Expert: William J Perkins - 12/22/2010

Question
i am house sitting and part of my job was to wind a grandfather clock.  I was told to that I only had a few opportunities of when to wind and one was to  wind only after a quarter past the hour which i forgot to do and i wound on the seventh day at 10 minutes past the hour (11:10pm)and so shortly after that the clock stopped at 11:20.  how can i restart the clock?

Answer
It is a good idea to establish a habitual winding routine, but it is not essential.  The clock don't know the difference it is simply the development of a habit by the owner.  Of personal choice I wind all my eight day clocks begriming at about 8:00 am each Wednesday until done.  This habit assures that all the clock receive attention on a regular routine basis, not hit nor miss, with a possibility of forgetting to do it at all.  To start the grandfather, just give the pendulum a gentle nudge.  If all is well, it should start right up.  Regards WJP