French Clocks

[ticktock]

In one of his replies Mike Phelan speaks about the brass of French Clocks. What precautions should one take when overhauling one of these movements in regards to ultrasonic cleaning and such so no damage is done to the surface due to fingerprints and the like.

Thanks

tick

 

[glr1109]

After cleaning, I use powder-free, latex gloves.
greg

 

[Mike Phelan]

Yes - agree with Greg on that. Fingerprints are almost impossible to remove.
You might be still able to get "finger cots" as well - like the fingers on a latex glove.

Ultrasonic cleaning should be fine - not tried it here, as you still need to spend a bit of time cleaning all the parts after this.

If the movement is visible it really needs a polish, wash, and chalky brush, so it is debatable if it is worth the ultra unless it is very dirty indeed. I don't.
If the movement is not visible I suppose you could omit polishing it - I do, but that's just me and not necessarily what everyone thinks.

Before you clean these (or any clock with pinned pillars), make sure there are no burrs on the pin holes so the top plate drops in freely. Makes reassembly easier. Pivots on these are glass-hard and will snap like carrots if you are not careful!

HTH

 

[Robert Gary]

I wear gloves when working on any clock, not just French. I prefer Nitrile gloves. I find they fit much better; they form to my hands as my body warms them up. I don't sweat as much in Nitrile as I did in latex. I still sweat, just not as much.

Once you get used to wearing them, they are no problem at all. Another advantage to Nitrile is avoiding any issue of alergy that is often associated with latex. Of course, your hands stay much cleaner, too, when you wear gloves.

I buy my Nitrile gloves at Harbor Freight. They have both Nitrile and latex in boxes of 100. They go on sale regularly for under $10.00 a box. Last time I bought them, I think they were closer to $7.00.


RobertG

 

[dduxdad]

Yes - agree with Greg on that. Fingerprints are almost impossible to remove.
You might be still able to get "finger cots" as well - like the fingers on a latex glove.

Ultrasonic cleaning should be fine - not tried it here, as you still need to spend a bit of time cleaning all the parts after this.

If the movement is visible it really needs a polish, wash, and chalky brush, so it is debatable if it is worth the ultra unless it is very dirty indeed. I don't.
If the movement is not visible I suppose you could omit polishing it - I do, but that's just me and not necessarily what everyone thinks.

Before you clean these (or any clock with pinned pillars), make sure there are no burrs on the pin holes so the top plate drops in freely. Makes reassembly easier. Pivots on these are glass-hard and will snap like carrots if you are not careful!

HTH

I AM CERTAINLY NO EXPERT ON THE ISSUE OF FINGER PRINTS ON CLOCK PLATES, ETC.

 

[dduxdad]

Yes - agree with Greg on that. Fingerprints are almost impossible to remove.
You might be still able to get "finger cots" as well - like the fingers on a latex glove.

Ultrasonic cleaning should be fine - not tried it here, as you still need to spend a bit of time cleaning all the parts after this.

If the movement is visible it really needs a polish, wash, and chalky brush, so it is debatable if it is worth the ultra unless it is very dirty indeed. I don't.
If the movement is not visible I suppose you could omit polishing it - I do, but that's just me and not necessarily what everyone thinks.

Before you clean these (or any clock with pinned pillars), make sure there are no burrs on the pin holes so the top plate drops in freely. Makes reassembly easier. Pivots on these are glass-hard and will snap like carrots if you are not careful!

HTH

I AM CERTAINLY NO EXPERT ON THE ISSUE OF FINGER PRINTS ON CLOCK PLATES, ETC.

I HAVE CLEANED MANY BRASS CLOCKS AND I MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO OILS ON THE PARTS.....I SIMPLY RINSE THE PLATES AFTER I HAVE CEANED THEM WITH DENATURED ALCOHOL. I USUALLY SPRAY MY FINGERS BEFORE I HANDLE THE PART WHEN I AM DOING THE LAQUER COATING. I DO NOT SEEM TO GET FINGERPRINTS ON ANY I HAVE CLEANED AND LAQUERED.

 

[Scottie-TX]

Yeah;
You're absolutely right. I removed my fingerprints once, unintentionally, on a belt sander. They just grew right back. Tenacious liddle divils.

Yes - agree with Greg on that. Fingerprints are almost impossible to remove.

 

[5piet1]

Hello tick,
in regards to ultrasonic cleaning it's better to make sure that there is nothing lying ( gears or little parts) on the surface off the platines.
Some cleaners ar so powerfull that there becomes an print of the little part on the platine .
So clean the platines separately from the other parts to prefend this.
greetings piet.

 

[Mike Phelan]

I AM CERTAINLY NO EXPERT ON THE ISSUE OF FINGER PRINTS ON CLOCK PLATES, ETC.

I HAVE CLEANED MANY BRASS CLOCKS AND I MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO OILS ON THE PARTS.....I SIMPLY RINSE THE PLATES AFTER I HAVE CEANED THEM WITH DENATURED ALCOHOL. I USUALLY SPRAY MY FINGERS BEFORE I HANDLE THE PART WHEN I AM DOING THE LAQUER COATING. I DO NOT SEEM TO GET FINGERPRINTS ON ANY I HAVE CLEANED AND LAQUERED.

Er, DD, turn the <caps lock> off; you are shouting!

All depends on your skin and umpteen other things of which I know not much about.
For most of us, I can guarantee that if we handle highly polished brass clock parts, we will get fingermarks on them; maybe now, maybe in a week / month or three.

Of course, if we are talking about something that has been cleaned and lacquered before you handle it, your fingers will not actually touch the brass.

However, we were talking about the context of French roulants, which are highly polished and not lacquered, so I'll stick to what I said.