Expert: Martin Meyer - 1/24/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi, Martin.  We have a Howard Miller Joyce style mantle clock on which the hour and minute hands are out of synch.  Specifically, when the minute hand is at the top of the hour, the hour hand points midway in its travel to the next hour (position of hour hand is roughly one half hour ahead of where it should be).  My HM instruction booklet gave no guidance on this.  Can you kindly advise?  And if it is a matter of manually moving the hour hand, should we only move it counter-clockwise, as the HM booklet says one should do when changing times with the minute hand?  Thanks in advance for your reply.

ANSWER: Hi Leigh,
    The hour hand, unlike the minute hand, is a simple friction fit on it shaft. First, set the clock to 12:00. Then move the hour hand ONLY to align with the minute hand. It doesn't matter which way you turn the hour hand. Make sure that the hour hand is not hitting the minute hand at their centers, and if necessary push the hour on a tiny bit farther to make sure they clear each other. The hour hand should not be so far back that it hits the dial at any point. Then set the clock to the correct time in the normal way, by moving the minute hand.
    To prevent this problem from reoccurring, make sure that you always set the time by the tip of the minute hand, so that you do not inadvertantly push the hour hand out of position.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks, Martin.  A quick follow up, just to clarify: when moving the hour hand, do I just slowly turn it without applying any downward pressure toward the clock face (other than to clear the minute hand, which I don't think is needed) OR upward pressure away from the clock face, both as related to the spindle on which it is mounted?  If it is a friction fit, would one want to pull the hour hand slightly up/off/away from the spindle, to loosen it from the spindle and then reposition?  Or is this strictly a matter of gently moving the hour hand (once the minute hand is at 12:00), without applying any pressure in any direction other than that required to rotate it back by roughly one half hour?  Thanks in advance for your further reply!  --Leigh

Answer
Hi Leigh,
    You've hit upon an important consideration, which I probably should have covered in more detail in my answer.
    Generally, you simply move the hour hand radially, without applying any outward or inward pressure. Then you should check that the hour hand center has clearance from both the minute hand in front and the dial behind. Do this by gently pressing in on the minute hand nut to hold it in its most "pushed inward" position. While holding it, try to move the hour hand in and out; it should have some small amount of free play between the minute hand and the dial. In other words, you don't want the hour hand to be pressed against either the minute hand or the dial. If it is, move the hour hand a tiny bit in or out to reestablish the free play.
    Also, check that the tips of the hour and minute hand don't hit each other at any point as they rotate on the dial while the clock runs.