The Clock Jobber's Handybook

By Paul N. Hasluck

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Tick Tock Productions ™

The

CLOCK JOBBER'S HANDYBOOK.

CHAPTER VI

REPAIRING AN 8-DAY CLOCK

Sometimes it happens that a leaf gets broken out of a clock pinion, which is a serious matter when it is desirable that the old pinion be retained. In this class of clocks, where small solid pillions of seven and eight leaves are used, there is no way of saving the clock pinion except by fastening two collets near to the pinion head, and to these rings fasten a new leaf to take the place of the broken one. In the case of the centre and third pinions, where the wheel is riveted on to the pinion head, it will only be necessary to fasten one collet to hold a new leaf, because the wheel itself can be used in place of the other ring.

New clock pinions are hardened in the following way :—After having been trued and the leaves finished with a smooth file, take a piece of soft iron wire, and twist one end of it round the pinion arbor; then take a piece of common soap, and completely cover the pinion leaves with it. Have ready a good clear fire and a jar of water, put the pinion in the fire, taking care that no pieces of coal are likely to fall on it which would bend it when red. As soon as the pinion is all red, take it out and plunge it quickly into the water, noticing particularly that you plunge it straight down, otherwise it is apt to get crooked in the process. Take the pinion out of the water and take off the binding wire, and proceed with any others in the same way.

The clock pinion leaves, being thinner than the body of the pinion, would have a chance of being burnt before the rest of the pinion became red, therefore the soap is put on to prevent this. After clock pinions are hardened, bring them back to a spring temper. Take a piece of stout iron wire, bend it double, and at each end bend a couple of small eyes , open out the wire sufficiently to admit the points of a pinion in each eye. Holding the bend of the wire, pass the clock pinion over a Bunsen burner or other flame until it gets slightly heated, rub tallow all over it, or oil it, then pass it slowly backwards and forwards over the flame, so as to heat it regularly all over until the tallow or oil takes fire, blow out the flame, allow the pinion to cool a little, give it another coat of tallow or oil, and blaze it again. Notice each time that simply the grease takes fire; do not allow it to burn itself out, as then the pinion would be rather soft. Allow the clock pinions to cool of themselves. Next see if they are straight; if not, true them before proceeding further. Putting the pinion in the turns, drive it round, and apply a piece of chalk to mark the high side, take it out, lay the marked side of the arbor on a narrow steel stake, then with a light, thin peen, hammer strike the clock pinion arbor repeatedly on the unmarked side; this stretches it on the hollow side and tends to bring it straight; try in the turns again, and, if not yet true, repeat the process until it is so.

To polish the clock pinion heads a few wedge-shaped pieces of wood, say about 6 in. long and 3 in. broad, also some flour emery mixed with oil, and some crocus will be required. Lay the pinion head on a soft piece of wood, and dip one of the pieces of wood into the emery and oil, rub hard the bottom of the pinion leaves. After thoroughly polishing the bottoms, take another piece of wood with a slight groove cut on its face, and polish the tops ; then thoroughly clean off the emery, re-cut the wedges, and finish with dry crocus. Next turn down each arbor to about the proper size, solder on the collets for wheels, turn them down, and rivet on wheels, run up the wheels with file, and finish up arbor with smooth file. To face up the clock pinion heads two pieces of thick sheet, iron, about an inch square, with holes bored in the centre a little larger than the pinion arbors, will be required. These pieces, called facers, would be handier if these holes are cut away to one side of the piece completely. The slit in the facers allows them to be taken off and on without taking the pinion out of the lathe. File each side flat with a moderately rough file, apply a little of the emery and oil to them, put a pinion in the turns or lathe, and press the facer against the pinion face, driving the clock pinion rather quickly, but, if on a lathe, not constantly in one direction, but backwards and forwards as with a bow. Frequently file the flat of your facer, as the high parts of the pinion cut into it rapidly. Let the pinion run rather loose in centers, and endeavor to keep the facer as flat as possible, simply pressing it against the clock pinion with a couple of fingers. After getting the clock pinion head thoroughly flat and equal with the emery, clean well, file up the facer again, and apply a little crocus and oil to give a finishing gloss. Finish off the wheels next and then the clock arbors.

An iron polisher about 9 in. long and 11 in. broad filed flat at ends and square on edges will be required. Polish the clock arbors, first with emery and oil, moving the polisher rapidly backwards and forwards, and occasionally filing it flat when all the file marks are out, cleaning as before, and then using the crocus and oil, giving a finishing gloss by using dry crocus between two pieces of wood, pressing the pinion firmly between them while revolving rapidly.

It only remains now to turn down the pivots with the graver, afterwards using a smooth flat file and then a polisher, and polishing stuffs as before, holding both file and polisher quite straight so as not to round the shoulder of the pivot. After using the file to the pivot, with the side of your graver turn off the arris, leaving a slight chamfer off the shoulder. Round off the ends of the pivots with a smooth file and then a burnisher; but practice is the great teacher.

When pivot holes are wide, never attempt to close them with punches. The clock plates are usually so thick that if they are punched a solid hole cannot be made all the way through. Some pivot holes have been closed by making deep marks with a centre punch all round the hole. This kind of treatment is " botching " in its worst form, and under no circumstances should it be resorted to. Very often pivot holes require to be made smaller; one way of doing this is to ascertain in which direction the plate is worn away, drill a hole under direction of wear and file a plug to fit, and drive into the hole. This will force the worn part of the plate inwards. Continue to drive in the plug until the pivot hole is too small; it may afterwards be opened to proper size with a round broach. If the plug holes are chamfered on each side and the plugs filed to a proper length, carefully riveted, smooth-filed and polished, the plate will not be disfigured, and a sound hole and depth will be made. Sometimes two or even three plugs are inserted, all on the side where wear has occurred.

The usual method of putting a new hole is as follows ; it requires practice to be successful. Ascertain direction and extent of wear in the old hole, then, with a round file, cut away those parts of the hole that are not worn to the same extent, and broach out round and smooth at least twice, but better thrice the diameter of the pivot. Drill a hole nearly large enough to fit the pivot in a piece of hard brass for a bush, turn it on a straight arbor to fit plate, rivet in its place, file level with the plate, and polish.

If a pivot hole be so large that a smaller one is desirable, the object will be accomplished more satisfactorily than by closing, and an expert workman will do the work about as quickly by putting in a new bush. The best way to proceed is to broach the old pivot hole three or four times larger than its original size, being careful to have a straight and round hole, widest towards the outside of the frames, and the edges of the hole carefully chamfered. The hole is now ready to receive the bush, which may for some purposes be made eccentric, so as to admit of being turned round to that position that will make the depth of the wheel and pinion most accurate.

An eccentric bush can be made with ease and great rapidity in any lathe that has a chuck that will hold a piece of wire. Grip a piece of tough brass wire in the chuck, and turn it to fit the hole already made in the frame. Set it a little out of truth, just as much as the bush is desired to be eccentric, by tapping it with a hammer. Centre the bush, as it runs in its new position, and bore up a hole of the desired size to fit the pivot. Cut off the newly-made bush just a little longer than the thickness of the frame, undercutting it a little at the same time. Open the hole with a broach till it fits tight on to its pivot, put the new bush in its place, and the necessary wheels into their places, and turn round the bush till the depth is right. The bush may now be riveted, and if fitted well, and not left to project too far above the level of the frame, a few taps of the hammer will tighten it, and the whole operation may be done in less time than it takes to write these directions. After riveting, the hole must again be enlarged to give the necessary freedom to the pivot, and at the same time polished with a round broach. The new bush must be properly countersunk, so as to retain the oil, and where the bush was inserted the plate must be made flat with bluestone, and afterwards re-polished with rottenstone and oil on a wool cloth.

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Hasluck, Paul N. The Clock Jobber’s Handybook. London: Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1889.

This and the following pages are excerpts from the book.