English Longcase restored.

[shimmystep]

A very nice local gent asked me to look at his English Longcase movement a couple of weeks ago. As soon as we took the dial off it was clear that there was a lot to do. You can see a horrible lifting lever and rack tail in the 'before' photo.
This has been a pleasure to work on, given it involved the fabrication of a new lifting lever, rack tail, gathering pallet, new tooth in the rack, slippers on the impulse faces. Plus all the usual pivot re-facing/burnishing etc
Will have the lines on tomorrow and on the test stand.

And wished to say thanks for any comments to the couple of queries I had on the way with this one on the MB

 

[shutterbug]

Nicely done, shimmy! Very good work!

 

[caddwg]

Shimmy:
Very well done. The finished movement looks beautiful. As always, thanks for sharing your work.
Regards: Larry

 

[ImPondering]

Very nice work. I'm sure the customer will be happy!

 

[Len]

Shimmy,

Very well done looks beautiful..

 

[shimmystep]

Thanks folks, kind words. Looking forward to putting this one in the case.

 

[Bruce Alexander]

I'm thinking maybe we should start a "Clockmaker's Hall of Fame" for work like this shimmy! Very, very nice.

 

[shimmystep]

I'm thinking maybe we should start a "Clockmaker's Hall of Fame" for work like this shimmy! Very, very nice.

Thanks Bruce, generous words dear chap.

 

[Neuron]

Beautiful job! I love those thick brass plates and they do polish up nicely. If I may ask, what is your polishing method? Besides touching up the pivots, did you have to work on the pivot holes (i.e. re-bush)? I guess those thicker plates tend to hold up better than the thinner ones.

 

[shimmystep]

Beautiful job! I love those thick brass plates and they do polish up nicely. If I may ask, what is your polishing method? Besides touching up the pivots, did you have to work on the pivot holes (i.e. re-bush)? I guess those thicker plates tend to hold up better than the thinner ones.

Thanks Neuron. I've found these plates tend to have a 'grain' as it were from the manufacturing process. After any bushing work I'll make the bush flush and then use some wet and dry paper to reinstate that grain which normally only takes a few wipes of the wet and dry in the right direction. Otherwise you can see smoother spots where the bushes have been made flush. The plates are cleaned in a solution I get here in the UK, made up by the seller, during that clean they given a wipe over with very fine wire wool with the 'grain'.
These run with a big weight as you know, so I think they probably fail less as pivot holes wear, than those with less power. Many of the pivot holes in this were in a pretty poor state, a few had practically made their own full hole next to the original. The large weight probably cancels out any advantage the 3.25mm plates give.

 

[Tony1951]

I'm sure the customer will be happy!

I should think he will be dancing a jig in delight.

Shimmystep - I saved those pictures to my hard disk to remind me of what a restored clock can look like. It looks wonderful to say the least.


Even getting to view the pictures other than in thumbnail form took forever. I don't think it is my connection, but the board seems to be running very badly at the moment.

 

[shimmystep]

I should think he will be dancing a jig in delight.

Shimmystep - I saved those pictures to my hard disk to remind me of what a restored clock can look like. It looks wonderful to say the least.


Even getting to view the pictures other than in thumbnail form took forever. I don't think it is my connection, but the board seems to be running very badly at the moment.

Thanks very much Ton. Yep it's running super slow isn't it! I've given up looking at so many pics folk have posted over the past 2 months, it's a shame. The plan is to change servers tomorrow apparently so hopefully things will improve for everyone. Though we seem to have been hit hard by the problems here in the UK.

 

[Neuron]

Thanks Neuron. I've found these plates tend to have a 'grain' as it were from the manufacturing process. After any bushing work I'll make the bush flush and then use some wet and dry paper to reinstate that grain which normally only takes a few wipes of the wet and dry in the right direction. Otherwise you can see smoother spots where the bushes have been made flush. The plates are cleaned in a solution I get here in the UK, made up by the seller, during that clean they given a wipe over with very fine wire wool with the 'grain'.
These run with a big weight as you know, so I think they probably fail less as pivot holes wear, than those with less power. Many of the pivot holes in this were in a pretty poor state, a few had practically made their own full hole next to the original. The large weight probably cancels out any advantage the 3.25mm plates give.

Thanks for revealing your polishing method, especially how you blend the bush work areas to match the surrounding brass grain (a fine term to describe the surface on these plates). You did that so well on this clock that I wasn't sure that you had re-bushed any holes. Now that I know how it's done, I'll try to emulate your practice.