Fitting Verges

[Gridleak]

I have an american long case clock with wood plates that has been messed up and I can not get it running properly. The verge on its between the plates shaft has been replaced and now has a poorly made metal strip type verge.(could the clock have had this type originaly?). The exit palate has only a slight bend not even close to the near 90 degree bend that it should have and the verge only encompasses 7 teeth on a 40 tooth escape wheel.
How do I determine the required length of the verge and the proper location of the rotation point where it is riveted to the shaft?

[LaBounty]

Hi Gridleak-

Welcome to the Message Board! You will find a great bunch of people here who are more than willing to help.

Your strip pallet sounds like it is original. These are very primitive looking and don't conform to the "ideal".

If you can give us a photo of the anchor we'll be able to say for sure whether it is a replacement or the original.

Regards,

[Gridleak]

I am sure that the verge is not original as I can see signs of relativly new poorly done work. The clock may have had this type of verge originaly,maybe not. I think that the replaced verge was too short and the exit pallate was overly staightend to fit.
How many teeth should a verge span? This clock has a 40 tooth escape wheel spans 7 teeth .
Its like how do I determine the size and type of verge to fit to a clock if the orignal is missing?

[Scottie-TX]

Yeah; WELCOME, GRIDLEAK!
You aren't perchance biased, are you?
. . . . . . and do I perhaps recognize you from ARF?

[LaBounty]

Ideally, the pallets should span 1/4 of the escape wheel teeth. Spanning 7 1/2 teeth on a 40 tooth escape wheel should work and it may only need minor adjustments.

Fitting a new strip pallet to the anchor isn't an easy task. You need to roughly shape it like the original, leaving the entrance pallet and exit pallet legs extra long, then grind the pallets back until they are the correct length.

Here's a photo of an anchor for an Ive's tallcase...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3438/3740026022_f1874046e7.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2572/3740025980_77f7312858.jpg

This anchor has rather nice pallets compared to some I've seen. Some look like a piece of scrap iron, which it probably was, and not something that would be installed by a skilled clockmaker. However, when these were made, steel and brass were high priced commodities, which is why the majority of the movement is wood, and it is understandable why even ugly steel was used.

Recoil anchors are very forgiving and it won't make much difference whether a new anchor spans 7 1/2 teeth, 8 1/2 teeth, or 10 1/2 teeth. I have a movement in the shop right now that has a recoil anchor which spans 3 1/2 teeth on a 50 tooth escape wheel :).

Hope that helps.

[Gridleak]

Thanks David for the nice pictures 0f odd verge.
I guess I need to explain that the verge on my clock is shaped like a universal verge as found on most cheap kitchen clocks, a piece of flat metal sheet with a U shaped pallet on one end and a 90 deg. bend on the other, doesn't look like what I would expect on this clock. this one looks like it was made from a tin can and riveted on, not rustic cast iron but crappy.

[Richmccarty]

The originals could be fairly crude, so you never know

A POX on any clockmaker that made a clock that doesn't allow the pallets to be removed with the clock together. I don't envy the task of trial & error fitting pallets to that clock.

Do you have Gazeley's clock and watch escapement book? He explains how to to lay out the pallets of (almost) any tooth span and arbor hieght. There might be an optimum number of teeth for the arbor hieght & tooth count, but you can make a drawing to show where the pallets should be for just about anything, even those crazy little French pallets that only span a few teeth.

Good Luck!

Rich

PS - bushings should be really loose on wooden works clock

[Gridleak]

Yeah; WELCOME, GRIDLEAK!
You aren't perchance biased, are you?
. . . . . . and do I perhaps recognize you from ARF?

Figured it Out Antique Radio Forum, yeah been there.

[Mike Phelan]

Figured it Out Antique Radio Forum, yeah been there.
Figured it out, or detected it? ;)

[Scottie-TX]

He probably has discriminating tastes - a phase we go thru atimes.

[Gridleak]

Figured it out, or detected it? ;)


I've just joined the group and getting static already. Better move a bit.

[shutterbug]

I've just joined the group and getting static already. Better move a bit.
Nah - good natured humor. You'll get used to it :)

[Scottie-TX]

Oh, he knows that, but what if I signed on to a Radio forum with th' handle of, "Deadbeat"

[Mike Phelan]

Oh, he knows that, but what if I signed on to a Radio forum with th' handle of, "Deadbeat"

We'd probably assume that you'd been replacing all the AF117s in the IF module on a Roberts R707!

[Mike Phelan]

I've just joined the group and getting static already. Better move a bit.

You might just be biased? ;)