Help Source for Chinese movement parts?

[watatic]

Hi. I am a once-in-a-while clock hobbyist. I've tinkered with 400 day clocks, Kundo transistor clocks, mantle clocks, and am familiar with some of the terminology. Have disassembled and assembled a few movements. I have tools (and built a spring winder) but not a machinist; don't have any lathes, etc.

I bought this tambour clock at the second hand store ($7.99) and it is missing the anchor and crutch (pallet?, verge?), as well as the leader, suspension spring and pendulum bob. Looks like a deadbeat escapement. I bought a very similar "for-parts" movement on Ebay but discovered it is not identical-- in fact the exact parts I need are not the same size as the tambour clock's. The Ebay clock's escape wheel is smaller, so the anchor is larger, and the pendulum length is longer. The bob is also still missing. Back at square one.

Looks like it is a "Three 5's" clock made in Shanghai. The case, however, says Ridgeway.

My question, how do I go about finding replacement or substitute parts for this movement?

 

[Willie X]

AFAIK, there are no replacement parts available except form a matching donor movement and it can be difficult to know (for sure) if the donor is exactly like your movement, until it's 'in hand'.

 

[watatic]

That's what I thought.

Where it only needs a "verge" (is that what it's called? the see-saw thing that engages the escape wheel teeth) with its arbor and crutch, a suspension spring, a leader and a pendulum bob, couldn't I buy generic ones as long as they met the right dimensions? (It's not in the picture, but I have the bridge that holds the suspension spring and has the pivot hole for the verge arbor. )


Looking at the Timekeepers catalog, they have a variety of "verges", but they all look like recoil escapements, not deadbeat. And how would I get the right dimensions? The parts are missing from my movement. I tried calculating the length of the pendulum using a formula, but I'm not sure if I did it correctly. I counted the number of teeth on the hour wheel, 4th wheel and escape wheel to get the number of beats per minute required and plugged that into the pendulum period formula. ...

 

[John Arrowood]

Is Ridgeway now using Chinese movements? That's a further drop in quality. You might contact Ridgeway to see if there is a Hermle movement that will fit that case. If you like the case a quartz movement probably will fit and plugs that look like winding arbors used to be available so using those would make it appear that the clock had a spring wound movement. If there is a Hermle movement available it won't be inexpensive. Personally I would look for a quartz movement; they can be found with chips for chimes or time only.

 

[John Arrowood]

To the best of my recollection Korea was making and selling clocks and movements late 1970-1980's. I bought each of my nephews and niece Korean made clocks for wedding presents late 1980's-1990. La Rose and Merritt's had several models. After that movements were made in India. I assembled a steeple clock from a Mason-Sullivan kit and installed a Korean movement and then replaced it with an Indian movement when the Korean movement failed; don't remember what happened. The Indian movement is of less quality than the Koreans.

 

[watatic]

I'm not sure I'm explaining my question very clearly... I'm not so much interesting in getting the clock in perfect shape, or in replacing with OEM parts, as in just getting the movement somewhat functioning again. I'm 72, retired, and just like tinkering with things. If the only thing I can do with it is to put a battery movement inside, I would instead donate it, as is, back to the salvation Army and wait for another fixer-upper to work on. The case is rather cheap looking--I think it's possibly a Ridgeway knock-off.

My main question is, how can I find a deadbeat verge (is that what it is called?) that would fit? And the rest of the pendulum assembly --- leader, bob, and suspension spring, I think. Here is a pic of the other, Ebay "for-parts" clock, which has these parts, but they are the wrong size. (The bob is my icefishing weight...like I said, I tinker and fiddle, and cobble.)



I live in Massachusetts near Worcester, which has a few clock repair shops that may be able to give hands on advice and procure parts if possible, although for a premium I imagine.

 

[Rod Schaffter]

I live near Worcester too, in Leominster. I looked in my junk pile, and I have a defunct Chinese movement, but it't not like the original movement.

Would the "for-parts" movement fit into your case?

Cheers, Rod

 

[watatic]

Would the "for-parts" movement fit into your case?

Nah, the pendulum is too long. The case is a tambour clock, takes maybe a 4-1/2" long pendulum; the for parts movement needs 8" to keep proper time. And the leader that came with it is also not the right length for either clock.