I just purchased a 4 glass clock with the movement represented by Plate 1419 in the Horolovar book. I cleaned the movement and went to the book to get the spring size and length. I'm missing the bottom block and tried to find out what shape/size to get. The description on the Plate1419 was a disc or 4 ball pendulum. I have a temperature compensating chronometer disc. Is this a problem? On page 196 plate 19 shows a disc associated with Plate 1419. Mine has a similar center piece but a two metal ring. I don't have the capability to photograph the movement. When I do I'll post them. Any hep would be appreciated.
Plate 1419 is for a clock made by Phillip Hauck, and the pendulum you describe should look like #6 on Page 195, which is also by Hauck. The bottom block should be a snug fit into the hook on the pendulum, and anything that fits will work. We would love to see photos of the clock as well as the movement - Hauck four-glass cases are very attractive, in my opinion. Is there a serial number inscribed in pencil or ink anywhere on the pendulum? If so, does it match the number on the movement - that would help determine that the pendulum is original to the clock. Best regards, Mark
Hi Barry, The spring should be long enough that the pendulum hangs about 1/2 inch above the base of clock. Any chance you could post a few pictures? Eric
Measure the length with the pendulum mocked up sitting on the base...then cut the suspension spring longer than your measurement. This gives you a chance to slowly cut the spring back a bit at a time until you get the length you need. Krt
Here are a few pictures taken with my phone during the movement cleaning process. They're not very good, but, they're all I have for now. Will post better pictures in the near future.
Here's a few more pictures. As you can see the case is in rough shape. I'm not sure what I will doing with the case?
Expending a lot of elbow grease, if you don't want to keep it heavily tarnished. To do a thorough job, it would be necessary to dismantle the case into its various components, not a job for the faint of heart! It will be a beautiful clock when finished; this case and pendulum are somewhat uncommon.
If you examine the protected areas on the case you should find what the original finish looked like. For your case you should be able to unscrew the four feet and remove the bottom plate, or two screws inside the case that hold the top plate. If you do take the case apart you should make sure you have a way of keeping track of what part goes where so it goes back in the same place. Brass will turn copper colored as the zinc is leached from the alloy. It also causes pitting on the surface. Eventually it will turn green as the copper oxidizes. Eric
Who would of thought......What do most of you use when dealing with this issue (I used a product named MAAS for the patch that I cleaned)
Another issue has come up with cleaning the case. When I finally remove the corrosion and get to the brass metal, the areas that were heavily choroid came up as a rose-gold colour versus the less choroid areas yellow-gold. Any ideas on how to colour the rose-gold to yellow-gold? I've heard of a lacquer spray with gold in it. Would that work?
Hi Barry, That color is where the brass has lost zinc. The only way to remove it is mechanically. Polish through it. You may need something more aggressive than what you're using. I use Simichrome which is very effective but it even fails if the corrosion extends too deep. Your case is pretty heavy so you shouldn't have to worry about damaging it. Eric
note that the brass used for the case is of lower quality than that of the movement. In my experiance a few discolored spots remain even with an "aggressive" polish.Take care not to mix up frames and crystals ,they are not interchangeable! Make notes or build seperate piles of parts while taking appart. A nice and collectable clock when it ´s done , especially with that compensating pendulum! Burkhard
