Expert: William J Perkins - 6/15/2010

Question
My husband is in the Navy on deployment and his grandfather just passed.  His grandfather was an engineer and worked on clocks as a hobby.  I brought one of his clocks home for my husband to remind him of his grandfather.  It's a Waterbury Patented Sep 22nd 1874, with a double winder.  I polished the wood, wound it, and by adjusting the dial on the pendulum got it perfectly calibrated (it took a week to get it right#.  It was running perfectly for 12 days.  On the 13th day #just realized that) I came home to find, it stopped around 1500.  I thought that was odd and when i started the pendulum back up, it seemed fine.  I came home after work today to find it had stopped sometime after noon.  I thought, ok it must need a winding and it felt tight, so i barely wound it and thought maybe it goes the other direction and barely moved it and the mainspring sheared.  I found a place to get the part, but need direction on how to replace the mainspring when it gets here.  Do you know if there are any manuals/directions out there?  I feel horrible and really want to get this clock fixed before my husband gets home.  I'd also like to at least try to fix it myself.  My husbands grandfather was a great man, and i think he'd want me to at least try.

Answer
Replacing a mechanical clock main spring is a dangerous task.  I URGE YOU NOT TO ATTEMPT THIS TASK!!!  Please take it to a qualified clock repair person.  If you insist upon trying this please obtain a copy of Phillip E Balcomb's book, The Clock repair Primer.  Regards WJP