What happens to old weights and pendulums (pendula?)

[murphyfields]

I am just curious, but I keep seeing clocks being sold with missing weights and/or pendulums (what is the correct plural of pendulum?). Is there a weight and pendulum graveyard out there somewhere? What are people doing with them?

And if you find an unusual (not mass produced) clock with missing parts, where have you found replacements?

 

[Willie X]

"Not mass produced" would rule out nearly all clocks you would normally see.
But, to answer your question, most of the parts for that category would have to be made up.

Most things that are missing, got that way during transit. Willie X

 

[bruce linde]

I am just curious, but I keep seeing clocks being sold with missing weights and/or pendulums (what is the correct plural of pendulum?). Is there a weight and pendulum graveyard out there somewhere? What are people doing with them?

there's a small weight cemetery in my garage... individual (or paired) weights i've purchased along the way 'just in case'...

 

[roughbarked]

Being heavy, they often fall through the bottom of the box.

there's a small weight cemetery in my garage... individual (or paired) weights i've purchased along the way 'just in case'...

Do you call that the weighting room?

 

[bruce linde]

Being heavy, they often fall through the bottom of the box.

you just reminded me about a time i bought 60 pounds of weights from a guy who shipped them to me in a usps box sealed with one piece of shipping tape and no wrapping or padding.

needless to say the box disintegrated the first time the usps workers tossed it onto a conveyer belt, and our awesomely nice usps lady drove down to the house one day and brought them in one at a time... maybe 10 weights, 2-10 pounds.

at least he wasn't one of those people who ship weights in boxes with clocks with no padding so the clock arrives smashed to pieces.

 

[novicetimekeeper]

They end up in Auctions like Gardiner & Houlgate, though quite a few of them seem to be here on the floor.

I don't know about the US but here you can buy lead or lead and brass cased longcase weights from the 17th and 18th centuries that are not mass produced. You can also buy 19th century cast iron weights that were. Either Ebay or at auctions.

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, all!

The sentence, "Let's put this over here, so it will be safe and not get lost," comes to mind. Many decades later, another sentence replaces it: "Where in the world did this come from?" Followed by, "We looked everywhere for that, and finally had to give up. Where did you find it?"

Best regards!

Tim

 

[roughbarked]

I was asked to look at a grandfather clock that had just been moved into a new house. I asked where are the two screws that hold the clock to it's wooden base?
When I described what they should look like, they remembered them but that was when they realised that they hadn't been kept with the clock and had most likely been thrown out with rubbish.

 

[murphyfields]

Do you try to find weights and pendulums to match the original (if you can determine what the original looked like)? Or do you just try to match the finish (shiny brass with shiny brass, bronze with bronze, ornate with ornate)?

 

[roughbarked]

Always aim for authentic if possible. Second best is as close to authentic as possible.

 

[novicetimekeeper]

I find brass cased weights for my late 17th early 18th clocks and lead for the rest. I try to find brass cased weights of the correct period, but the early ones can be hard to obtain, the best clocks need the right weights though.

 

[JimmyOz]

I find brass cased weights for my late 17th early 18th clocks and lead for the rest. I try to find brass cased weights of the correct period, but the early ones can be hard to obtain, the best clocks need the right weights though.

You guys/girls or should that be persons? Anyway, you are so lucky to have such a lot of proper weights that you can get your hands on, I have a James Howden Long Case that came with two different cast iron weights, none of which are heavy enough to drive the clock, I have been looking for about 2 years to find the correct weights, however in Oz they are something of a rarity. At the moment I have 2x 1260 gram cuckoo clock weights attached sitting under the cast iron weights, lucky I am the only one that knows as it is embarrassing.

 

[shutterbug]

The unfortunate truth is that clocks are often parted out to increase the profits. After the most sought after parts are gone, the rest of the clock is sold "as is" or for parts only. In those cases it's hard to find originals.

 

[Rod Schaffter]

As Willie pointed out, many are lost in transit. Our wall clock had the pendulum tossed out with the packing paper by the movers the last time we moved (the moving company paid to have a new one made), and I purchased our Herschede grandfather clock for a song because someone's movers had lost the pendulum.

Also, when a non-working clock is put in the attic or basement, the loose parts are likely to get left behind or mislaid when it is taken out. I recently purchased a New England Clock weight-driven clock on Craigslist that, on closer examination, turned out to have the wrong pendulum. Somewhere around this area there is likely a nice antique clock with a modern pendulum that is too short...

Cheers,
Rod

 

[Willie X]

I had a customer who received a new H-M promotional clock. When I got to their house the customer was so proud of having unpacked it and had the styrofoam weight box setting next to the clock. They had burned the big box in their garden immediately after unpacking the clock. Little did they realize they burned up the thin box that contained the pendulum too! I let them handle the replacement. Ha
Willie X

 

[TEACLOCKS]

They go to Weight & Pendulum cemetery next to the doggie cemetery.

 

[Darrmann39]

I just purchased 2 weights i never got. Tracking shows visible damage but it's never gotten here. After a month and a half finally got a refund from sender.
Most likely wasn't packaged well broke out and are mia still

 

[Jim DuBois]

Weights frequently outlive their clocks. And weights are not monogamous as time passes. It seems that many clocks are sold these days at public and online sales sites/auctions and person-to-person sans weights. I am not certain why that is acceptable to serious collectors. Weights and pendulums are part of the story of the clock(s) and need to be preserved I think. Originality generally adds value to most anything collectible. But, weights are not convenient to haul about or to ship. And as others have pointed out they are frequently poorly packed when shipped. While I have complained about this previously I am hard-pressed to understand how the USPS broke this cast iron weight in half. It was not properly packed, but still? I was able to repair it, 2nd photo, but it required some time and effort. As can be seen the weights are not all that common in style, they are for a fairly rare Ives clock.

 

[Darrmann39]

Weights frequently outlive their clocks. And weights are not monogamous as time passes. It seems that many clocks are sold these days at public and online sales sites/auctions and person-to-person sans weights. I am not certain why that is acceptable to serious collectors. Weights and pendulums are part of the story of the clock(s) and need to be preserved I think. Originality generally adds value to most anything collectible. But, weights are not convenient to haul about or to ship. And as others have pointed out they are frequently poorly packed when shipped. While I have complained about this previously I am hard-pressed to understand how the USPS broke this cast iron weight in half. It was not properly packed, but still? I was able to repair it, 2nd photo, but it required some time and effort. As can be seen the weights are not all that common in style, they are for a fairly rare Ives clock.

View attachment 641874 View attachment 641875

Wow. Smh

 

[D.th.munroe]

I have quite a cemetery of them here as well, ones someone else collected over 60 years.
Jim, just curious, how did you fix that weight?
I drilled all the way through a much smaller one like that and just bolted it together.
Dan

 

[Jim DuBois]

Well, I took the easy path, marked out both pieces, drilled an oversize hole in both pieces, and liberally applied JB Weld to a piece of threaded rod, and then stuck it all back together. Worked well, the repaired crack is nearly invisible. And I have bought extra weights when they come around from time to time.

 

[Dick C]

Weights frequently outlive their clocks. And weights are not monogamous as time passes. It seems that many clocks are sold these days at public and online sales sites/auctions and person-to-person sans weights. I am not certain why that is acceptable to serious collectors. Weights and pendulums are part of the story of the clock(s) and need to be preserved I think. Originality generally adds value to most anything collectible. But, weights are not convenient to haul about or to ship. And as others have pointed out they are frequently poorly packed when shipped. While I have complained about this previously I am hard-pressed to understand how the USPS broke this cast iron weight in half. It was not properly packed, but still? I was able to repair it, 2nd photo, but it required some time and effort. As can be seen the weights are not all that common in style, they are for a fairly rare Ives clock.

View attachment 641874 View attachment 641875

If the two surfaces were rusted when you received them, wasn't it possible that the weight had a major flaw/crack and was only being held together by the two corners? Wouldn't have take much of a bump to separate them I would expect.

What am I missing here?

 

[JimmyOz]

Jim, was there a reason you did not clean the rust off, I would think the joint/bond would be better?

 

[Jim DuBois]

Well, Jimmy and Dick. My guess is there was a crack in the weight since it was cast. Dropping it could certainly finish the job. Regards cleaning off the rust, it looks more prevelant in the photos than it seemed in reality. And between the adhesives used and the threaded rod it is not likely to ever fail, powder/flash rust or not. And it doesn't show, no trace. Maybe less than true craftsmanship work, but it works and if had not shared the photos no one would EVER be the wiser. A non reverseable repair

 

[Bruce Alexander]

On a much smaller scale I sold a Seth Thomas mantel clock with an adjustable lead pendulum quite few years ago. Shortly after it was delivered the buyer contacted me to ask if I had another pendulum for it. The one I sent looked old enough to be original. I told him that I could order a new reproduction from a clock parts supplier or that he could probably find a suitable replacement on eBay. I asked him what happened. He told me that he threw all the packing material in the fireplace and noticed some lead forming in the ashes shortly after he couldn't find the pendulum mentioned in my instructions. Proof positive that few people read the instructions the first time around since I also advise customers to save packing material at least until they are sure that they have a keeper.