First post, and I will tell you all up front I have very little experience in clock repair. However, I am what you would call a tinkerer and very much enjoy tearing things down and fixing them, and especially if they are old. I have restored three antique tractors with no prior experience, restored three antique GE and other fans with no prior experience, and generally am the go-to guy in my family to fix broken stuff. Now to my reason for joining - 20 years ago my mother gave my new wife and I an old Tambor style Seth Thomas mantel clock with a 89 J movement for our wedding gift. The clock ran perfect for well over a decade and I sure enjoyed seeing the old guy run so well for being so old. It finally started having issues staying running no matter how I shimed it to keep it in perfect beat. I must have tweaked that poor movement for months before finally just buying another 89 J movement off eBay that was restored and rebushed. I could not bring myself to throw away the old original movement so oiled it well, placed it in a partially open ziplock back, and put it away for another day. Fast forward to now - I am retired and found the old movement and the tinker-bug fired up in me to get it running smoothly again, or as much as possible without professional equipment. I would like to start by taking it apart and giving it a good cleaning to give the mainspring as much umph as possible. My first thought was to use brake cleaner so I would not run the risk of taking it apart and not being able to put it back together, but after reading a few posts here on that very idea I decided to "attempt" to clean it correctly. Bushing look pretty good except the top gear the rocker plate runs off of.
It appears the springs are held in place by a separate panel and I "think" I can purchase some spring clamps and just remove them - correct? Is there a reasonably priced manual on these movements that can assist me in insuring once I tear into it, I can actually put it back together again? Once again, just looking to clean it. If more serious repairs are needed I would have to break down and take it to a repair shop as I would hate to loose this specific movement due to where it came from. Any tips to make my life easier and for better success?
Thanks all,
Dan
It appears the springs are held in place by a separate panel and I "think" I can purchase some spring clamps and just remove them - correct? Is there a reasonably priced manual on these movements that can assist me in insuring once I tear into it, I can actually put it back together again? Once again, just looking to clean it. If more serious repairs are needed I would have to break down and take it to a repair shop as I would hate to loose this specific movement due to where it came from. Any tips to make my life easier and for better success?
Thanks all,
Dan