hermle 261-080A suspension spring

[danmc]

Any suggestions on where to buy a suspension spring for a hermle 261-080A? I'm also suspicious that I have the wrong pendulum and perhaps there is supposed to be something more between the pendulum leader and the pendulum. Are hermle diagrams available somewhere?

Thanks!

-Dan

(eek, 2 clock projects started in the same weekend)

[Willie X]

Dan,

Diagrams will be scarce. A picture of your clock would help someone give you a better idea of what you need to restore your clock.

Hermles have the usual suspension spring at the top, a leader of varing length (usually about 3 to 4 1/2" long), with the pendulum hooked onto the south end of the leader. There are many combinations as you might guess.

There are actually two suspension springs for the smaller movements. A thinner one for short pendulums, and a thicker one for the longer pendulums. There are also at least 5 different leaders, and 100s of different pendulums.

The length of any combination of parts will have to be exactly the right length for the clock to keep time.

Willie X

[danmc]

Hi Willlie,

Thanks for the reply. Here are several pictures. Not shown are the weight (2 of them) which are 2 lbs, 12 oz each. The face says "made in holland" and also "NU ELCK SYN SIN" (every man to his own?).

The text on the back of the movement says:

81 (date code?)
Franz Hermle
NO (0) JEWELS
MADE IN WEST GERMANY
UNADJUSTED
261-080A

and also

31 cm
-------
125.780

In the picture of the movement, you see that the pendulum leader is only 2" long. The picture where I have the ruler laying on the back with the pendulum close to the bottom shows where 31 cm is from the top edge of where the suspension spring attaches. I have both chains although one is not inside the clock.

The front of the case is missing an oval something (logo? glass? something else?) right about in front of where the pendulum would swing. If someone happens to know what was originally here, that would be great, if not, I'm sure I can find something that looks ok.

-Dan

[harold bain]

Hi, Dan. You are right about the date code (1981), and that you have the wrong pendulum. Timesavers part # 18268 is what you are looking for, but these come in different lengths on the clocks, so you may need to add some pendulum rod to the top of this one to get more length.
Can't see the front to tell what is missing, but probably a viewing window to see the pendulum.
These clocks are called Zaandam clocks.

[danmc]

Hi, Dan. You are right about the date code (1981), and that you have the wrong pendulum. Timesavers part # 18268 is what you are looking for, but these come in different lengths on the clocks, so you may need to add some pendulum rod to the top of this one to get more length.
Can't see the front to tell what is missing, but probably a viewing window to see the pendulum.
These clocks are called Zaandam clocks.

ha! What do you know... I guess I actually did have the pendulum. The guy I got the clock from gave me what is the pendulum in that timesavers picture (minus the rod) but he didn't know what it was for and I didn't see any place for it so I figured it was from something else. So I think what I need mechanically then is the suspension spring and some pendulum rod.

I think you're right on the viewing window now that I know what the pendulum looks like. The first of my pics shows the window and the pendulum would go right behind it.

This is a big help. Thank you!

[Willie X]

Dan,

There is a peculuar little spring that goes between the horsie and the thin threaded rod on your Zaan clock. The spring is necessary to keep the horsie from shifting position in the narrow confines of the pocket where the horsie pendulum swings. If you don't see it, check in the bottom of the clock.

The clock can be easily worked on if you make a jig of wooden blocks to fit underneath the flat bottom parts below the dial. With access to the back and the clock leveled on a stable foundation, you can get everything working right, beat set, rating, etc. then put it on the wall when your done. This takes a little time to set up but beats the heck out of hanging and taking the clock down maybe 10 or more times to make adjustments!

Good luck, Willie X

[danmc]

Dan,

There is a peculuar little spring that goes between the horsie and the thin threaded rod on your Zaan clock. The spring is necessary to keep the horsie from shifting position in the narrow confines of the pocket where the horsie pendulum swings. If you don't see it, check in the bottom of the clock.


I do not have either the little spring, the threaded rod, or the clip at the top of the threaded rod. Anyone have a picture of what this spring looks like? I can certainly see that something is needed to prevent rotation of the horse.

[danmc]

I replaced the suspension spring with a timesavers #20802. What I noticed while carefully inspecting the movement is that the range of motion of the crutch is not what I might have expected. Looking at the back of the motion, I can carefully move the crutch back and forth but it goes from maybe 8:00 to 6:00. In other words I don't see how the pendulum will be able to properly swing since I would assume the pendulum needs to go more or less symmetrically around 6:00.

I didn't see how the angle of the crutch or the pallet on the pallet shaft could be adjusted and also couldn't see evidence of it having been messed with.

Am I missing some bit of understanding of how things should be on this movement?


And in case anyone else runs into this and cares about some partial dimensions of the suspension spring for this movement, here is a sketch of what was left of the old one.

[harold bain]

Dan, the crutch is friction fit onto the anchor arbor, to allow it to be adjusted by pushing it (in your case, towards the 6, until it goes from 5-7).

[shutterbug]

Dan, the crutch is friction fit onto the anchor arbor, to allow it to be adjusted by pushing it (in your case, towards the 6, until it goes from 5-7).
That's also the way you adjust the beat, so it's even on each side.

[danmc]

Dan, the crutch is friction fit onto the anchor arbor, to allow it to be adjusted by pushing it (in your case, towards the 6, until it goes from 5-7).

Thanks Harold! The clock says "tick-tock" now :)

I have a handful of things left to do on the clock but they are all minor and since it seems to be running I'm feeling confident now. Thanks again.

-Dan
-> posts merged by system <-
That's also the way you adjust the beat, so it's even on each side.

Ah! I'd heard of adjusting the beat but hadn't figured out what that meant yet. Guess I know which section of the books and this site to study next.

-Dan

[danmc]

The last thing I have to do on this clock is that the decorative trim around the window where the pendulum swings is missing. You can see the empty area on the pic from one of my earlier posts. I managed to find the two attached pics on the web showing what probably is supposed to be there. In one pic it looks like there is no glass in that window and the other clearly has some sort of glass.

Two questions.

1) anyone know which is more likely to be original or more typical? glass or no glass?

2) any ideas where I can find a replacement for that trim piece? I suppose if worse comes to worse I could try to shape a piece of glass to go there but without the trim stuff I'm not sure if that would actually look any better.

Thanks.
-Dan

[shutterbug]

I've seen them both ways - glass and no glass. If there was glass there originally, you should find some method of holding it in. If nothing looks fabricated for this purpose your probably did not have glass.

[danmc]

I've seen them both ways - glass and no glass. If there was glass there originally, you should find some method of holding it in. If nothing looks fabricated for this purpose your probably did not have glass.

I'm assuming that the trim piece (is there a more correct name for it?), the thing marked with arrows in the pics, is supposed to hold in the glass. Unfortunately my clock is missing that trim piece.

[harold bain]

On some of these, there is a little glassless window to access the pendulum rod to start the clock by pushing it. These usually have the pendulum behind glass, lower on the case.

[danmc]

somehow my attached pics didn't make it... they show the piece I'm trying to find replacement for (these pics were found on the web, my clock is missing that trim but you can see where it used to be).

[harold bain]

I doubt that you will find a parts supplier with that piece on this side of the Atlantic. Try Meadows and Passmore, across the pond.