I've been doing something as part of my refurb of clocks and I wanted to know if it's worth doing or not. Once I get things clean, or at least somewhere in the process with the clock completely broken down, I will hold the front and back plates up together just as they would be in the clock, but without the plate pillars. I then sight through the two eccentric arbor holes with a light in the background to see if these two holes are directly in line with each other. If I see full light, I've been using that as some assurance that part of the clock hasn't been messed with. It is my assumption that those two holes would be in alignment leaving the factory. If there is no light, then I expect to have to carefully look at the escapement when the clock is back together and expect to make a change. Is that something worth doing and am I making a good assumption? Or are there too many other things in the clock that might explain why those two holes are not in alignment and yet the clock would still run fine? Thanks...Kurt
I would expect them to be close but, since the eccentrics are adjustments, if they are not that doesn't mean there is a problem. For me the tell-tail sign that something has been messed with is extra (ugly) tool marks on the eccentrics. Here's an example where a huge adjustment was attempted after changing escapement parts. I got this clock when they scrapped it out. It's still on my todo list. Eric
Eric - I certainly look the eccentric to see if there's any damage. In this particular case, the clock is a Schatz with a peninsula eccentric which can have their own "tells" for past adjustments. I guess my point was wouldn't the two holes have been perfectly aligned leaving the factory? Seems to me they would be. Kurt
The simple answer is no. When you polish the pallets or tip the escape wheel teeth or any other process that gives the parts an individual fit you make an adjustment necessary. Also many of the clocks I've seen where the plates were polished, the eccentrics have been moved afterward. That makes me think they made the plates without concern for precise alignment of those pivot holes until final assembly. Besides, unless you used gage pins held solid in some type of fixture you could not determine perfect alignment anyway. Eric
Here's a couple of pictures as I received the clock. The dial got chipped during transport, which I have touched up. The Schatz logo is missing, although remnants can be seen in the dial surface...not sure what that is all about. I assembled the clock after cleaning and the locks and drops look as good as I can tell. The only "adjustment" I made was that the anchor pin was off to one side...it seemed somewhat bent, so I straightened it up. The pallets cannot be adjusted. Kurt
Your method is good for all of the other plate holes though, so don't feel too deflated In the clock repair forum, Jerry Kieffer outlines a method of bushing holes to insure exact alignment. It does require a Mill, and is done with the plates on the pillars. It may not come up so often in 400 day clocks though.
s.b. - The reason I like 400-day clocks is the serious lack of need for bushings! I don't have the experience nor the tools/parts to do it. In the case of the Schatz I'm working on, I really only looked at the eccentric hole and liked what I saw. I would imagine that, by and large, all holes were drilled on some kind of standard machine, maybe boring multiple plates at a time. At any rate, after putting the clock back together, making up a new suspension unit, the clock is happily doing over 270 deg of rotation with at least 45 deg of over swing. Me likey! Haven't put the motion works on yet. Kurt
