I bought this clock from a dealer at an Antiques and Vintage Fair at Stoner Park in May, the case was in a pretty sorry state, the top was in three pieces with chunks missing, the columns were loose and the moulding was missing from the left hand side. The face was in good condition, but the hands were covered in rust and oil...
Inspecting the movement, it was covered in crud and oil and was in desperate need of a service.
As it was sunny and warm, I decided to start with the case (I can work outside). Removing the movement and setting it aside, I removed the 4 screws holding the top of the case in place, lifting off the three top pieces, the majority of the case fell apart in my hands, the glue was so old, it had just given up. This was going to be a bigger job than I thought....
I started by working out where all the pieces went, then, using a Stanly knife, proceeded to scrape all the old glue from the various parts.
Next came a major ‘glue up’, fixing the desperate parts of the front panel and top back together. Once I had the top and sides together, I could start looking at the missing chunks to the top moulding, using some oak from my store, I cut in new pieces and with my faithful Dremel, re-carved the new wood to match the existing curves.
Then all the panels were stripped of the old polish, to give me a chance to colour in the new repairs.
Assembling the sides and top, I now needed to make new mouldings for the bottom of the case (the LH side on was missing), so using some reclaimed oak floorboard, I cut and routed new replacements.
Now came the tricky part, colouring in the new repairs and mouldings to match the old case, this is a nightmare job for me, as 1) it is not something I do everyday and 2) I am colourblind.... with the help of a good friend of mine, (who does this stuff everyday), we managed to get a good match.
The case was French Polished, reassembled the given a couple of coats of clear wax, new brass feet were fitted and it was ready to receive the movement.
The movement was in a sorry state, not the worst that I had come across but still in need of stripping and cleaning before I could assess if any remedial works were needed. Just getting the hands off took some time as the pin and minute hand were rusted in place, to get the strike arm off, I needed my workshop vice and a blowtorch!
I cleaned the majority of the crud from the wheels and plates before putting them through the ultrasonic cleaner on a ‘hot wash’.
Once all the parts were clean, I could have a proper inspection of the pinions and bearings. The movement had obviously been previously serviced b a professional as some of the bearing had been re-bushed, satisfied that no further work was needed, I proceeded to inspect the mainsprings, to find these also had been replaced at some point as there still nice and shiny.
The hands were a different story, I needed to use a wire wheel, to clean off the rust and black paint, then they were polished and finally re-blued back to their original look.
The movement was re-assembled and put on the test rig, ticking away quite happily - a little bit of tweaking was needed to get the strike working properly, and it took a few attempts with the length of the pendulum to get it keeping reasonable time....
The front and back bezels were cleaned and polished using a buffing wheel, then given a coat of lacquer to keep them shiny.
New bun feet were added to the base, the movement fitted back into the case and the strike arm adjusted to give a lovely deep boing. I am truly happy with this restoration, it has taken a ‘wrecker’ of a clock and given it a new life for another 50 years or so.
