Royal Mariner case repair

[Doug Campbell]

Over the past number of years, I've had several Schatz Royal Mariner clocks in the shop with cracked cases. I have one on the bench right now with this problem. I've always shied away from attempting to repair the cracks, for fear of leaving the case looking worse than when I started! Has anyone else run across this, and, if so, have they devised an adequate repair procedure for the case? It seems a shame to leave them cracked, as they are such an attractive clock.

Doug

[Doug Campbell]

Over the past number of years, I've had several Schatz Royal Mariner clocks in the shop with cracked cases. I have one on the bench right now with this problem. I've always shied away from attempting to repair the cracks, for fear of leaving the case looking worse than when I started! Has anyone else run across this, and, if so, have they devised an adequate repair procedure for the case? It seems a shame to leave them cracked, as they are such an attractive clock.

Doug

[bil2054]

Doug, this is a fairly common problem with the bases of 400 day clocks. I don't recall where I read the discussion; can't seem to find it on the board. Anyway, it has to do with the manufacturing process, in which the brass is spun to shape on a mold. This also tends to work harden it, i.e. in some cases, makes it brittle. One respondent mentioned having luck with a large worm drive clamp to draw the cracks closed as tight as possible, then silver soldering from the inside. He said that upon polishing, the brass tended to blend over the repair, and make it nearly undetectable. I haven't tried it myself yet.

Bill Miller
NAWCC Member #157710
Bill's web page (http://bil2054.freeservers.com)