Change JUF Mainspring

[Jaap]

[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Hello,
let me introduce myself. My name is Jaap, I live in the netherlands
and I'm servicing clocks as a hobby. At this moment I have a JUF
Anniversary clock, and I think it is plate number 1595,
no serial number on the plates. During inspection of the mainspring Ifound this problem. Is it best to replace the mainspring with a

new19x36
especially there is no sign of a set mainspring. Thanks for reading and looking.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]
Jaap

















[/FONT]

 

[Burkhard Rasch]

Hello,and wellcome to this message board.Nice clock,I like these translucent laquers over engine turned dials,congrats!Yes,indeed replace the mainspring because:not only will it break at this point sooner or later but also it can cause maior damage to the barrel and T1-T2 wheel which are hard to solve for a hobby clockmaker.Better and cheaper is replacement!Nice mainspring winder You have!
Best
Burkhard

 

[Ingulphus]

Jaap -

If those are scrape marks or gouges where the loops have abraded each other, I would replace it. If they are just discolorations in the steel, I would clean and lubricate it and return it to the clock. But as Burkhard has pointed out, replacing the spring is inexpensive and may save trouble down the line.

Best regards,

Mark

 

[kirxklox]

I would replace it because of the crack I see in it. All mainsprings of this design rub. Normally I would only replace if it had Rust pits in it.

 

[John Hubby]

Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Jaap, I live in the netherlands and I'm servicing clocks as a hobby. At this moment I have a JUF Anniversary clock, and I think it is plate number 1595, no serial number on the plates. During inspection of the mainspring Ifound this problem. Is it best to replace the mainspring with a new 19x36 especially there is no sign of a set mainspring. Thanks for reading and looking.
Jaap

Hello Jaap and welcome to the NAWCC Message Board! Your clock was made between early 1927 and about the end of 1931 based on known dating references. JUF stopped using serial numbers at the end of 1922; after that only a logo stamp (or stamps) was applied:

• From 1923 to 1st quarter 1927 there were two stamps, the JUF "Double Elephant" at lower center and the circular "Jahresuhren-Fabrik G.m.b.H. Germany" up and to the right of the Double Elephant.
• From 2nd quarter 1927 to about the end of 1931 there usually was only the Double Elephant stamp, however on some clocks in this period the words "Germany" or "Made in Germany" may be found at the lower right.
• After 1931 and onward to the end of 1939 when production stopped for WWII, there was no logo or serial number present.

NOTE that in all the above backplate variants, you may find the name of a major trader or retailer provided they were a significant customer. In addition, on many movements there will be a small letter stamped at the lower left corner of the back plate. To date, we have documented the letters D, F, G, H, J, L, O, R, S, and W. The meaning or purpose of these letters is still not known, the best guess seems to be they were used to designate a model or a customer.

The dial design you have was made in a number of colors, and it is very likely that the movement support pillars and the pendulum balls were painted with the same color lacquer when the clock was new.

With regard to the mainspring, have you tried cleaning it with fine steel wool to see if the discoloration can be removed? To clean, vigorously rub both sides of the spring with 0000 grade steel wool and a solvent such as light naphtha. Normally this will remove all deposits such as gelled oil, gum, and light surface rust. The original bluing will disappear and the spring surface will be a grey steel color. You can then inspect the entire length to see if there is any sign of cracking or corrosion pitting that have been mentioned by Sam. If there is no cracking or corrosion pitting the spring can be re-used, otherwise a new spring should be installed.

Please keep us informed of your progress with restoration of your clock, photos will be appreciated!

 

[shutterbug]

The 19 X 36 is 1143mm long and .41mm thick. or 3/4" X 45" X .017"

 

[Jaap]

Hello, thank you all for your advise. I will surely replace the spring because there is a crack is the side of the spring.
Only question I have is, should I try to touch up the dial. The laquer is very easy to come off.
Perhaps, I will leave it as is because it is part off the age of this clock. My wife loves it as it is now.
The mainspring winder is made from the frame of my old sofa. It is working very well.

Jaap

 

[shutterbug]

It you touch the dial, you may find yourself redoing it completely! There is a tutorial on how to do that here, but it's a lot of work

 

[Ingulphus]

In the case of most lacquered dials, it's a relatively easy process, but these particular dials present more of a challenge because the numerals are painted on and will be lost when the old lacquer is removed. It might be possible to scan the dial and make a stencil, but it would be a lot of work to make it look right. If your wife is happy with the clock as it is, I would leave the dial as-is, and keep it from direct sunlight, which will speed the degradation of the lacquer.

 

[Jaap]

Thank you all for the warm welcome to this message board, and
thank you John for dating this clock.

Shutterbug,
I will search for this tutorial and read trough it. Perhaps I will try it first on a piece of scrap metal,
just to see how my painting skills are.
Ingulphus, I restored an Ansiona mantel clock with a fading paper dial. I made
a scan of the dial and with some work in Paintshop it worked for me.
I left the original dial under the new dial. The scanned craquelure in the dial was left there.
I only reworked the Roman Numerals.

Perhaps a little bit off-topic, here are some pictures of the Ansonia.

Jaap

 

[Ingulphus]

Jaap -

My tutorial can be found here: https://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php...810&highlight=chapter+ring+lacquer#post882810. It was meant for Kundo and JUF clocks with an applied chapter ring (as opposed to painted numbers), but it may be of some help.

Best regards,

Mark

 

[Jaap]

Thank you Ingulphus. I will surely look into it. I was thinking of using a red ink with a lacquer to do the pillars and the pendulum balls.
Jaap

 

[shutterbug]

The Ansonia dial looks good, Jaap. I like to add a little color to give it an old look

 

[Jaap]

The Ansonia dial looks good, Jaap. I like to add a little color to give it an old look

Hi Shutterbug, who killed this clock?
My dial is a kind of cream color. Not pure black and white.

Jaap

 

[shutterbug]

The dial was just badly stained, but I wanted to keep the original yellowing on the label. The new one looked the same color, but without the stains. Still looked quite old.

 

[Jaap]

Hi Shutterbug, I used the color scan from the dial and expanded it and printed it on high quality paper on a color laserprinter. From the expanded and printed craquelure I made the covers for pillars. When I got this clock ( My wife brought it home from a fleamarket In London) there was 1 pillar missing. I made 1 new pillar and had to redecorate also the other ones.

Jaap

 

[shutterbug]

I see that. Looks good!

 

[Jaap]

Hi Shutterbug,
the only mainspring I can find is 19x36mm .43mm. If I multiply 2.54x.0.17 it gives 0.43 as the strenght. Is this the correct spring for this clock?
Thanks in advance

jaap

 

[shutterbug]

Yes. On page 208 of the 10th edition of the 400 Day Clock book, it lists the springs and their specs in both English and Metric sizes

 

[Jaap]

Hi Shutterbug,
Yes Page 208 of the 10th edition shows this spring. So, I will order this.
Thanks,

Jaap

 

[Jaap]

Finaly the restoration of this clock is comming to an end. I've redone the pillars and the pendulum balls.
The clock keeping good time and the mainspring is replaced.
Now I'm working on the Dial.

 

[shutterbug]

Looking good, Jaap. Please show us the completed clock when you're done!

 

[MartinM]

...
Now I'm working on the Dial.

I'd be very interested to know what process or device you used to make your paint mask.
It looks like vinyl; But, I'm not aware of a cutter that produces such sharp detail.

 

[Jaap]

HI Shut, thank you for your comment, I sure will share some more pictures when the clock is finished.

Martin, at my work I have a label program and a label printer with cutter. The final mask I will use is an aluminium label.

The toughest thing is placing the fillings for the 4,6,8,9,and 10.
The filling for the 9 took off to never be seen again, so I used the vinyl one.

Now ready for some spraying. I'm exited.
Jaap

 

[Jaap]

This project has come to an end. But I enjoyed the journey from finding an old anniversary clock, the cleaning and changing of the mainspring and suspensionspring.
The paintwork on the balls and pillars. And as last the repainting of the dial. Thanks Ingulphus for pointing me at the Tamiya translucent laquer. Thank you all for reading and support.
Here are the pictures.

 

[Ingulphus]

Jaap -

And what a splendid job you did - congratulations! I'm glad you found a source for the Tamiya - their colors are an excellent match for the original colors on many of the lacquered-dial Kundos, Schlenker und Posner and JUF clocks.

Best regards,

Mark

 

[shutterbug]

What a transformation! Great work, Jaap. You can be proud

 

[Jaap]

And now it found a nice place in our room. Thanks for reading,