i went through this kuehl 5-tube westminster movement and set it up on my test stand to proudly watch it run... except it wouldn't.
- the crutch forks were too tight... easy fix, much bigger pendulum swing
- the pin holding the minute hand in place kept falling out... no matter what. there was no tension washer under the minute cannon, and in fact there was no room for one.... if one was added it pushed the gear teeth too far away from the little cam that triggers chiming and striking. there seemed to be more room than necessary between the end of the cannon and the minute hand pin hole so i put the tension washer under the regular domed minute hand washer and pinned 'em in place... fixed.
- got it working great... until i noticed that it would very occasionally go into chime/strike warning, trigger and then... nothing. the chime side gathering pallet would just sit there. if you touched it or breathed on it it would start revolving. i went back and re-polished everything on the front of the movement having to do with striking/chiming, including all of the little pins on the little cam that sets up the chiming/striking.. no go. i took the movement apart... yet again... and re-polished everything with 4000 grit paper making everything as slippery as an eel... still no go. kept staring at it until i noticed that when it would stop the chime side lock pin and warning piece were NOT in contact... there was nothing (apparently) preventing the gathering pallet from turning freely...
and then...
i noticed there was one of those off-set/adjustable pivot holes for the chime side fan (but not the strike side... hmmm) and thought, what if it's the depthing of the chime side fan gear? i rotated (raised) it ever-so-slightly and voila.
if it weren't for the 200 trial and (mostly) error false starts, i'd be pretty darn pumped about my most exceptional clock repair skills.
- the crutch forks were too tight... easy fix, much bigger pendulum swing
- the pin holding the minute hand in place kept falling out... no matter what. there was no tension washer under the minute cannon, and in fact there was no room for one.... if one was added it pushed the gear teeth too far away from the little cam that triggers chiming and striking. there seemed to be more room than necessary between the end of the cannon and the minute hand pin hole so i put the tension washer under the regular domed minute hand washer and pinned 'em in place... fixed.
- got it working great... until i noticed that it would very occasionally go into chime/strike warning, trigger and then... nothing. the chime side gathering pallet would just sit there. if you touched it or breathed on it it would start revolving. i went back and re-polished everything on the front of the movement having to do with striking/chiming, including all of the little pins on the little cam that sets up the chiming/striking.. no go. i took the movement apart... yet again... and re-polished everything with 4000 grit paper making everything as slippery as an eel... still no go. kept staring at it until i noticed that when it would stop the chime side lock pin and warning piece were NOT in contact... there was nothing (apparently) preventing the gathering pallet from turning freely...
and then...
i noticed there was one of those off-set/adjustable pivot holes for the chime side fan (but not the strike side... hmmm) and thought, what if it's the depthing of the chime side fan gear? i rotated (raised) it ever-so-slightly and voila.
if it weren't for the 200 trial and (mostly) error false starts, i'd be pretty darn pumped about my most exceptional clock repair skills.

