Expert: William J Perkins - 4/6/2009

Question
I recently bought a Barwick floor clock at an estate sale that was working at the time. The gentleman removed the weights for traveling purposes, and the chains have slipped off the sprocket. How do I reset these? Thank you very much for your time.
Raven in Florida

Answer
This can be a very frustrating experience because of the propensity of the chain to thread over adjacent shafts, and to jump off the wheel before you can secure it, which of course would never do.  To avoid this I suggest you remove the movement from the case so that you can observe the progress of the chain over its cog wheel.  Before beginning, and if there are chains still properly hung be sure to secure them in their place by wrapping bread ties around them.  This done you can remove the movement from the case and move it around without fear of dropping another chain off its cog.  When you have the movement out of the case turn it so that you look directly down from the bottom.  You will see the cog wheel the chain fits around.  Using a skewer or other similar implement push against the cog to turn it.  You will note that in one direction the cog will ratchet and lock in the other direction.  Remove the hook from the end of the chain and feed it into the cog as far as you can. using your skewer cause the cog wheel to ratchet this will fee the chain over the cog wheel.  As you are feeding the chain, rotate the movement so that the chain stays flat against the cog, if you don't the chain will feed over adjacent shafts, which is a no no!  In this manner continue feeding the chain until you can grasp the emerging end of the chain and pull it downwards to where you have reached a 50-50 expanse of chain on either side of the cog.  This achieved use a bread tie to secure the chain in place, replace the hook to the end of the chain and proceed to the next chain.  This can be a very time consuming and frustrating experience.  Hang in there you can do it.  Regards WJP