Getting to know you guys.

[Colin Drake]

Hi! I just joined about a month ago, and I have been wanting to get to know some of the people on the forums a little better. I was wondering if any one would like to introduce them selves, and tell a little about them selves(just your favorite type of clock/watch, or something cheesy like that, and a bit of background about yourself) so we can all get to know each other a little better.
(I am not actually sure where this thread should go, so I just put it here, sorry)

 

[Colin Drake]

I am twenty years old, and about a year ago, I saw an ad in the paper by a clock maker who was looking for an apprentice. I called him up and he said I could start that Monday. I am working at another shop now, but I really enjoy the work. I do not own any clocks myself, and my father's only clock met it's tragic fate when I got a little enthusiastic about my new job, and had no actual knowledge about mainsprings or what they might do upon, say, removing the front plate without following the proper procedure.

My favorite clock thus far has been a very nice Gustav Becker bracket clock we currently have in. It is quite clearly a step above anything I have worked on thus far.

 

[harold bain]

Hi, Colin, really good to see a young fellow getting into clocks. I was about your age when I first started in clocks, and it has been a rewarding career. You will never stop learning as every clock has something to teach you. Keep at it, and keep firing questions both here and at work.

 

[Walt Wallgren]

Hi Colin,

Welcome aboard it's good to have you here! Also, it is great that you are so young! Hopefully you will join the National, if you haven't already, and get involved with a local chapter if there is one close to you. We need more young people to carry on the traditions of clock making for the future of our endeavors.

My grandparents moved in with my Mom and me when I was in my early teens. My Grandfather brought a Gilbert Observatory with him and I fell in love with it and promised myself that one day I would have a collection. That clock came to me when he passed away and I have kept that promise. I started collecting and got to where I had about 40 or so clocks and then life took me in another direction and I really did nothing for quite a few years, although I always had clocks on the wall, especially my first Gilbert. My wife and I inherited an Emperor kit tall clock from her father when he passed away that needed new chains after a botched repair job and I couldn't find them for years. Finally, I found them with a guy in Alabama and that got the juices flowing again and I'm back and very happy about it. My absolute favorite clock will always be the Gilbert and my current favorite is a George Killam banjo from about 1910.

All the best and welcome again,
Walt

 

[doug sinclair]

Welcome,

There is indeed an NAWCC chapter close to Tacoma! Chapter 135. I have included a link to the chapter.

http://nawcc135.org

The Pacific North West Regional takes place in Portland, Oregon, May 14-17. This regional is well attended by British Columbia, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and other chapter members from the Pacific North West. NAWCC membership is required. NAWCC can be joined on line. I have included a link to the NAWCC website.

http://www.nawcc.org

 

[David S]

Hi Colin and welcome. I echo what others have said. It is nice having younger people take up the trade and especially joining our Forum.

I am a retired electrical engineer and have always been interested in mechanical stuff. Started small machining years ago in the 70's repairing old small engines. My Father brought a 400 day anniversary clock back from one of his navy sessions in Germany. It never worked, but we always had it with us and survived the many moves we made. About 5 years ago I decided it was time to get it working and finally did. This got me interested in clock repair and I took it up full time when I retired 4 years ago. Many people on this Message Board have 30 or 40 or more years of experience. I don't have that long, so I have been using all the advice I can get here to come up the learning curve as quickly as I can.

I am not a collector and alot of the repairs I do for people end up being more charity than a big money maker. My particular interest is in repairing or making parts rather than replacing stuff.

As Harold says this is fascinating because there are so many different clocks and mechanisms.

Looking forward to your contributions.

David

 

[Tinker Dwight]

Hi
I am still working as an electronic engineer and have been
fiddling as a hobbyist for about 5 years. I'm not all that
young and should be retired.
I'm not the best at identifying clocks or dates but think I'm
often helpful when solving problems with make clocks work.
I understand the math and physics of clocks and find remote
troubleshooting an interesting way to work the mind.
There is a lot to learn from those with more years of experience.
This site expands us all.
Tinker Dwight

 

[prideofmatchingham]

Yes Tinker, I can attribute to your 'maths and physics' attribute. Thanks for being there!

 

[Colin Drake]

Welcome,

There is indeed an NAWCC chapter close to Tacoma! Chapter 135. I have included a link to the chapter.

http://nawcc135.org

The Pacific North West Regional takes place in Portland, Oregon, May 14-17. This regional is well attended by British Columbia, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and other chapter members from the Pacific North West. NAWCC membership is required. NAWCC can be joined on line. I have included a link to the NAWCC website.

http://www.nawcc.org

Yup, I was there last Saturday.

 

[John Hubby]

Colin, welcome to the NAWCC Message Board! It's great that you are starting young in the fascinating world of horology, and I strongly encourage you to join the NAWCC and local NAWCC chapter 135. I'm planning to attend the Pacific Northwest Regional in May that Doug mentioned and would really enjoy meeting you there.

I am a retired chemical engineer, my "big" hobby early in life started with building hot rods, that later morphed into restoring vintage sport cars. This continued while I was living outside the US for many years; then one day my wife brought home an early 1900's vintage Phillipp Haas Westminster chime mantel clock with a broken quarter-chime mainspring. I was able to find a replacement and made the repair, and the rest is history. It was a heck of a lot more fun working inside on clocks than in the cold garage on broken cars! That was in Belgium in 1977, still have that clock and way too many others. I retired several years ago and started a home clock repair business that is doing well, although I spend more personal time now doing research on early makers while my son-in-law works full time on the clocks.

I joined the NAWCC in 1982 while working in Australia and after returning to the US in 1992 got involved in chapter and national activities. This included being a co-founder of the 400-Day Chapter 168 (1995) and serving 10 years on the NAWCC Board of Directors (2001-2011). My main involvement now is this message board, which is in its 17th year of operation.

Again, a big welcome aboard and we look forward to your participation.

 

[Colin Drake]

Hi
I am still working as an electronic engineer and have been
fiddling as a hobbyist for about 5 years. I'm not all that
young and should be retired.
I'm not the best at identifying clocks or dates but think I'm
often helpful when solving problems with make clocks work.
I understand the math and physics of clocks and find remote
troubleshooting an interesting way to work the mind.
There is a lot to learn from those with more years of experience.
This site expands us all.
Tinker Dwight

Both my bosses are "retired" already. They just don't like sitting around, playing golf and watching TV as much as they thought they would.

 

[Colin Drake]

Welcome,

There is indeed an NAWCC chapter close to Tacoma! Chapter 135. I have included a link to the chapter.

http://nawcc135.org

The Pacific North West Regional takes place in Portland, Oregon, May 14-17. This regional is well attended by British Columbia, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and other chapter members from the Pacific North West. NAWCC membership is required. NAWCC can be joined on line. I have included a link to the NAWCC website.

http://www.nawcc.org

I am a member of the NAWCC as of last month, and I plan on attending the regional, although I am not entirely sure as to how I will get there yet.

 

[Jerome collector]

Colin,

I'm a member of Chapter 135, although since moving to Omaha I no longer attend their meetings. I encourage you to attend their next meeting. They're a great group of people with a lot to share. A benefit of attending their meetings, which are held in member's homes, is seeing a wonderful variety of collections.

Mike
http://jeromeclockcollector.com

 

[leeinv66]

Welcome aboard Colin! Age is only a state of mind and I still feel like I am 21, so don't expect me to cut you any slack because of a number If you click on "Your Settings" at the top of the page, then under "My Settings" on the left side of the page click on "Edit Profile", there is a checkbox that once checked will display A NAWCC Member banner under your country & state flags. If you want others to know you are a member that is. I have been pulling thing apart and putting them back together most of my life. I worked on my first clock forty years ago, but still class myself as a hobbiest. Like Harold, I am still learning all the time.

 

[AndyDWA]

At a bit over 50, I'm getting the feeling I might be one of the younger forum members

I only began working on clocks just over a year ago when I found my first 400-day clock at a local auction. My wife loves them and always wanted one but we never knew where to get them. We now have 25 of them. It's neither an interest nor a hobby. It's an addiction. Quit now! Before it's too late!!!

I'm still a complete novice and spend almost as much time on here asking questions as I do actually working on the clocks. I've been very lucky that the first clocks I got only had minor problems that were easily fixed. The problems have grown more complicated as the collection has grown, which has given me the opportunity to learn new things incrementally.

The mechanics of clocks has me absolutely fascinated and my interest occasionally drifts into other types of clocks as they somehow find themselves living in our home. Many of the clocks we have were destined for landfill but now almost all of them are restored and running, so I sometimes see myself as the local "clock rescuer"

 

[owen.or]

Welcome to the message board Colin. I would encourage you to attend the NW regional. Look for information here: https://net.nawcc.org/imis_15/NAWCC/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=MT15PNW

Advance cost for entry to regional events is $30 plus the cost of the Friday luncheon and the Saturday banquet. The public will be allowed entry on Saturday only. I believe the fee for Saturday only is $10.

If you drive, the Monarch Hotel is just off I205 at the Clackamas Town Center exit. I'm pretty sure it's exit 14. Another idea might be to take Amtrac from Tacoma to Portland. Then take the 45 minute ride on the MAX train to Clackamas. From the Amtrac station walk a few hundred feet to the NW 6th & Hoyt MAX Station. Take the green line to the end at Clackamas Town Center. At that point you are just about the length of a football field from the Monarch Hotel where the regional will be held. That way you could stay anywhere downtown or along the Max line if you are staying overnight. Of course staying at the Monarch would be the most convenient, and their rates are reasonable. There is an NAWCC rate of only $99+tax.

I am a long time member from the Portland area. Hope to see you at the regional, David,Owen.or

 

[MartinM]

My story's a lot like Andy's. I found a Schatz 49 diamond dial in a shop for 3 bucks and (strictly with the intent of polishing everything) rebuilt the clock and got it running in time to give it to the wife for our 10th anniversary. It's still running strong. It was about another 10 years before I got to thinking about how well restoring a 400-day clock seems to match my attention span and picked up another one. Now, I have in excess of 400, mostly complete and a ton of parts to fix the broken ones.
I generally do about one a week and also get the ones my local clock shop gives me to do. Lately, I've been branching out as there are less clocks floating around and have begun working on other types. I just completed a ST #2 reproduction that I've gotten to right around a second a week accuracy.
Yesterday, at the local flea market, I picked-up a Lux resin cuckoo, A Seth Thomas miniature camelback style 4-Jewel and a carved wooden owl novelty clock with the moving eyes. All for 10 bucks.
I had all of them apart, cleaned, polished and running before bedtime, including re-silvering the dial on the ST.
I'm just having fun with it all, currently and hope that it may supplement my income in retirement. As they say. "They don't make 'em, anymore.". I figure most anything 'mechanical' will just go up in value and, for now, I'm good to be buying what I can, where I can, when I can. Who knows, The balloon may go up and folks in the post-apocalyptic world will need a way to tell time.
Anybody know where I can get a little blue bird?

 

[ANTIQUECUCKOOCLOCK.ORG]

Im Jeff. the antique cuckoo guy.
Welcome. always refreshing to see a fellow young-blood in the mix.
I have been collecting to one degree or another as long as I can remember. Specializing in Black forest pre-1900 mainly.

 

[josephhartz]

Hey Colin- and other members. Joseph here 63 years young. Bucks County, Pa. Was a auto mechanic before retiring work part-time (clock money)lol.
I have a modest collection maybe 10 clocks some really old and some new. Everything from a ST Sonora 4 bell to a KitCat clock Really like American wall and shelf an cuckoo clocks. I love chimes-and especially Sonora bell chime clocks!
Just finishing my college degree online at community college that I started in 1977 Photo Journalism ..never too late I guess...in Information Technology.
I am a photographer and advid gardener. When my Dad was with us-he worked for Burpee seed company here in Pa. for 25 years-so I guess a lot rubbed off on me unintentionally.
Pleased to meet everyone!

 

[Colin Drake]

Thank you for all your replies. I just wanted to let you guys know that I attended my first chapter meeting this month, and I am planning to attend the regional in May. It's great to meet you all, and thanks for your support.