Late 1800s Seth Thomas 3 5/8's reassembly

[RobertClouse]

So... I had a broken mainspring, and I made the cardinal sin of not taking pictures before I opened the mechanism frame and moved things...

I have the new spring in, the time keeping side gears in place what feels correct (as they turn all the right pieces when frame is back in place), but I am confused on some the hour chime gears placement and one of the bar mechanisms placement in the frame.

Attached are the pictures (I can't find an example of this exact frame anywhere online, every single 3 5/8 seems to be just a different flavor of it).

I *THINK* the gears inplace on the hour chime side are correct but the last one in my hand and the hour activation one (which is placed currently just to the left of center) are in the right spots.

Any help would be appreciated, even just a picture of the same mechanism assembled would be stellar.

 

[wow]

The wheel goes in the center of the movement and meshes with the main arbor that the hands attach to. The lever goes near the top and the hook at the end of the long wire is lifted by the center shaft tab.

 

[kinsler33]

Yep. The mystery gear is for the 'motion works' and provides the 12:1 gear ratio to drive the hour hand. The lever (I call it the 'warning' lever) does indeed engage a cam on the minute hand shaft. Among other tasks it lifts up the other lever, which I've always called the 'count' lever. The count lever has a paddle on its end to fit between the teeth of the count wheel.

Make sure that the count wheel turns in the correct direction. Over the years I have worked on, like, six dozen movements like this. And guess what I did the other day? Grumble.

 

[Bruce Alexander]

Hi,
It looks like your clock had an alarm feature which may have been removed at some point in time.
I can't see the rear plate of your movement in your photos but these types of movements usually come with a hand "turn back" lever.
See this article by David LaBounty for more details: https://abouttime-clockmaking.com/pdfs/what_is_it_labounty.pdf

If your clock doesn't have this feature, don't worry about it, but if it does be sure to set it up properly as you reassemble things.

Good luck

 

[c.kugle]

In your 4th pic it looks like you have a broke pivot on the intermediate gear.

 

[kinsler33]

In your 4th pic it looks like you have a broke pivot on the intermediate gear.

 

[kinsler33]

The alarm mechanism, if any, can be installed after the movement is mounted in the case. Customers generally don't care if you leave it out.

I don't see a broken pivot, but perhaps I'm guilty of wishful thinking.

Nice clock.

 

[RobertClouse]

The wheel goes in the center of the movement and meshes with the main arbor that the hands attach to. The lever goes near the top and the hook at the end of the long wire is lifted by the center shaft tab.

many thanks! I had to look afterwards and found the engaging gear from the minutes under the hour gear. It's mostly running now, except super fast, haha.

 

[RobertClouse]

In your 4th pic it looks like you have a broke pivot on the intermediate gear.

All the pivots are intact. This is my first foray (it was from my moms place and my daughter thought it would be cool)

 

[RobertClouse]

The alarm mechanism, if any, can be installed after the movement is mounted in the case. Customers generally don't care if you leave it out.

I don't see a broken pivot, but perhaps I'm guilty of wishful thinking.

Nice clock.

I re-attached the alarm because it just seemed like my ocd required it. My daughter wanted it working, new spring is making it run pretty fast now, already extended the pendulum adjustment all the way out, the next item on the list I guess.

 

[wow]

Robert, watch the escape wheel closely as it runs and see if it is skipping a tooth occasionally. That will cause it to run extra fast. If it is, the pallets/verge must be moved slightly closer to the escape wheel.

 

[RobertClouse]

Robert, watch the escape wheel closely as it runs and see if it is skipping a tooth occasionally. That will cause it to run extra fast. If it is, the pallets/verge must be moved slightly closer to the escape wheel.

dead on, it was not really skipping but kinda jumping with it. I adjusted the escapement tooth a tad, it's kinda worn, I'm probably going to have to replace it at some point, but now I have a pretty consistent movement there.