Info on Coolidge & Fogg of Cambridge-port Mass.

[mr_byte]

This is an auction buy I picked up yesterday. My Google-fu is failing me, I can find nothing on Coolidge & Fogg.

The movement is unlike any I've seen, but I've admittedly not seen many other wood movements. I got it in Inverness, Fl; There was a note attached that said "Needs Rebuilding" but if "rebuilding" means re-hanging the suspension rod (looks original) and weights, well then I'm better than I thought

Not sure if I'm keeping it or selling it, not asking for a value, but I'd like more info about it, I'm not even sure of what date to give it, but I'm guessing pre-civil war, maybe 1830-1840's?

Aside from needing a pin in the mainshaft to hold the minute hand, I've found nothing wrong, though the weight on the time side got stuck on that cross bar, but I believe it's because the clock is not sitting plumb.

 

[Steven Thornberry]

I can find a Charles W. Fogg in Spittlers and Bailey in Waltham, MA., ca. 1842-76. Jeweler and Watchmaker in Waltham (1842-59) and later Supt. of Waltham watch factory (1861-76). Nothing of a Coolidge in the same period. Might be the same Fogg, perhaps an earlier business operation (retailer?); wood works movements were on the decline by 1842.

 

[bobby2003]

Hopefully the link come through correctly. I don't have access to these, but a google books search shows a reference to them in the Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Volume 14.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Oy0eAQAAMAAJ&q=coolidge+fogg+clock&dq=coolidge+fogg+clock&hl=en&ei=WT4STt-SGMTKgQebnajnDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

He's not a common maker. Looks like a pretty nice clock.

Here's the link to the relevant section of the Bulletin article

http://www.nawcc.org/images/stories/1970/articles/1970/149/149_734c.pdf

The movement is pictured on page 763.

Can you tell if the plates of the movement are mahogany or oak? Hard to tell from your pics.

RM

 

[Peter A. Nunes]

Coolidge and Fogg were makers of fairly conventional groaner type cases, in Cambridge Port, Massachusetts. What set them apart were their movements, which appear to be copies of Chauncey Boardman's groaner movements, but with mahogany plates instead of the more usual oak plates. It is thought that they were producing their own movements, unusual in that there was very little production of wood movements in Massachusetts during this period.
The only reference I have seen is the Bulletin article referenced above. Someone should delve in and find out more about them.

As Dr. Markowitz implied, better pictures would be very helpful.

 

[mr_byte]

He's not a common maker. Looks like a pretty nice clock.

Here's the link to the relevant section of the Bulletin article

http://www.nawcc.org/images/stories/1970/articles/1970/149/149_734c.pdf

The movement is pictured on page 763.

Can you tell if the plates of the movement are mahogany or oak? Hard to tell from your pics.

RM

They are very dark in color, I've yet to remove the movement from the case for a better look. The clock hasn't missed a beat since I set it up, about all I'm going to so to it is possible stabilize the (sorry, I'm sure it's the wrong term) separators.spacers between the plates as when winding the movement wobbles.

The only other wooden movement I have is a an Elijah Hotchkiss, and the movement in it is mounted to a bar/rail running across the case, where this one is screwed into the back of the case.


I'll get a bit more into it this evening, and attempt some better pictures then, Thanks to everyone for the info thus far.

 

[Peter A. Nunes]

They are very dark in color, I've yet to remove the movement from the case for a better look. The clock hasn't missed a beat since I set it up, about all I'm going to so to it is possible stabilize the (sorry, I'm sure it's the wrong term) separators.spacers between the plates as when winding the movement wobbles.

The only other wooden movement I have is a an Elijah Hotchkiss, and the movement in it is mounted to a bar/rail running across the case, where this one is screwed into the back of the case.


I'll get a bit more into it this evening, and attempt some better pictures then, Thanks to everyone for the info thus far.

You should be very careful doing that, as there are many ways not to do it, including using the product called chair-loc. The movement posts are both glued and pinned into the back plate, and they can be a bugger to get out for proper cleaning and re-glueing- hide glue should be used, for a reversible repair.

 

[RJSoftware]

Toothpicks usually work.

For both the holes in the case that hold the movement. (Insert end of toothpick in to guage where to bust toothpick at, then stick fat side of that in first. Then screw case back on. The toothpicks tighten up holes. You can even double up on them etc...

Also, toothpicks can be used to pin a wood movement clock. The toothpick is usually a perfect snug fit. But if it's a little bit smaller you can flatten the middle of toothpick with a hammer and create more grip.

The proper way to fix holes in the back of clock cases that are too loose is to find suitable matching wood and use a fostner bit of suitable size to create plugs. You want to make glueable plugs, after you make your plugs, drill the back of case (NOT all the way through), insert new plug, stain and then redrill screw hole in plug.

If the plug is small enough it makes an invisible repair. But honestly, I have never seen a wood movement that was screwed to back of case, but there is allot I have not seen.

RJ

They are very dark in color, I've yet to remove the movement from the case for a better look. The clock hasn't missed a beat since I set it up, about all I'm going to so to it is possible stabilize the (sorry, I'm sure it's the wrong term) separators.spacers between the plates as when winding the movement wobbles.

The only other wooden movement I have is a an Elijah Hotchkiss, and the movement in it is mounted to a bar/rail running across the case, where this one is screwed into the back of the case.


I'll get a bit more into it this evening, and attempt some better pictures then, Thanks to everyone for the info thus far.

 

[Peter A. Nunes]

Toothpicks usually work.

For both the holes in the case that hold the movement. (Insert end of toothpick in to guage where to bust toothpick at, then stick fat side of that in first. Then screw case back on. The toothpicks tighten up holes. You can even double up on them etc...

Also, toothpicks can be used to pin a wood movement clock. The toothpick is usually a perfect snug fit. But if it's a little bit smaller you can flatten the middle of toothpick with a hammer and create more grip.

The proper way to fix holes in the back of clock cases that are too loose is to find suitable matching wood and use a fostner bit of suitable size to create plugs. You want to make glueable plugs, after you make your plugs, drill the back of case (NOT all the way through), insert new plug, stain and then redrill screw hole in plug.

If the plug is small enough it makes an invisible repair. But honestly, I have never seen a wood movement that was screwed to back of case, but there is allot I have not seen.

RJ

I think he's talking here about the movement posts themselves being loose in the back plate, not the screw holes in the backboard being worn out.

A word about wood movements being screwed directly to the backboard, instead of being pinned between rails- most groaner movements are mounted that way, as well as Terry type movements in cases made away from Connecticut, but employing Connecticut made movements. Daniel Tuthill of Saxton's River, Vermont and David Dutton, of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire come to mind, and many other makers in northern New England and central and eastern Massachusetts, too. Somethimes the upper edge of the back plate was held in a cleat, with two screws securing the bottom edge, other times both the top and bottom edges were simply screwed to the backboard.

 

[mr_byte]

The proper way to fix holes in the back of clock cases that are too loose is to find suitable matching wood and use a fostner bit of suitable size to create plugs. You want to make glueable plugs, after you make your plugs, drill the back of case (NOT all the way through), insert new plug, stain and then redrill screw hole in plug.

RJ

What I usually do is use either a bit of bamboo skewer or some a bit of wood and some CA glue (sounds better than super glue...) to hold the wood in the hole. The screw will then be tight. I tried to just tap in the bits of wood but that only worked in a deep hole.

Your method sound nice, but I don't trust myself to do something that involved properly, yet.

In any case, I think the problem is the posts, which I still haven't gotten a chance to look at properly. Once I do, I'll post some better pictures in here, and a link to my photobucket for a gallery.

 

[RJSoftware]

Thanks Peter, very good information to know.
RJ

I think he's talking here about the movement posts themselves being loose in the back plate, not the screw holes in the backboard being worn out.

A word about wood movements being screwed directly to the backboard, instead of being pinned between rails- most groaner movements are mounted that way, as well as Terry type movements in cases made away from Connecticut, but employing Connecticut made movements. Daniel Tuthill of Saxton's River, Vermont and David Dutton, of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire come to mind, and many other makers in northern New England and central and eastern Massachusetts, too. Somethimes the upper edge of the back plate was held in a cleat, with two screws securing the bottom edge, other times both the top and bottom edges were simply screwed to the backboard.