Back in February, I answered a question posted by Sooth about identifying a "Woolfenden" longcase clock and discussed a missing wheel in the moonphase motion work. I also have an early longcase movement with a calendar dial plate that some foolish person mangled a long time ago and I located a very useful book to help me reconstruct the motion work for the calendar dials.
Unfortunately, the book I had found was the only copy from the bookseller. Now, I notice other people are also asking about how to restore English-design longcase calendar dials so I did a bit more digging and located an interesting website hosted by the book publisher. You can order your own copies of the book by visiting his website. Here are some specifics about the book:
TITLE: Moon Mechanisms - A Restorer's Guide, First Edition
AUTHOR: Peter Grimwood
PUBLISHER: Orreries UK
FORMAT: softcover, 10-1/2" x 8-1/4", 72 pages, table of contents, no index
WEBSITE: http://www.orreries.co.uk
ADVERTISED PRICE: £19.95 (UK) or $36.50 (US)
ADVERTISED POSTAGE COSTS: UK £1.50, EU £2.50, USA/Canada £4.50
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
What I can say about this book is that it is extremely practical. The author uses a plethora of diagrams and photos to illustrate the workings and layouts of each design variant. IMO, the information is better laid out than any other clock book I have because this one is very practical. It is written very much like an owner's manual except that it describes clock dial designs rather than user operations.
If you work on old English/American longcase/tallcase clocks with extra features on their dials you would be nuts not to own a copy of this book if you can fork out the £25 to £30 for the book and postage. It will more than pay for itself in saving you time and grief figuring out old clocks missing their astronomical components.
I would have preferred a hardcover version because the book is quite a pretty one with its many photos, diagrams and neat layout but I suspect the author (and self-publisher) wanted to keep costs down, especially when considering the exclusive nature of his intended audience.
BTW, if you are also curious about or a fan of orreries / astronomical toys, you'll get a kick out of visiting the publisher's website.
Michael
P.S. I apologize if there are any typos or grammatical errors - what has happened to my time?
Unfortunately, the book I had found was the only copy from the bookseller. Now, I notice other people are also asking about how to restore English-design longcase calendar dials so I did a bit more digging and located an interesting website hosted by the book publisher. You can order your own copies of the book by visiting his website. Here are some specifics about the book:
TITLE: Moon Mechanisms - A Restorer's Guide, First Edition
AUTHOR: Peter Grimwood
PUBLISHER: Orreries UK
FORMAT: softcover, 10-1/2" x 8-1/4", 72 pages, table of contents, no index
WEBSITE: http://www.orreries.co.uk
ADVERTISED PRICE: £19.95 (UK) or $36.50 (US)
ADVERTISED POSTAGE COSTS: UK £1.50, EU £2.50, USA/Canada £4.50
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction ..................page 9
Dial construction ............page 11
Glossary .......................page 15
Square dials ..................page 19 .....6 variants
Brass arch-top dials ........page 27 ....14 variants
Painted arch-top dials .....page 43 .... 14 variants
Day, date and month ......page 59 .....9 variants
Bibliography ..................page 71
I'm not into doing book reviews although I have a fair number of horological books. I mostly use my books as references and once in a while I am lucky to read one of them from cover-to-cover. I have not yet read this one from cover-to-cover so please keep that in mind as you read the rest of this review.Dial construction ............page 11
Glossary .......................page 15
Square dials ..................page 19 .....6 variants
Brass arch-top dials ........page 27 ....14 variants
Painted arch-top dials .....page 43 .... 14 variants
Day, date and month ......page 59 .....9 variants
Bibliography ..................page 71
What I can say about this book is that it is extremely practical. The author uses a plethora of diagrams and photos to illustrate the workings and layouts of each design variant. IMO, the information is better laid out than any other clock book I have because this one is very practical. It is written very much like an owner's manual except that it describes clock dial designs rather than user operations.
If you work on old English/American longcase/tallcase clocks with extra features on their dials you would be nuts not to own a copy of this book if you can fork out the £25 to £30 for the book and postage. It will more than pay for itself in saving you time and grief figuring out old clocks missing their astronomical components.
I would have preferred a hardcover version because the book is quite a pretty one with its many photos, diagrams and neat layout but I suspect the author (and self-publisher) wanted to keep costs down, especially when considering the exclusive nature of his intended audience.
BTW, if you are also curious about or a fan of orreries / astronomical toys, you'll get a kick out of visiting the publisher's website.
Michael
P.S. I apologize if there are any typos or grammatical errors - what has happened to my time?
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