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The “Verdi” drop octagon wall clock was made from 1877 to 1893. From 1877 to 1885 it was made with a Welch, Spring and Company label; after that it had an E. N. Welch Manufacturing Company label. The case is rosewood veneered, 31 inches long, 12 inch dial (11 inch minute track).

This example has an 8-day time only movement driven by two mainsprings. The mainsprings are the original thick, roughly finished springs. They are in good condition and provide plenty of power to operate the clock. They are narrower than standard 8-day mainsprings, only 3/8 inch wide. They are quite thick, 0.022 inch.

The escapement is a club tooth deadbeat (or semi-deadbeat, as there is slight recoil during locking). The escapement was patented by B. B. Lewis on August 31, 1870, patent number 106,843.

The dial on this example was repainted by The Dial House, Dallas, Georgia. The second hand is a replacement.

Besides cleaning, the movement needed the following repairs:

• Tighten the click rivets;
• Polish pivots;
• Install 7 bushings;
• Replace one bent pinion wire in the second pinion;
• Replace the pinion wires in the escape wheel;
• Increase the hand set tension.

Here is a video of the escapement:

Here is a video of the case:

Here is a slide show of the clock and movement:

Repair job 5023.

Historical reference: NAWCC Bulletin Supplement Number 12, February 1978, “The Welch, Spring and Company”, by Owen H. Burt and Jo Burt.

I recently repaired the movement of this Seth Thomas 8-day OG shelf clock.

Before repair, the clock would run for several minutes and then stop. While running, it would go in and out of beat (the ticking would sometimes be even and sometimes uneven).

The movement was taken apart and cleaned. The major problem was that some of the escape wheel teeth were non-uniform. I used the Webster escape wheel tooth straightener to ensure that all the teeth were at the same angle. The wheel was mounted in the lathe and the teeth bought to a uniform height, then the burrs were removed. The pallets were polished, the worn pinion wires in the escape wheel pinion were replaced, the pivots polished, and bushings installed in the worn pivot holes.

The following video shows the escapement action before and after repair:

The following video shows the movement in the case and shows the hour striking:

It is possible that the movement is not original to the case. We suspect this for two reasons:

• The pendulum bob is quite low in the case;
• The end of the center arbor touches the glass when the door is closed.

The movement is labeled “Plymouth” which means that it was made in 1865 or earlier when the town where Seth Thomas was located had the name “Plymouth Hollow”. It 1865 the town name was changed to Thomaston to honor Mr. Thomas. The case label says “Thomaston” so this could be a transition clock made around 1865, or it could be a later case with a older movement. The reverse painted glass is not original to the case, it appears to be a New Haven multicolored glass.

The weights are replacements, weighing as follows:

• Time weight: 8 pounds 1 ounce
• Strike weight: 6 pounds 9 ounces

Repair job 5064.

I recently repaired a Seth Thomas Adamantine mantel clock made around 1905. It has a No. 89 movement. This movement is very efficient in operation, due to the use of a deadbeat escapement. Even with a thin time mainspring, these movements typically take an excellent escapement motion.

This particular example has thin, original mainsprings.

Time Mainspring: 3/4 x 0.0167 inch.

Strike mainspring: 3/4 x 0.0163 inch. (Unfortunately, I had to replace the strike mainspring because it had a rough action when nearly wound, typical of springs that may break soon. I used a new Merritt’s Antiques P-1956).

Many examples of the No. 89 movement have thicker springs, quite often around 0.0175 inch thick, sometimes thicker. After proper repair, this movement will run well with thin springs.

Here is a video of the escapement motion, first run down 6 1/2 days, then fully wound:

Repair Job. 4970.

I just repaired this beautiful and impressive French mantel clock. The clock is 25 3/8 inches wide and has 2 matching candle holders. The visible escapement and black dial chapter ring are very good looking.

The only major problem with the clock was that the mainspring hook in the strike barrel had pulled out. I securely re-riveted back in place, after flattening the area around the hook, which had bulged. I also tightened the hook in the time barrel.

A common problem with French clocks is a torn hole in the outer mainspring end, but in this clock the mainspring ends were fine.

Here are videos of the escapement, and the clock striking:

Here is a slide show:

Repair job 4889.

Noah Pomeroy received patent number 92644 on July 13, 1869; titled “Improvement in deadbeat verge clocks”. The patent describes a way of making a cheap deadbeat verge from a strip of steel.

The standard recoil American strip verge escapement has just one face on each pallet, doing both locking and impulse. Pomeroy’s verge has both a locking face and an impulse face on each pallet. Note particularly the shape of the impulse face on the entrance pallet (on the right).

Many American clocks in later years had strip verges with separate locking and impulse faces that show slight recoil and are called semi-deadbeat. This post shows a movie of one by Seth Thomas.

The movie below shows it in action.

This movement is from an Ithaca Farmer’s model double dial perpetual calendar clock. The photos below show the movement, dials and complete clock.