GILBERT TRIPLE PLATE MOVEMENT need help

[John P]

I picked up a Gilbert clock at Hillsville I guess you would call it a crystal regulator. Not sure.
The movement is in bad shape and was hoping someone out there has some experience with a round, triple plate set up.
Any diagrams, pictures, repair tips just any information at all would be helpful.

La Bounty is repairing the time side main and 2nd wheel and I also need to repivot one of the strike wheels. One problem is the clock has neen apart in a box for over a year.

If you can help me out, it would be appreciated.

here is a picture I got off the internet of the same clock

 

[doug sinclair]

I am certain that David LaBounty would be able to do the whole​ job for you. Chances are that a TSM for that movement will be next to impossible to find, but an experienced technician like David wouldn't require one.

 

[erngrover]

David LaBounty will be a very good resource. I just finished one of these that had gone through a typhoon in Haiti. My customer brought it in, having received it from his grandmother. The clock had been in storage, including the muck, for more than 30 years. When I received it, the steel parts were badly corroded or non-existent. I was fortunate to have found on on eBay so that I could make up the missing parts. Fortunately the brass wheels were in perfect condition. The clock runs today, and the one I purchased as a guide runs well too. And they can be a real challenge to work on.

 

[John P]

Im sure Mr. LaBounty can put it togeather properly but I want to repair it myself and shall. Tech. information is what I need.

If you have any... chime in here.

 

[Bruce Alexander]

Fortunately it looks like you just have two gear trains to deal with. Odd that Gilbert would make a three-plate movement with two gear trains. If this is indeed a three plate movement and assuming that the middle plate is not set exactly in the middle, you'll have arbors of three different lengths. Those going from Front to Back, Back to Middle, and Front to Middle. The Great and Second wheels probably go from Front to Back and are easy to identify. That should be enough to get you started. You have to figure out left from right (time from strike), but hopefully the plate's gear depths, and the wheel warning pins and lift cams will lay it all out for you. Kind of like getting the edge pieces together on a jig saw puzzle. Good luck!

 

[shutterbug]

It's a bit like doing two separate two plate clocks. Do the thin section first, and take pic's or whatever you need to do to remember where the wheels go. Then take the other section apart and do the same. Reassemble in reverse order.

 

[harold bain]

It's a bit like doing two separate two plate clocks. Do the thin section first, and take pic's or whatever you need to do to remember where the wheels go. Then take the other section apart and do the same. Reassemble in reverse order.

Too late, SB. He says in the first post it's been apart in a box for over a year.

 

[shutterbug]

Dang! I have to learn to read things again before posting! I read the first post yesterday ... too long for MY memory! Lol.

 

[TEACLOCKS]

Can we see the box

 

[John P]

OK, movement is togeather and running.......striking....no.. not yet..trying to figure that out. Previous repairman was
Bubba..the butcher. Heres the rack.

 

[shutterbug]

That's the snail.

 

[harold bain]

That's the snail.

And the rack tail. Very strange bend on the tail.

 

[shutterbug]

Yeah, something is definitely not right about that! It looks like it's on the wrong side of the snail too. Turning the hands backward might have damaged it? I don't see how the movement can run with it like that.

 

[Bruce Alexander]

Ouch! It's hard to imagine that happening in normal time. The rack tail has an inclined plane on the end that should allow it to flex behind the snail if the rack is not gathered as the time train goes from 12:00 to 1:00. It almost looks like the tail got stuck with the time train mainspring undergoing a rapid release. That's assuming that "Bubba" didn't do that before he decided to give up and leave it in pieces. However it happened, John's going to have to get it straightened out very precisely to avoid altering the geometry of the teeth as they are presented to the gathering pallet and rack hook throughout the entire 12 hour range of the snail. That can be tough to do when you have no pattern to follow and you're trying not to fatigue the brass any further. Kudos on getting this far John!

 

[John P]

Yes, that was the way it came to me.
The clock is running and striking properly. One thing that threw me was the gathering pallet slipping and also it has 3 pins on it but 2 of them are closer to the center and it must be put on that way to clear the rack teeth.
Victory is sweet when the battle is great.

 

[harold bain]

Good job, John. I've had a few clocks show up at my door stripped down to basics, and can't seem to turn them away, as I enjoy the challenge.

 

[Bruce Alexander]

Congrats John! If you have taken any progress photos showing the layout of the plates and gears, I would really enjoy seeing them. I've worked with a 3-plate WM movement, but never a T/S version. Sounds like a very interesting design. Thanks for sharing.