Expert: John Newman - 1/29/2011

Question
Hi John,

Thank you for all the help you've given me so far in previous questions.  I've just acquired a 30 hour longcase clock with bell strike.  Ive got it all going and its keeping good time, i've just got two problems, what a surprise!

Firstly, when it strikes it strikes 12 on the first hour, then 1, on next hour, then 2, but then back to 12 again.  How do I get it to strike the hours in correct sequence?

Secondly, the minute hand was very fragile and has snapped off.  It was diecast metal and i'd like to get a pair of replacement hands because they weren't very nice anyway.  The clock is circa 1890.  Any ideas where I can get a replacement set?

Kind Regards

Matt
Bournemouth
UK

Answer
Matt, sorry for the delay.  I attempted to answer your question twice this weekend, but a computer glitch prevented them from sending.  However, when I read your second question and I think it narrows the problem down quite a bit.  First, I don't know where you would find the hands for an old clock like that except by looking on eBay or a similar auction site under hands.  Some companies do have reproductions.  In the US it could Timesavers, Merritts, R&M Imports, or any that you might find by Googling clock suppliers.  In the UK, Meadows and Passmore might have something you could use.  

I believe you have identified the strike as a count wheel type rather than a rack and snail.  I had stated in my previous answers (that didn't send) that being an 1890 movement it probably was a count wheel.  The way it works is that the count wheel has a series of notches that are spaced in ascending order.  A lever tab drops to the surface of the wheel and allows the strike train to continue to run.  When the lever tab drops into one of the slots, the other end of the lever drops to catch a pin on another wheel in the strike train and stops the motion.  When it is ready to strike for the next hour, the lever is lifted in such a way that either it or another lever allows the train to move slightly and is stopped.  This is called the warning.  It is like cocking a gun.  This allows the count wheel to advance so that at the hour when the lever is dropped it hits the outer surface of the count wheel and not in the notch of which it had just exited.  It then continues to run until the next notch is reached, counting the correct number of strikes.

I'm not sure what is happening as far as it striking 12, 1, 2, and then 12 again.  One far out possibility is that it is dropping properly in the slots at 12, 1 and 2, but then at 3 and 4 it is missing the notches.  Therefore it would count 3 + 4 + 5, stops there and the total number of strikes would total 12.  The next question is what are the number of strikes after that through the whole striking cycle?  That might help determine if I'm looking at this correctly.  If that is the case, the timing of the lever tab dropping in the notches is out of sync or the tab is bent.  If it is out of sync, one of the wheels (gears) in the strike train needs to be brought into sync.  If the lever tab can be formed, it would be aligned so that it drops into the notch without hitting one of the edges.  Many of these tabs are made in such a way that they should not be formed, but the strike train synched.  Now if it is a rack and snail strike mechanism, the snail is the cam on the hour hand tube that looks like a snail. Whatever it is, let me know and we'll go from there.

John Newman
THE VILLAGE CLOCKSMITH
Old Prattvillage
Prattville, Alabama

klokdok@juno.com

(Due to the number of Allexperts questions and
the workload I have at my clock shop, I regret
that I cannot answer personal email questions on a timely basis
other than Allexperts follow ups.)