Help Seth Thomas cottage movement

[Tim Fitzgerald]

I need some advice about about a ST cottage clock with a 1B-L time only movement that dates back to 1854-1856. I have been struggling with this for a while, It runs & stops , runs & stops sometimes for two days & sometimes for one hour.
After repairing the case , installing door glass , installing bushings and having the dial redone. I need to tackle the verge problem.
I replaced the verge which didnt help!
So I took a good look at the movement & noticed the escape wheel had itś gear teeth pointing to the right , while all my other movements have teeth pointing to the left. Then after much searching I decided it has a a ¨Half deadbeat escapement¨ Am I correct in my assumption?
If so what, where, when and how do I proceed?
Iḿ posting a photo.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks TimFitz

 

[wow]

Tim, it may not be true, but in the photo it looks like the escape wheel pivot is very loose. Did you bush that pivot. If there is enough slop in that bushing, it can cause that problem.

 

[Tim Fitzgerald]

Tim, it may not be true, but in the photo it looks like the escape wheel pivot is very loose. Did you bush that pivot. If there is enough slop in that bushing, it can cause that problem.

No I didn´t , I´ll try that, Thanks

 

[wow]

I looked closely again and I think I see a couple of uneven tips on the escape wheel teeth. Use a pair of flat jawed pliers and work around it straightening each tip.

 

[Tim Fitzgerald]

Has anyone have an answer to my question about the escape wheel teeth pointing to the right and is it a half deadbeat escapement requiring a different verge?

 

[wow]

Look here for a video of a half deadbeat.
About Time - David LaBounty

 

[kinsler33]

The verge doesn't particularly look like one you'd use with a half-deadbeat escapement. It may be an incorrect verge or someone might have re-shaped the pallets. If the escape wheel teeth point in the direction of rotation then the clock has a deadbeat escapement of some sort. If they point in the direction opposite that of rotation then the clock has a recoil escapement. Look closely at the diagrams suggested here. The two escapements look alike but work quite differently.

Mark Kinsler

 

[shutterbug]

It appears to me that the escape wheel will rotate CCW, which makes it a recoil. The verge has several issues. It's too long at the pallets, for one thing and doesn't look like it will allow the teeth to release properly. Also the angle on the entrance pallet doesn't look right. It might need to be shortened at the entrance at least, to function.

 

[Steven Thornberry]

As shutt said, the EW should rotate CCW. your EW looks right, but your verge looks wrong. Look at Owen Burt’s article in the Feb. 1998 Bulletin, page 12, figure 1.17. That shows a 1B-L movement with a proper verge.

 

[R. Croswell]

I need some advice about about a ST cottage clock with a 1B-L time only movement that dates back to 1854-1856. I have been struggling with this for a while, It runs & stops , runs & stops sometimes for two days & sometimes for one hour.
After repairing the case , installing door glass , installing bushings and having the dial redone. I need to tackle the verge problem.
I replaced the verge which didnt help!
So I took a good look at the movement & noticed the escape wheel had itś gear teeth pointing to the right , while all my other movements have teeth pointing to the left. Then after much searching I decided it has a a ¨Half deadbeat escapement¨ Am I correct in my assumption?
If so what, where, when and how do I proceed?
Iḿ posting a photo.
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks TimFitz

View attachment 618858

Tim, your movement is a recoil escapement as has already been noted. The verge you have is a recoil verge but the angles and spacing between the verge looks a little off. Also, for an escape wheel with this many teeth I would expect the verge to span more teeth, The picture below is a different ST movement for comparison. The pallet faces where the escape wheel teeth contact should be polished mirror bright. Some of your escape wheel teeth look a little ragged and perhaps it is the photo, but a few teeth look "short" All the teeth must be the same length, and flat side should be straight , and of course all the tooth tips must be the same distance apart. It may not be enough to keep it from running but I doubt that you can get the best adjustment of the verge with the escape wheel irregularities.

The look at the bottom of the crutch, there has way too much space between the loop and the pendulum leader. You are loosing a lot of power here.

The suspension feather is the old style. The original ones work fine, but if it has been replaced, be aware that some of the replacements are much thicker.

With a clock like this that has been bushed, it is more likely that a too tight bushing is the problem than one that is too loose. With the spring let down and the verge removed. support the movement back side down then use a small probe to lift each wheel up as far as it will go and release it. It should drop down quickly on its own. Turn the movement over and do the same thing. If there is no end shake or the arbor "sticks" in the up position you have a problem with a bushing that is too tight.

RC