Adjusting chime timing; no minute hand bushing

[Ponchojack]

I have inherited a circa 1750 Scotch 8 day tall clock with a simple bell chime. Setting it up it now works great except it strikes at 5 minutes after the hour. It has a square hole in the minute hand but no adjustable bushing. I avoiding getting into the works and was wondering if there is usually a straightforward way to adjust the strike position.

Thanks for your advice.

John

 

[JimmyOz]

You will have to take the dial off, then put the minute hand on and turn it till it strikes the hour, you can now see how many teeth you have to move the minute cannon back to get the minute hand pointing to the 12. The hour wheel (the one with the pin in it) must stay in that position so the strike works on the hour only the minute cannon needs to be moved.

 

[Mike Phelan]

Hi John,

Just to clarify (I'm assuming you are talking about a Scottish long case clock, and nothing to do with whisky ) It doesn't chime, it strikes.

The large wheel with the snail is the hour wheel, next to it is the minute wheel and meshing with it is the cannon pinion which lives under the hour wheel.
To do what Jimmy says, you'll have to take the pin out of the minute wheel arbor.
On the minute wheel itself there's a pin that lifts the warning lever and allows the latter to fall exactly on the hour for striking to start. Lift the wheel only enough for the teeth to disengage without disturbing the hour wheel. Minute hands aren't bushed on such clocks.

Pondering to myself - I wonder why it was moved previously? Billy Bodger?

Let us know if you're successful.

 

[Ponchojack]

Hi John,

Just to clarify (I'm assuming you are talking about a Scottish long case clock, and nothing to do with whisky ) It doesn't chime, it strikes.

The large wheel with the snail is the hour wheel, next to it is the minute wheel and meshing with it is the cannon pinion which lives under the hour wheel.
To do what Jimmy says, you'll have to take the pin out of the minute wheel arbor.
On the minute wheel itself there's a pin that lifts the warning lever and allows the latter to fall exactly on the hour for striking to start. Lift the wheel only enough for the teeth to disengage without disturbing the hour wheel. Minute hands aren't bushed on such clocks.

Pondering to myself - I wonder why it was moved previously? Billy Bodger?

Let us know if you're successful.

Thanks so much for the details. I'll be sure to hold the single malts until I get it striking properly.

 

[Ponchojack]

Thanks so much for the details. I'll be sure to hold the single malts until I get it striking properly.

I just recently inherited this clock. We had it moved from Florida to Boston. It was packed well so I'm surprised the strike is off. I'll need to take a closer look once I have the face off it, but everything else is working fine.

John

 

[JimmyOz]

I think you will find it was always striking after the hour, I can't see how moving the clock could change it unless the hour wheel is lose?

 

[Dick Feldman]

I am sorry to say that if you follow the directions given above, you may cause an additional problem for yourself. I do not feel the directions given are proper.
If I understand your problem, the clock always strikes at five minutes past the hour, but strikes the correct number to times.
Me thinks you should look at the lifting piece (probably a bent wire) on the center arbor. (The center arbor is the shaft that the minute hand is mounted to).
I would guess that lifting piece has been bent when someone has moved the hands counter clockwise. (forced).
To remedy your problem, you will have to align the lifting piece with the warning lever so that the strike train is released from warn exactly when the hand is pointing to the 12 o'clock on the dial (The dial is the "face" on the clock). The warn is a short period where power is loaded to the wheel train (gears in clocks are called wheels). In the warn period, the energy is held usually by a pin in the last wheel before the governor. (The governor is that flat thing at the top of the strike train).
That will be a simple repair for someone who understands how the machine works.
Clock repair is not like falling off of a log. It takes some knowledge.
How about some pictures?
Best regards,
Dick

 

[Mike Phelan]

I am sorry to say that if you follow the directions given above, you may cause an additional problem for yourself. I do not feel the directions given are proper.
If I understand your problem, the clock always strikes at five minutes past the hour, but strikes the correct number to times.
Me thinks you should look at the lifting piece (probably a bent wire) on the center arbor. (The center arbor is the shaft that the minute hand is mounted to).

Best regards,
Dick

Hi Dick,
What bent wire?
Surely the lifting piece is operated by the minute wheel, which runs anticlockwise, not by the cannon pinion which lives under the hour wheel, assuming it's a typical British longcase? So the reason for the "late" strike is because of the mesh between the two wheels?

 

[JimmyOz]

I agree with Mike, a simple fix requiring only the meshing of the minute cannon and the hour wheel at the drop of the strike lever.

That will be a simple repair for someone who understands how the machine works.
Clock repair is not like falling off of a log. It takes some knowledge.

Yip it sure does

 

[Dick Feldman]

OK, well maybe you are correct.
I guess I do not know how Scottish regulators are laid out.
I apologize, and am sorry for the distraction---But,
Where the H _ _ _ are the pictures.
Dick

 

[bruce linde]

uh… maybe we should insist on photos before diagnosing?

i think it’s probably a readjustment of the minute cannon… but you never know, and i hear a photo is worth a thousand words.

 

[Mike Phelan]

I agree with Mike, a simple fix requiring only the meshing of the minute cannon and the hour wheel at the drop of the strike lever.

Not quite, Jimmy. Doing this will only change the place where the rack drops onto the snail. The mesh which needs correcting is between the cannon pinion and the minute wheel and this can be corrected without disturbing the hour wheel.
As Dick says, we really need a picture of the front plate, but most UK long case 8-day movements of this era are much of a muchness - Here's a typical one:

Grandfather Clocks striking Movements - Bing

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[JimmyOz]

Just happens I am putting one together in the next day or so and will provide a few photos of the setup.

 

[Kiggsia]

You will have to take the dial off, then put the minute hand on and turn it till it strikes the hour, you can now see how many teeth you have to move the minute cannon back to get the minute hand pointing to the 12. The hour wheel (the one with the pin in it) must stay in that position so the strike works on the hour only the minute cannon needs to be moved.

What is a minute cannon and how do I move it? I am not very familiar with the clock mechanism nomenclature.

 

[shutterbug]

Typically we refer to the cannon in reference to the hour hand controller, because it looks similar to a cannon. But just as there are gears driving the hour hand, there are also gears driving the minute hand. Those gears can be part of the time train, or they can be separate. This thread references how to get the strike activating when the minute hand is at the 12. Apparently the strike is activated by the minute gear, so it has to be positioned in reference to the minute hand.