Antique tall case clock

[BCSAEagle]

I bought an antique tall case clock, brought it home, and have it running in my office. I found a name painted on the back of the dial, and I was hoping someone might recognize it since I can't make out what it is. I have added photos of the front of the dial, and the name on the back.
Thank you in advance for all who offer information!
Bob

 

[jmclaugh]

I can't make the name out either. Pictures of the case and movement may help identify, the dial doesn't look English.

 

[JTD]

The name is written using the old German alphabet, but it is difficult to read because the end of the word is obscured by the white mark, and the first letter is also partly obscured .

It might say Hindelang, which is a small town in Bavaria, but that is just a possibility, I am not at all certain. Or perhaps Hindelein, a name, though not a common one.

Other readers of Kurrentschrift may have better ideas.

JTD

 

[BCSAEagle]

Thanks for the input!
A friend suggested that the dial looked like a Pennsylvania Fractur design, and with the German settlements there, it makes sense. Here is a photo of the clock, but at nearly 8 feet tall, my office isn't large enough for me to get a photo of the entire case.

 

[Uhralt]

The wooden dial is a typical example of a Black Forest "Lackschild" dial. I expect that the movement will be an 8-day Black Forest movement with a wooden frame. The hands are also typical Black Forest clock hands for the time the clock was made.
Uhralt

 

[BCSAEagle]

I should have mentioned, the dial is painted metal, not wood. Thanks for the info though! Everything keeps pointing towards a German clock, including the one bell on the top of the wooden framed movement. I didn't measure it before I put it all together again, but I would guess that the bell is about 3" diameter, and sits on the top like a bowl, instead of the other way around like a dome.

 

[Uhralt]

I should have mentioned, the dial is painted metal, not wood. Thanks for the info though! Everything keeps pointing towards a German clock, including the one bell on the top of the wooden framed movement. I didn't measure it before I put it all together again, but I would guess that the bell is about 3" diameter, and sits on the top like a bowl, instead of the other way around like a dome.

I'm surprised, the dial is very much painted like a wooden "Lackschild". It would be interesting to see a picture of the movement.

Uhralt

 

[BCSAEagle]

I took a couple of photos of the movement before I set it up in my office; they are not the greatest, but here they are before I got the cables for the weights straightened out. I also have a photo of the name on the back on the movement, but that's even harder to read than the name on the back of the dial.

 

[Uhralt]

Yes, no doubt, an 8-day Black Forest movement. I wonder how the metal dial is attached to the movement.

Uhralt

 

[BCSAEagle]

There are supposed to be four screws (one is missing), they are at the 1:00, 5:00, 7:00, and 11:00 positions. I am not sure they are original though since they are not spaced evenly, you can see the holes for them in the first photo above.

 

[Betzel]

Very nice. The case is elegant, but looks like it may have been refinished recently? Very glossy. Maybe it's the camera flash?

And, the lantern pinions have an interesting (to me) brass collar. If the only wood in the movement (besides the plates, etc.) is on the great wheel spools, a guess for the movement might be mid-19th century. There's nothing that says the rest of the clock would not be from that era as well. A German movement in an American case made by German immigrants sounds like a pretty interesting theory. TBD?

If you had (even) better pictures of how the dial is attached, I suspect we would all love to see them. Like others, I would have thought the dial would have been made of wood. But, some sort of oxidation seems to be showing through. Hope it's stable!

 

[Jim DuBois]

between 1810 and 1850 there were hundreds of Black Forest "inserts" cased up in American-built tall clock cases. The majority were 30 hr but some were 8-day like this one. I have owned two of the 8-day versions and two or three 30-hr versions. Most have wood dials. This one with a sheet metal dial I would guess to be post 1830 by a bit. I currently have several Penn shelf clocks, three with Black Forest-like movements, all with sheet metal dials and they are all post-1830 according to experts in the field.

 

[BCSAEagle]

Thanks for all the great info so far, it's all greatly appreciated!
I do believe that the case has been refinished sometime in the past, but I'm not sure when; it looks too good, and too glossy given the condition of the dial, and I do see a couple of minor repairs that have been made to the case.
For the first several days, it was running just fine, but now it seems to be loosing time very quickly, like half an hour in half a day, I'm not sure why the difference. My only "guess" is that the weights might be rubbing against each other inside and the friction might be slowing it down. I wound the time side tonight, but not as much on the chime side, that way they are not touching each other and I can test my theory.
I'm not sure if the weights are original or not, they are tin tubes about 2 3/4" diameter and about 15" tall. "If" they are original, I know the metal inside is not, they are filled with items like lead weights for car wheels, and at least one old broken padlock. I was thinking of looking for some cast iron weights to use on it, and keep these just in case they are original to the clock.
"If" my wife allows me to take it out of my office and put it in the living room, I would be able to get more photos if anyone would like to see them, but we are still negotiating on that because I already have two clocks out there!
Again, thanks for all the input, it is very helpful!
Bob

 

[BCSAEagle]

OK, so that didn't work, the clock is still losing a lot of time. My new theory is that something inside is getting caught up allowing the clock to keep ticking, but the hands stop moving, because this morning it lost 15 minutes within an hour and a half. Looks like I need a professional cleaning and adjusting, and possibly a little repair in the movement, but I'm not sure if there is anyone in my area that can do that. If I can't find a repair shop, I might have to find a way to get this to an auction that specializes in tall case clocks.

 

[Uhralt]

The clutch that allows the setting of the minute hand is probably too loose. Do you feel very little resistance when you set the time? To fix this, you need to remove the dial and locate the clutch which is likely a boat-shaped spring. Then remove the wheel on top of that friction spring and bend the ends of the "boat" a bit upwards by applying finger pressure. Put everything back together, except the dial. observe the clock to see if the problem has been solved. If not, repeat the process for more pressure.

Uhralt

 

[BCSAEagle]

Me again...
With taking the finial off the top of the hood (it was already loose), I was able to get the hood off again for a couple more photos; the first one shows two blue circles I drew in to show about where the screws come in from the front of the dial to hold it in place. The second one is just another look inside the movement from the time side.
I watched it a little closer, and it seems to be stopping, or at least slowing down severely, when the minute hand is between the 9:00 and 10:00 position, but after about 15 minutes, it will start moving again. As I mentioned in the last post, I am guessing that something inside is catching and causing this to happen. As you can see, it needs a good cleaning due to the dust inside, so that "might" be part of the problem.

 

[BCSAEagle]

The clutch that allows the setting of the minute hand is probably too loose. Do you feel very little resistance when you set the time? To fix this, you need to remove the dial and locate the clutch which is likely a boat-shaped spring. Then remove the wheel on top of that friction spring and bend the ends of the "boat" a bit upwards by applying finger pressure. Put everything back together, except the dial. observe the clock to see if the problem has been solved. If not, repeat the process for more pressure.

Uhralt

Many thanks!
I just put up another post, and your description sounds to be the correct fix for the problem. I know a little about clocks, but this will be a new learning experience for me to make this repair. I will write another post once I have a chance to try this (between my three jobs!)
Thanks for the detailed message!
Bob

 

[BCSAEagle]

The clutch that allows the setting of the minute hand is probably too loose. Do you feel very little resistance when you set the time? To fix this, you need to remove the dial and locate the clutch which is likely a boat-shaped spring. Then remove the wheel on top of that friction spring and bend the ends of the "boat" a bit upwards by applying finger pressure. Put everything back together, except the dial. observe the clock to see if the problem has been solved. If not, repeat the process for more pressure.

Uhralt

I made the adjustment like you suggested, and it has run for 24 hours without losing any time, so that did the trick!
Many Thanks for that valuable piece of information!
Bob

 

[Uhralt]

I made the adjustment like you suggested, and it has run for 24 hours without losing any time, so that did the trick!
Many Thanks for that valuable piece of information!
Bob

Glad it worked out for you!

Uhralt

 

[BCSAEagle]

Thanks again for ALL the input and information regarding my clock! I have one more minor adjustment to make, and then it should be just fine, sometimes it will chime two hours at one, but that's an easy one to take care of.