I am going to build some wood clock cases that mimic some clocks that appeal to me (e.g. a Hammond Spin Start mantle clock from the 1930s or a Monitor Clock Company 'arts and craft' style clock from the early 1900s). Building the case itself is not a problem but .. well, nice looking clock hands are the problem. My intent is use some of the relatively inexpensive battery operated clock modules available these days. However the hands that are provided for these are pretty darn chintzy looking - cheap, punched out thin pieces of .... well, that just don't look nice. So my question - does anyone have some good recommendations on sources for clock hands that look a little better. And they need to fit the little clock modules, of course. Thanks.
If you use 'high-torque' movements, you could re-do the mounting to fit an old hand to the new movement.
The main reason the hands are thin is that the movements, for the most part, don't have the power to run thicker, heavier hands. As Martin says, go with a C cell movement if you want to run heavier hands. You can remove the collets on the older hands, then glue the center part of the hands that come with the movement from underneath to fit them up to the Q movement.
Also... If you want the movement to last any time, make sure the hands are balanced as much as possible. It's pretty easy to add a bit of solder to the back side of most hands.
Good ideas and some good points. I have purchased old clocks (e.g. the Hammond spin start) with the idea of replacing the non-operative electric drive with a clock module but, in this case, I just couldn't bring myself to 'destroy' the clock (the clock was 80 years old and frankly just too darned nice not to leave it alone). So the Hammond will stay unmolested but I do intend to build a replica (although I would love to buy another one that I can convert). As I said, that decision is purely an emotional one - the clock is probably worth less than $20 as it stands. Oh, well. The points about torque requirements, the desirability of balancing the hands plus the conversion idea - great info.
