go on each quarter) to the next hour (except if the next hour is 1:00, keep going to 2:00). Open the door on the right side of the of the clock, and push in on the vertical wire. Each time the wire is pushed in, the cuckoo will call the next hour. Do this until the cuckoo calls the correct hour.

Then move the minute hand forward to set the clock to the correct time, pausing each quarter for the quail (and cuckoo on the half hour and hour).

This clock cuckoos after the quail on both the hour and half hour. On antique quail and cuckoo clocks (around 1920 and older), the cuckoo goes only on the hour.

Repair job 5011.

Related posts:

1. Antique German Quail and Cuckoo Clock
2. Correcting the Hour Strike on Modern Clocks
3. Another 1950′s Regula 8 Day Cuckoo Clock Movement
4. Antique Cuckoo clock
5. 1950′s Regula Cuckoo Clock Movement

I recently overhauled the movement of this clock. The case was in very good condition, it just needed to have a couple of broken leaves glued on and the surface wiped down with wood feeder. I love all the hand carved leaves on the case. The case is missing two finials on the bottom. The clock was made in the Black Forest of Germany.

I polished the pivots, and replaced one badly worn pivot (time second wheel front pivot). The wood movement plates have brass pivot bushings, 3 of them were worn badly enough to need replacing. A previous repairer had bent the warning lift improperly (there are plier marks all over it), it took over an hour to get it shaped properly again.

The front of the movement has an FF trademark on the front. Below are 3 photos, followed by a slideshow of many photos, followed by a YouTube video.

Repair job 4923

Related posts:

1. 1950′s Regula Cuckoo Clock Movement
2. Another 1950′s Regula 8 Day Cuckoo Clock Movement
3. Antique Cuckoo clock
4. How Not to Clean a Clock Movement!
5. Antique German Quail and Cuckoo Clock

I recently repaired this clock. I overhauled the movement, rebuilt the bellows, and put the case body back together. My customer glued the carvings back together. The deer antlers are not shown in the photo. This clock was made around 1900.

The videos below show the following:

1. The action of the quail and cuckoo;
2. How to synchronize the quail and cuckoo when they are incorrect (usually caused by the clock running down). These antique cuckoo clocks run only 24 hours on a winding.
3. The movement.

Here is a slide show:

Repair job 4842.

Related posts:

1. Antique Cuckoo clock
2. Schatz 8 Day Cuckoo Clock
3. Another 1950′s Regula 8 Day Cuckoo Clock Movement
4. 1950′s Regula Cuckoo Clock Movement
5. Hamburg-American German Time and Strike Wall Clock

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.

Job 4653

Related posts:

1. 1950′s Regula Cuckoo Clock Movement
2. Schatz 8 Day Cuckoo Clock
3. Antique Cuckoo clock

I just overhauled a 1950′s cuckoo clock with a Regula 8 day movement.This older movement is different from the modern one, so I am illustrating it here. This movement needed to have the pivots polished and bushings installed. The pivots were not too badly worn, but some appeared to not have been well polished when new.

The case is 18 1/4 inches tall including the top carving; and 15 1/4 inches tall without the top. The overall diameter of the dial is 4 1/4 inches.

The weights are labeled “1500″ and weigh 1545 and 1530 grams. It doesn’t matter which weight goes on which side.

A couple years ago I overhauled my own cuckoo clock with the same movement, that my uncle sent to my parents from Germany in the late 1950′s. It had been unreliable most of its life. The pinion of the time third wheel was very badly worn, so I installed a new pivot, and polished the remaining pivots. It now runs very well.

Job 4640

Related posts:

1. Schatz 8 Day Cuckoo Clock
2. Antique Cuckoo clock

I recently overhauled this cuckoo clock. The movement was very dirty and someone had damaged the fan fly and enlarged its pivot holes to about 1/8 inch! The slideshow below shows the repair process.

I had to plug the enlarged pivot hole, use the depthing tool to establish the correct center distance, and  drill a new hole. Also, the fan fly had been damaged and a brass strip needed to be attached so that the fly fit properly on the arbor.

Related posts:

1. Strike warning wheel problems in old French Clock
2. Things to check when repairing an antique American clock movement
3. Bushing American Antique Clocks
4. Schatz 8 Day Cuckoo Clock