About Shelly Shires Expertise Specializing in the repair of antique American clocks. Experienced with most other types of clocks. No cuckoo or 400 day (anniversary) questions, please. Will answer basic questions regarding modern clocks. Visit website at www.theclocklady.com
Experience 10 years as a professional, 25 years as a collector
Organizations NAWCC
Education/Credentials Hands-on training with a series of 5 professional clockmakers
Question I part dismantled this clock to replace a broken spring,& a damaged gear, & now, I can't get the timing correct (strike & chime etc, it has 3 trains.) Any advice or instructions please ?
Answer Hi David-
I don't know if you are a hobbyist or what your experience is with repairing clocks; however, setting up a strike train even on a simple time and strike clock is not something that can be parlayed through allexperts or an email.
If you are inexperienced or even a hobbyist, the best thing to do at this point is to take the clock to a professional. If you are experienced and still having difficulty, I recommend you pick up one of several good books on how to repair chiming clocks, complete with diagrams.
One is Striking and Chiming Clocks by Eric Smith, there a few really good ones by Conover. You could "google" chiming clock repair and see what you find. Sometimes there are websites on line that can give you good advice.
When I first started repairing, before I disassembled a chiming clock, I would spend time watching it work so that I could understand what each part did. I took digital pictures of the parts so that I would know where they belonged when it was time to reassemble. After awhile, I didn't need those props anymore, unless it was a movement I was unfamiliar with.
Then I came across the chime clock repair books. ;o) Sort of backwards....but that's me sometimes.
I applaud your efforts in disassembling your clock - always be sure the power of the mainsprings is let down in the barrel or into a c-clamp before you do so...otherwise an exploding clock can be a very entertaining, yet painful experience.
