Chime rod repair

[Chris Anthony]

Does anyone on the board have experience in reattaching a chime rod to a threaded end? Are they brazed, silver soldered, etc?

[Chris Anthony]

Does anyone on the board have experience in reattaching a chime rod to a threaded end? Are they brazed, silver soldered, etc?

[doug sinclair]

Chris,

I don't know of a successful way to repair a chime rod. These rods are highly tempered which is what enables them to resonate when struck. You lose the temper when you heat them. Brass and bronze rods can only be successfully tempered by work hardening them to the best of my knowledge, and how one would do that after soldering I have no idea. Does anyone know if a steel one can be successfully welded then re-tempered? Why not just replace the rod?

Doug S.

[bil2054]

Chris, unless you are conserving a real rare, museum piece, I can't imagine the labour involved would be worth it. As Doug mentioned, you will lose the temper when welding, brazing, etc. If it were a steel rod, yes, you could weld it, file it back to shape, and retemper it, but again, that's alot of work for something that can be replaced from one of the supply houses, relatively cheap.

Bill Miller
NAWCC Member #157710

[LaBounty]

In addition to the problems mentioned above, you also have the task of tuning the rod since it will be shorter once reattached.

I've also found it easier to replace a broken chime rod rather than repair one.

David.

[Chris Anthony]

Thanks for the input. I agree that the rods would be easiest replaced rather than repaired. Hopefully the threaded ends on the replacement rods will be the same, otherwise it will be drilling & tapping time. It's a late 19th, early 20th century tall case clock of possibly Polish origins.

[Dick Feldman]

Chris,
I would agree that you should replace the chime rod. Do not be afraid of the tuning, etc. It sounds complicated but even I can do it. (I am a little bit hearing impared and am somewhat tone deaf) I always ask my wife for confirmation after tuning one because I do not trust my ears. She is always ready to offer good advise, even on clocks.
Some things to be aware of are that chime rods are made of different materials.(copper, steel, etc.) Try to use the same material that was used originally. I have found one of the biggest problems is removing the old mounting stud. Most of the time it takes brute force and a good vice grips, maybe drilling.
Order a rod that is longer than the original, mount it and nip off small bits with a good quality side cutters (as big as you can find). Strike the rods in order with a metal object till the new rod is in line. I usually order two rods in case I fail on the first try. Remember, you can always take a little more off, but you cannot add length.
If you are afraid to try, most of the materials suppliers offer new blocks with tuned rods in a lot of different configurations.
Best of luck,
Dick Feldman

[Charles E. Davis]

You can raise the pitch by reducing the neck.

Charlie Davis, La Verne, CA