Strange French Escapement

[sep]

Hi group
I have come across a French silk thread suspension movement with a strange setup for the anchor on the escapement. I am wondering two things. Firstly has anyone ever seen an anchor like this? Secondly. The wheel teeth hit with a very nice "tick" on the entry but leave with a metallic "clink" on the exit pallet. I have tried adjusting the span thinking that there was too much space between entry and exit and if I do so the teeth catch the pallets. I believe this setup is a 1/2 recoil 1/2 deadbeat because the way the teeth hit the exit pallet. Any comments???

[sep]

Hi group
I have come across a French silk thread suspension movement with a strange setup for the anchor on the escapement. I am wondering two things. Firstly has anyone ever seen an anchor like this? Secondly. The wheel teeth hit with a very nice "tick" on the entry but leave with a metallic "clink" on the exit pallet. I have tried adjusting the span thinking that there was too much space between entry and exit and if I do so the teeth catch the pallets. I believe this setup is a 1/2 recoil 1/2 deadbeat because the way the teeth hit the exit pallet. Any comments???

[sep]

Sorry I should have said previously:
Stephen Phillips, USA

[LaBounty]

Hi Stephen-

Some of those early French makers did some strange things that didn't last long and yours could fall into that category. Silk thread and unusual escapement tend to point to an early piece (1700's) but you can't base it on just that.

Trying to get the escapement to conform to a dead beat, recoil, or even a half dead beat may not be the right thing to do. It may be as you suggest; dead beat on one side and recoil on the other. A similar example is a "coup perdu" escapement from the 1740's. I've included some information on that type of escapement which I came across in Tardy's "French Clocks the World Over" Part One, pg. 334.

Maybe someone else can enlighten the both of us as to what you have. :smile:

[sep]

David
Thank you. This is very interesting. Another very funny thing about this escapement is when the pendulum is not in the crutch, and the movement is level the pallets look terribly off beat with the exit side fully embedded between the teeth. When the pendulum is attached its weight moves the crutch to where it will run the escapement. The crutch without the pendulum will not swing when wound unless you turn the entire movement sideways. Make sense?
Stephen

[LaBounty]

Hi Stephen-

The reason the pallets fall to one side without the pendulum is probably because the mass of the anchor isn't distributed uniformly on both sides of the arbor. One side is heaver :smile:. By turning the movement (without the pendulum) to get the escapement to run, you are basically balancing the anchor. I wouldn't be too concerned about it looking out of beat and not running without the pendulum. It does need to run with the pendulum attached though. :wink:

Any chance we could get a picture of the dial and case? It might help date it.

[Bill Ward]

There are many unusual French and Swiss escapements; most are shown in Charles Gros' wonderful (and rare) book "Echappement". However, it's possible that your movement is actually Austrian, as these movements (and clocks) often look French. The Austrians had a more methodical approach to mechanical repair. It appears that, in this variant, the L-shaped pallet can be moved in or out to change the entry/exit point, and shims can be placed under it to change escapewheel tooth penetration. However, my advice is to leave such adjustments alone, unless there is really something wrong with the escapement action, and the repairer really knows what he's doing. These adjustments can cause sudden, premature and traumatic self-induced hair loss!

[sep]

Yes tomorrow I will take a picture of the case and the dial. I am not in the least concerned about the escapement. It runs very well, but the sound is a bit odd. Approx 11" pendulum length. I thought at first the crutch wasn't attached correctly, but after I cleaned the movement and re-hung the pendulum, I figured out how it ran. As always, the clock wasn't working when I bought it. Stephen

[sep]

I forgot to add= Bill thanks! but the clock is most probably French. It MAY be Swiss, but its not Austrian. When I bought the clock the dial was signed "------ Zurich". The dial is silvered and was so far deteriorated that I sent it out to be re-silvered and re-numbered. I could not tell in any light what else was signed except "Zurich". The back of the dial is hand enscribed with "Raingo" but the backplate is not signed Raingo. The movement is complete and doesn't look like it was made from parts of others. The backplate is unsigned.
The clock case is white alabaster.
Stephen

[mrb]

looks like a repair has been made to the anchor.
that could be your problem