Way back near the beginning of my clock journey, I bought a kit grandmother clock locally from a lady who was happy to see it go to someone interested in clocks. Long story shortened, while moving it, I managed to drop the movement (Kieninger 78 R 93cm) onto my garage floor. It ran previously, but not after the fall. Time passed and my learning curve progressed in a non-linear fashion, distracting me from this disaster.
In between I found a couple part movements on eBay. When I finally got around to taking another look at the Kieninger situation, I had movements to play with. I was able to apply what I had learned here and rebuilt one of them (73 RK 93cm). I figured out the chime and strike mechanics, which was a revelation considering how intimidated I was when I started. Taking a clock apart was a scary proposition then, but now it's not really a a big deal at all.
Aaaaaanyway, the reason for this post is to try to figure out the end product. Everything was pretty simple except the escapement/verge set-up. It runs without any problem. I measured the beat with Clockmaster on my iPhone and it's got numbers that seem ok to me (se attached photo).in spec, as we say. I didn't apply any science when adjusting the drop and lock, I just winged it until it ran. It's very difficult to observe the escapement since there's no room to view things as they're happening.
The clock runs slow in the beginning of the weight cycle and gradually get's faster as the weight descends. I understand that the chain contributes more weight as things progress, but I didn't think it would be as dramatic as it seems to be.
My ultimate issue is that I even though it runs, I fear that the escapement isn't correctly set and is the cause of the extreme (to me at least) variability in time-keeping. The newbie machinist in me wants to fashion some sort of jig to finely adjust the escapement position. I basically set it in the middle with the set screws and I was able to put in in beat more or less. Part of me thinks I'm done, but the luck in setting up the verge isn't comforting. What's the correct strategy, I guess is my question.
In between I found a couple part movements on eBay. When I finally got around to taking another look at the Kieninger situation, I had movements to play with. I was able to apply what I had learned here and rebuilt one of them (73 RK 93cm). I figured out the chime and strike mechanics, which was a revelation considering how intimidated I was when I started. Taking a clock apart was a scary proposition then, but now it's not really a a big deal at all.
Aaaaaanyway, the reason for this post is to try to figure out the end product. Everything was pretty simple except the escapement/verge set-up. It runs without any problem. I measured the beat with Clockmaster on my iPhone and it's got numbers that seem ok to me (se attached photo).in spec, as we say. I didn't apply any science when adjusting the drop and lock, I just winged it until it ran. It's very difficult to observe the escapement since there's no room to view things as they're happening.
The clock runs slow in the beginning of the weight cycle and gradually get's faster as the weight descends. I understand that the chain contributes more weight as things progress, but I didn't think it would be as dramatic as it seems to be.
My ultimate issue is that I even though it runs, I fear that the escapement isn't correctly set and is the cause of the extreme (to me at least) variability in time-keeping. The newbie machinist in me wants to fashion some sort of jig to finely adjust the escapement position. I basically set it in the middle with the set screws and I was able to put in in beat more or less. Part of me thinks I'm done, but the luck in setting up the verge isn't comforting. What's the correct strategy, I guess is my question.
