Clock Repair is my passion

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Greetings all. My name is Simon, and I repair clocks – both as a hobby, and for a local Repair Café.

I have a Proxxon lathe, and a Proxxon mill, and I find I quite often need guidance on best practice when using these. I think this forum may be able to help!

My main reason for joining today is to discover whether there is an index of past issues of the magazine. I have been asked to work on a hand-built clock (incomplete) that, as far as I can tell, was made from plans published in Model Engineer magazine.

All I know is that the issue dated 4 April 1957 has a two page article on the clock (pages 492/493). If someone can tell me which issues I might need to buy in order to have the full story, that would be great.

Failing that – is there a better section of the forum where I might pose the question?

Best wishes

Simon

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Could be the ME Musical Clock by Claude Reeve a well respected designer at that time. If so it is quite complex having a music box movement incorporated to play tunes on a set of bells as well as the usual chimes. The articles were also collected together as a book which would be the best route as it covered many issues of the magazine.
Some photos would be interesting.

However the date & page number is for an article about fly cutting wheels by S.W.Carr which while annotated as for the clock above may actually be on another.

There is indeed an index https://www.itech.net.au/modelengineer/

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Welcome Simon!  It could help if you could post a couple of photos of the clock.

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Bayzle, thank you for your very swift and incredibly useful reply.

I cannot be sue yet whether the clock movement in my possession is the one Claude Reeves designed, but there appear to be some similarities based on the picture at the top of the article I referenced.

Here are the photos of what I was presented with:

There is only one nest of bells, plus one conventional bell for the strike (not pictured) , so it is not exactly like the one in the article I referenced which has two nests:

I know for certain that several components are missing and I am waiting to hear whether the daughter of the (deceased) man who built this can track them down. If she can’t then I will be unable to finish this for her, which would be a shame as she would like to see this running as a memorial.

Simon

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

That looks very much like claude Reeves Chiming Grandfather Clock ISBN 0 85242 423 X.!!! MInes an ex Library copy bought for a £1

Abe or world of books have copies

[Andrew CrowParticipant @andrewcrow91475]

There’s one on ebay for about £20, it certainly looks the same as your Clock.

[Dick HParticipant @dickh]

The ME Musical Clock was described by Claude Reeve  in a series of 12 articles in ME from 1957 onwards together with another 5 or 6 describing a case for the clock. Each article was only 3-4 pages long. There are a couple of additional articles on the gear cutters used and other details.

[PlasmaParticipant @plasma]

Curiously enough I’ve been asked to look at a chiming mantel clock for a friend.

It’s not in the same league as the one you are looking at, but it is good quality apparently.

I took it to a local repairer to ask if it was worth doing.  He said probably not unless it had deep sentimental meaning. To service it and get it running he quoted £350 not including any parts that may need replacing!  Wow.

I know the chiming drive wheel pinion is badly worn but I’m happy I can do that as a lathe project.

One of the chime rods has snapped and has been soldered, so it now has a flat sound to it. I’m going to have a go at making a new one from brass rod. Just tuning it may be fun lol.

Other than that I’m confident it will be a nice project to strip, clean and repair.

Good luck with your work on what looks like a really well done build.

 

[bernard towers]

On bernard towers Said:

That looks very much like claude Reeves Chiming Grandfather Clock ISBN 0 85242 423 X.!!! MInes an ex Library copy bought for a £1

Abe or world of books have copies

Thanks for the information. I’ve ordered a copy from Abe Books.

[Plasma]

On Plasma Said:

Curiously enough I’ve been asked to look at a chiming mantel clock for a friend.

It’s not in the same league as the one you are looking at, but it is good quality apparently.

I took it to a local repairer to ask if it was worth doing.  He said probably not unless it had deep sentimental meaning. To service it and get it running he quoted £350 not including any parts that may need replacing!  Wow.

I know the chiming drive wheel pinion is badly worn but I’m happy I can do that as a lathe project.

One of the chime rods has snapped and has been soldered, so it now has a flat sound to it. I’m going to have a go at making a new one from brass rod. Just tuning it may be fun lol.

Other than that I’m confident it will be a nice project to strip, clean and repair.

Good luck with your work on what looks like a really well done build.

 

Good luck with your project too. If you get stuck, drop me a private message.

 

Simon

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

Simon,

Did you get anywhere with the Reeves clock?

Matt

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Hi Matt

No – I had to admit defeat. Although the family of the deceased clock maker found some of the missing parts, there were some significant pieces still missing. My engineering skills would not have been sufficient to make the missing parts.

I suggested to the family that they might contact the BBC to see if the Repair Shop would be interested in taking it on. I haven’t heard back to see what the outcome of that was.

 

Simon

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

Well, it is currently with me and I’m trying to do a little research before working on it. Were any missing parts re-united with the clock?

Rgds, Matt

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Wrong button

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Hi Matt

Is it really the same clock that I had in my hands?

I’m slightly confused about your question. I was provided with some parts initially but some major items were clearly missing. I asked the family to have another looks and they found some of the missing items. But when I started studying the book I realised there were still some parts missing. I didn’t make copious notes but there was only one nest of bells instead of two, and there was no chime pin drum. You do have the book, don’t you?

Regards

Simon

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

Simon,

The clock I have is the one that you once had. (The book also came with it which you bought!) It has obviously acquired a few miles/owners under it’s belt!!

Yes, only one next of bells but Alan White who built it did buy the 2 sets back in the 70’s as indicated on an invoice which may have come with the small amount of paperwork.

The chime drum appears to be there and the musical drum is also there but unpinned.

Regards, Matt

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Matt, I wish you luck. Do let me know how it goes. Are you local? I’m in North Dorset.

That 38lb weight is quite a monster, isn’t it?!

Regards

Simon

[David Gibbons 1Participant @davidgibbons1]

To the OP. whereabouts in the country are you? Clock repairers are getting rare on the ground. We had one in our repair café in Lichfield. He had so much abuse from people who expected their clocks to be fixed immediately. He ended up quitting the group, which was a shame as he was a multi talented guy.

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Hi David

I’m in North Dorset, and volunteer for the Marnhull Repair Café.

I always set people’s expectations when I take in a clock. I’m retired and enjoy spending about 16 hours a week in my workshop on other people’s clocks. I explain that I am a self-trained hobbyist, so there are no guarantees that I can fix their clock (nor indeed can I guarantee that I won’t make it worse!). Most of the time I can get a clock back to a customer in 2-4 weeks but I explain that if the problem is obscure it might take longer to research the exact cause.

Regards

Simon

[simonhenry700]

On simonhenry700 Said:

Matt, I wish you luck. Do let me know how it goes. Are you local? I’m in North Dorset.

That 38lb weight is quite a monster, isn’t it?!

Regards

Simon

Yes, it’s a monster! I will start in earnest in the New Year and probably create a blog /post for it.

I’m just south of Yeovil…

Matt

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

NewsFlash !

I have just stumbled across this:

https://www.horologiumprecision.co.uk/workshop-blog/making-mechanical-music

MichaelG.

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

I saw that a few days ago, Michael – Tommy is an excellent craftsman. I wish I could understand the musical aspect 🙂

Matt

[simonhenry700Participant @simonhenry700]

Excellent – thanks for the link!

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