Expert: John Newman - 12/30/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have the same Howard Miller clock (612-485, marked 78 p  80 cm on the back of the movement) that another person inquired about and would like to have it rebuilt. I thought I would buy all the parts and take them to the clock shop, but when I inquired at an online parts dealer, he need to know the hand shaft length before he could chose the correct the movement. HM's technician didn't have records back that far; I don't want to take it apart myself.  Any suggestions?

ANSWER: Mary, first a personal opinion.  As a professional clockmaker, when I take in a clock movement for restoration, I check it out for running, note any problems in running, worn or broken parts.  Then I break it down, clean the individual parts and inspect them for wear, etc.  This gives me information on which to make a decision on whether to rebuild the parts of replace them.  I have many parts in stock.  My question to you is why would you want to buy the parts and how would you know which parts needed replacing?  Unless you know what parts are needed, you will be buying unnecessary parts or not buying some that are needed.  If you are trying to save money on this, you might be spending more on choosing the parts yourself.  Most parts that wear are not expensive.  One example are the bushings that are used to fill the worn holes in the movement plates.  As a representative scenario, I charge $1.00 per bushing and $5.00 ea. to replace.  Choosing the bushings is rather complicated to the uninitiated.  If a customer brought a movement into my shop with a bunch of parts, I would probably refuse to do the job, one of the main reasons being that if one of the parts failed, would it be because it was defective or because I installed it incorrectly?  Who is going to make the decision on who pays for the rework?  If I buy the parts, I will probably choose the correct ones and be responsible for them.  

My suggestion is to take it to an experienced clockmaker and let him give you an estimate on rebuilding the movement or if is is close to the price of a new movement, having it replaced.  If I am correct your Howard Miller 612-485 is a wall clock, was built in the late 1970's and has a Kieninger two-weight cable movement.  The information you would have to give your supplier would be found on the back movement plate.  It would probably have the numbers, PS27, PS37, PS38 or or PS40.  In answer to the handshaft length, it can be measured from the front plate of the movement to the end of the handshaft.  Usually is is noted in millimeters.

Don't take the movement apart yourself!  When we reassemble a movement, it is done with the recent knowledge we have of how we dismantled it.  If it has been dismantled by someone else, we have to put it together as one would do with a picture puzzle without a picture to go by.  If you will permit me a little humor, this reminds me of a sign I once saw in a clock shop:


CLOCK REPAIR RATES:

STANDARD RATE.................$50/hr.
IF YOU WATCH..................$75/hr.
IF YOU TELL ME HOW TO DO IT...$100/hr.
IF YOU WORKED ON IT BEFORE....$200/hr.

I hope I've answered your questions.  One last thing is to ask the clockmaker if he would allow you to buy the parts himself. If you do, let me know what the answer is.  If you do have any more questions, get back with me.


John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama


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

QUESTION: Thanks for your extensive reply, John, but I had no intention of dismantling the movement. I just wanted to buy the weights and the movement to take with me to the repair shop. (Without that shaft length, they said they couldn't send me the right movement.) Since I don't want to take the CLOCK apart to measure the shaft length, I guess I'll just buy the weights; maybe the old movement will work just fine.  Thanks again for your time and opinion.

Answer
Mary, I did read into your question a little more than you intended.  When I saw "parts", I took it that you meant parts for rebuilding the movement.  So, a revised answer would be that you are going to have to identify the movement.  It will have to be an exact replacement or the clockmaker will have to do some modifications, which could be minor or extensive.  The weights (I imagine you mean the complete weight assemblies; weights shells, caps, rods, nuts, hooks and weight fillers) will have to be determined by the model of the movement.  If you can give me all the information on the back movement plate, I can try to determine which movement you need.

P.S.  I am going to be on vacation status for a few days and my Allexperts questions will not get through.  However, you can reach me at my shop email address, <klokdok@juno.com> and I will answer you.  

(For general information, I am only answering Allexperts questions and follow up questions.  All other email questions will be delayed for some time.)   

John Newman