Mora Clock Movement Time and Alarm

[Mick Martel]

Hello,

This is the second time I'm trying to post this. I could not find the first one on the site. I apologize if this is duplicated.
I purchased what I believe to be a center wind Mora clock movement and dial. Photos are included here. The plans are to get it running and build a correct case for it. This is my first Mora and, I have some questions.
It came with a brass cable and pulley for the weight. Is this correct or should it be gut line? If it should be gut, what thickness should it be? I've read that the weight is 10 pounds.
Are the roman numerals waxed or painted? Some of the black was damaged and was repaired with magic marker. Other places the metal shows through.
The alarm function has a separate narrow drive pulley with a wheel that has triangular teeth at the bottom for grip maybe? What kind of cord or gut line to use? I'm guessing the alarm weight is very light, maybe one pound?
The alarm hammer has no spring or detent to keep it at rest position. It doesn't look like there was ever any either. Is this normal?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mick Martel

 

[TJ Cornish]

What an interesting clock. I know very little about some things so will keep my answer to what I do know:

- Yes, the weight cord was certainly not originally brass. I have used natural gut from tennis racket suppliers in size 15L I believe, which has worked fine for the tall case weights I have. The instructions say to tension the string in the racket to 60 lbs. I don‘t know how that translates to breaking strength, but it seems more than adequate.
- Your numerals were filled with wax, not paint. Clock suppliers sell a modern version of engravers wax and it looks great and is relatively easy to reply, however it won’t look the same as what you currently have. With care you may be able to shave off a chip of the new wax, set it in a void, and heat it gently with a heat gun or very small torch, but you may find that trying to repair the wax might lead to redoing all the wax.

 

[Mick Martel]

Thanks for the info. I was wondering about gut line size and strength.

 

[TJ Cornish]

The 15L size translates to about 1.2 mm, which should be more than enough for your application. If your drum had cable grooves then it’s possible to get gut that’s too large. The only concern is if enough winds can fit on the drum without overlapping the sides.

 

[Mick Martel]

No grooves, just a smooth wooden barrel. Thanks again.

 

[anders-eriksson_c4678f]

Hi Mick,
The clocks from Mora usually have white painted iron dials. Therefore I think that your clock movement is not from Mora. Your movement is definitely more interesting than a Mora movement. From 1727 until 1907 there were four generations of part time clockmakers living in Karlskoga mining district in Sweden. A member of our clock/watch association (De Gamla Urens Vänner i Stockholm) has written a book about the Kock clockmakers. Just to avoid misstakes, there has been another more famous clockmaker to the king Gustav III named Kock who worked in Stockholm. There is no relation, Kock was a rather common name in Sweden at the time.
The dials varied over time and your dial falls in category "D" and based on that the author dates your movement to the fourth generation of makers, Olof Olsson Kock. The time frame is 1855-1907.
The clock hand and the alarm setting ring are consistent with the type of dial.
As your movement was made in the last half of the 1900th century it would probably have been cased in a Mora type of clock case.
The book is available thru the author Bo Ronnerstam and you can see the cover and his address at DEGAUVIS
I hope this has shed some light on the origins of your movement.
Best regards
Anders
.

 

[anders-eriksson_c4678f]

An additional comment: I don't think you need gut line or wire. The countryside movements used ordinary string so a good quality clock line will do.

 

[Mick Martel]

Thank you so much for the information, It is very enlightening. You said that the movement is more interesting than a Mora. Why?
Also, I've attached two photos of cases I am considering to build. Can you give me an opinion of which would be most correct?

Thanks.

Mick

 

[Mick Martel]

Thank you so much for the information, It is very enlightening. You said that the movement is more interesting than a Mora. Why?
Also, I've attached two photos of cases I am considering to build. Can you give me an opinion of which would be most correct?

Thanks.

Mick

 

[anders-eriksson_c4678f]

The clocks from Mora were more or less mass produced by local specialised makers working at their farmhouses. The different parts were then assembled by a clockmaker who sometimes put his name on the movement or dial. I belive the Kock family clocks were made by one clockmaker in his workshop thus more individual, varied and interesting.
For a suitable case, the Mora clocks were sold as movement complete with dial by travelling salesmen. Then the buyer got it cased by local craftsmen and I believe the Kock clocks were also sold as uncased movements. If you want to get ideas for the case design google Moraklocka and you will have many to choose from.
Best regards
Anders

 

[Mick Martel]

Tank you again. I contacted Bo Ronnerstam about purchasing his book.

Mick