Extra tiny parts

[tracerjack]

I just finished a Wurthner with Plate 1587, which for the last two days has been functioning beautifully, but I have a few questions about some of the tiny parts that confused me. The small parts were;
1. two tension washers were on the center arbor, both football shaped and stuck together - I knew what these were for, but had never seen two before
2. no idea where a small brass bushing with no oil sink came from

Here is the problems I had with the clock on reassembly;
1. screw holding minute wheel did not have a large enough head to keep the hour wheel from sometimes pulling off if removing hour hand
2. gradual binding of the minute wheel within the hour - appeared to be binding on the tension washer point
3. could not get good tension on the minute hand - hand nut would bottom out

This is what I did;
1. used brass bushing which fit on the minute wheel screw to raise minute wheel slightly which did clear the binding
2. used one tension washer on the center arbor, and the other between the hand nut and the minute hand - hand now has proper tension when moving the hand
3. did nothing about the minute wheel screw, since the hour wheel would only sometimes pull off if you were taking off the hour hand. I couldn't add a washer to the screw, because the shoulder length wasn't long enough

Any suggestions about whether I should correct what I did would be appreciated.

 

[Harry Hopkins]

Happy to hear the clock is running well. I don't remember ever seeing 2 oval tension washers used together so I suspect a previous repairman was trying to add more hand tension. Your solution to use one behind the hand nut sounds reasonable to get the tension. Sometimes there is a flat washer behind the cannon pinion before the oval washer to help eliminate the binding you found. I have had to add a washer or 2 to the minute wheel post to aid in alignment with the hour wheel but usually under the minute wheel. It is odd that the screw head is not big enough to keep the hour wheel in place but I don't think I would add a washer on top. I don't remember a bushing sized piece on that post but there are many things I have not seen. So many times a previous repair has changed the position of these small bits so as you found it can be a little bit of a puzzle.

 

[tracerjack]

Thank you for the response. Since this was only my fifth torsion clock to overhaul, I am still in uncharted territory. Wanted to make sure that what I did was acceptable, particularly with the bushing since I had no idea where it came from. Although getting a clock to work is of course my end objective, I still would like what I do to be either original, or if that is not possible, at least acceptable and unobtrusive.

 

[MartinM]

I have seen multiple tension washers to increase hand tension. Do you have the suspension spring guard and does it have both of its brass standoffs? Those look a lot like a bushing.

 

[tracerjack]

I have seen multiple tension washers to increase hand tension. Do you have the suspension spring guard and does it have both of its brass standoffs? Those look a lot like a bushing.

Glad to get confirmation that two tension washers are sometimes used. This clock showed that it needed two tension washers, since I couldn't get proper tension with just one. The clock does have a guard and both the standoffs are there. On this clocks and others I have, the standoffs are beveled on one side. The brass bushing is straight sided, as if cut from brass tubing. I usually find a washer under the minute wheel if it needs raising. Most likely whoever worked on the clock didn't have a proper washer on hand and used a bit of tubing instead.