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Seth Thomas Electric Chiming Mantel Clock – Simsbury-1 E

Bill Stoddard — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:00:35 +0000

This Seth Thomas electric mantel clock plays Westminster chimes each quarter-hour, and strikes the hour. It has 4 chime rods mounted to a case iron base. This clock uses the General Time M4 motor, which was made from 1948 through the early 1960s.

The date code 11 49 is on the motor and 4913 is on the label (13th lunar month of 1949?).

The case is 24 inches wide and 8 5/8 inches tall. The minute hand is 2 3/8 inches long.

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Repair job 5690. This clock had run so long without service that almost half of the first chime gear arbor was worn away by the rear pivot hole. Otherwise, it needed lots of pivot polishing, and 10 bushings. In this movement, the motor winds the mainsprings that drive the chime and strike.

Seth Thomas Round Top Mantel Clock with 48-R Movement

Bill Stoddard — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:00:54 +0000

This small round-top Seth Thomas mantel clock uses the no. 48-R round movement, 8-day time and strike with rack and snail striking (so it won’t get out of synchronization). The mahogany case is 10 3/8 inches tall and 7 3/16 inches wide. The white enamel dial has a 4 1/2 inch minute track, and the minute hand is 2 3/16 inches long.

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Repair job 5673. Polish pivots, 12 bushings, re-stake strike gear #4 on its hub, install new wires in S4 pinion, straighten 2 bent pivots.

Waterbury Tambour Mantel Clock ca. 1920

Bill Stoddard — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:38:23 +0000

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).

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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:

Repair job 5675.

Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock, Adamantine Finish and Bim-Bam Strike

Bill Stoddard — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:36:59 +0000

This Seth Thomas mantel clock from about 1910 – 1920 has an Adamantine (celluloid) wood-grain finish. The movement is marked “89″ and has bim-bam striking on the hour and a single tone strike (the high note only) on the half-hour. The case is 19 7/8 inches wide and 9 1/2 inches tall. The dial is silvered brass with printed numerals and a 4 7/16 inch diameter minute track. The minute hand is 2 3/8 inches long.

I cleaned the movement, polished the pivots, and installed 13 bushings. The pendulum rod and pendulum bob were previous replacements. The clock was losing time, so I shortened the pendulum rod by 3/8 inch.

I replaced the time mainspring because it was causing wear to the mainwheel teeth. I intended to keep the original strike mainspring, but it broke after cleaning and lubrication, as I was winding it into the clamp for re-assembly. The original mainsprings have the following measurements:

Time: 3/4 wide by 0.0185 inch thick (thicker than usual for a Seth Thomas No. 89 movement)

Strike: 3/4 inch by 0.017 to 0.0172 inch thick).

The replacement mainsprings are no. 280-19-003 from Colonial Clock Co., and have the following measurements:

Time: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0158 – 0.016 inch thick by 120 inches long

Strike: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0162 inch thick by 120 inches long.

The movement is a variation on the basic No. 89 having bim-bam strike. It was made before Seth Thomas started giving different model number to variations on the basic movement.

Here is a video showing the pendulum motion and the striking:

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Repair job 5640.

Seth Thomas Tambour Mantel Clock with ST Hands

Bill Stoddard — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:35:04 +0000

This Seth Thomas tambour mantel clock has a heavy brass dial that is engraved and silver plated. It was made around 1910 – 1920. The hands are the modern “ST” style, with the minute hand having an “S” at the base and the hour hand having a “T”. A different style of ST hands were used back in the 1860s.

The case is 19 1/2 inches wide and 9 1/4 inches tall. The minute hand is 2 5/16 inches long. The movement is the no. 89J. It is similar to the standard no. 89, with the addition of a two-piece back plate.

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I did limited repair on the movement, cleaning it, polishing a few pivots and installing 3 bushings. Three screw-in bushings had been installed in the past, these are not good to use, but some repairers use them because they could be installed without dismantling the movement. The screw-in bushings are large and ugly.

The original mansprings are the following sizes:

Time: 3/4 x 0.0165 inch

Strike: 3/4 by 0.0161 inch

The pendulum bob is gold painted lead, 1 3/4 inch diameter, weight 5.4 ounces.

Repair job 5586.

Late Seth Thomas Adamantine Mantel Clock, 1918

Bill Stoddard — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:54:23 +0000

This Seth Thomas Adamantine mantel clock is dated June 1918 on the bottom of the case (date code 81F, where F represents the month, and 81 are the last two digits of the year reversed). I’ve seen many examples on earlier clocks where the date code has all 4 digits of the year, but this is the first time I’ve seen just 2 digits.

This later example of the Adamantine case has a simplified design with no pillars or Lion’s heads, and the dial is painted metal. See Seth Thomas Adele Adamantine Mantel Clock for an example of the earlier case design.

Case height 10 inches, width 12.5 inches, minute hand length 2 9/32 inches. The pendulum bob is lead with a brass cover on one side, weighs 5.4 ounces and is 45 mm in diameter.

The original mainsprings have the following measurements:

Time: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0175 inch thick

Strike: 3/4 inch wide by 0.0171 inch thick.

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Job 5577. I did limited repair on the movement: cleaning, polished the worst pivots, installed 8 bushings (correcting 3 that were previously installed off-center), and tightened the strike click rivet.

Seth Thomas “Adele” Adamantine Mantel Clock

Bill Stoddard — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:00:38 +0000

The model name of this Adamantine mantel clock is “Adele”. When it was new the case was deep red, but it has faded to red-orange. The clock is 11 1/2 inches tall and 12 1/2 inches wide at the feet. The minute hand is 2 1/8 inches long.

The movement is labeled “4 1/2″ on the back, but it is the same as the No. 89 movement. The name “Adele” is stamped in ink on the bottom of the case. There may be a date code as well, but it is very faint.

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Repair job 5564. This clock has its original mainsprings marked Seth Thomas. They are both 3/4 inches wide and 0.0175 inch thick.

Ansonia Black Iron Mantel Clock

Bill Stoddard — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000

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.

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Repair job 5545. Pivots polished, installed 11 bushings.

Waterbury Tambour Mantel Clock with Enamel Dial

Bill Stoddard — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:00:31 +0000

I recently lubricated this clock, and I thought it was pretty enough that I should illustrate it. The dial is enamel with the numerals fired into it (like on antique pocket watches). It has a very popular type of movement that is used in many of Waterbury’s mantel and shelf clocks.

Notice the copper color painted pendulum bob – this is an original part and is commonly used on Waterbury mantel clocks.

The case is 20 1/8 inches wide and 11 1/4 inches tall. The dial has a 4 1/4 inch minute track. The length of the minute hand (center to tip) is 2 3/16 inches. It has a convex glass lens. The case has been refinished.

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Repair job 5526.

Plymouth (by Seth Thomas) 1940s Mantel Clock

Bill Stoddard — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 20:18:42 +0000

I repaired this modern-styled mantel clock. Seth Thomas made it and sold it under the “Plymouth” name. The movement has two date codes on the back:

11 40 (November 1940) on left rear movement leg;
4506 (June 1945) on strike hammer bridge.

I can’t explain why there are two date codes, perhaps they made the movement before World War II, then finished and sold it after the war (they discontinued clock production for several years during the war). (Note: the owner of this clock states that it was bought during the war. This would mean that the 4506 is not a date code, perhaps it is a model number?)

The case is 8 5/8 inches tall and 12 3/4 inches wide. The dial is silver plated brass, with printed numerals, etc. The minute hand is 2 1/2 inches long from center to tip. The hands and hand nut are silver-plated. The minute track is 5 inches outside diameter. The movement runs over 8 days on a winding and strikes the hours and half hour on 2 chime rods.

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This clock has Seth Thomas’s later type of mantel clock movement (the one that replaced the No. 89). In the past, I didn’t like this movement, because it is subject to severe wear due to its overly strong mainsprings. I have discovered that it will run well with weaker mainsprings (see 1940s Seth Thomas 8 Day Time and Strike Clock Movement for another example of this movement, and Two Seth Thomas “Plymouth” Tambour Mantel Clocks, 1938 and 1945 for another example).

This movement has suffered wear (see photo of the worn bushing above). A previous repairer installed many bushings off-center. It appears that first, off-center rear mainwheel bushings were installed, then all the other bushings were installed off-center to keep gear depthing correct. I tested all the gear depths, and left the bushings off-center except for one that needed moving. The rear time second wheel pivot was rough (the surface was like a fine file), which is why there was so much wear to its bushing. I polished all the pivots and replaced a bent wire in the center pinion.

I replaced the too-strong original mainsprings with weaker ones.

Original mainsprings:

Time 11/16 x 0.0183 x 80 inches;
Strike 11/16 x 0.018 x 80 inches.

New, thinner mainsprings:

Time 11/16 x 0.0161 x 80 inches (Timesavers 20506 shortened by 16 inches);
Strike 11/16 x 0.0167 x 80 inches (Empire Clock 280-17-505 shortened by 16 inches).

(Note: supplier Empire Clock is no longer in business.)

The movement runs extremely well these mainsprings, and would probably run well with even thinner springs (perhaps 0.015 inch thick for the time mainspring). Both mainwheels are 25% worn due to the original strong mainsprings. The clock runs well in spite of the tooth wear.

The pendulum bob is 1 13/16 inches diameter and weighs 4 ounces. The suspension spring is 0.004 inches thick, and the pendulum rod is 2 millimeters diameter.

The inside of the rear door has an instruction label. The label includes the following:

Guarantee and Directions
Covering Clocks equipped with
No. 4300, 4500 and 4600 Series 8-Day Pendulum
Strike Movements in Tambour Cases.

Text here about the clock

Instruction text here

The Plymouth Clock
Thomaston, Conn.
Z-34P

The number 414 is stamped at the bottom.

Repair job 5534

Key: No. 6 large end, No. 0000 (4/0) small end.