Expert: Martin Meyer - 8/28/2007

Question
QUESTION: I'd very much appreciate learning how to adjust the hour hand on my grandfather clock.  The hand flopps to the bottom.  When I press it down to put it in the proper position, it then remains frozen there, and does not move as it should in concert with the minute hand's revolution.

Thanks!!!

ANSWER: Hi Linda,
    Sorry for the delay; my computer has been down.
    I'm going to assume that your clock is modern, not an antique of a hundred years old or so. If it is an antique clock, please get back to me, and DO NOT do the following instructions.
    You are doing the correct thing in pressing the hand tighter onto its shaft. If you have to press it on so far that it touches the dial, and so does not move, then the hand collet (the center part of the hand) has become bent open and is too large to fit tightly on the shaft.
    Set the clock to 12:00. Unscrew the hand nut and pull the minute hand straight off. Make sure you don't turn the handshaft in this process. Now pull the hour hand straight off. You will see the hand collet at the center, a brass piece with one or two slots in it. This is the part that has enlarged. Use a pair of pliers to VERY GENTLY squeeze this part smaller. The best place to put the pliers is near the slot in the hand collet. You are squeezing this "pipe" shaped piece smaller LESS than you can see! Real delicacy is required here, or you will squeeze too hard and crush the entire hand collet. Give it a very small squeeze and try it on the shaft to see if it is tighter. Do this a little at a time.
    When the hour hand fits tight, reassemble the hands to the 12:00 position. This should correct your problem.
    Thanks for your question.   Martin

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

QUESTION: Thanks for your reply, Martin.  Sorry I forgot to mention that the clock is more than 100 years old.

Linda

Answer
Hi Linda,
    Some antique clocks attach the hour hand by a method essentially the same as for modern clocks. Others have a mechanism described following:
    Remove the minute hand by unscrewing the hand nut or pulling out the taper pin and removing the washer beneath it. The taper pin is a small pin that goes through a hole near the tip of the handshaft. Remember that it only comes out in one direction; look closely to see which end is the thicker end, and pull it out in that direction.
    Now look at the hour hand. If it has the old method of attaching it, it will have a notch in its center hole, and no hand collet. This notch should align with a hole in the hour pipe (the hour hand hollow shaft). The hour hand fits on the end of the hour pipe, the end of which is cut a little smaller to provide a sort of "shelf" for the hand to sit on. Then a very small screw goes through the notch in the hand center and into the hole in the center pipe. If this screw is missing, you must replace it. Assortments of small screws are available from clock materials houses; you have to fit one that fits as well as possible, you probably won't find one that fits exactly right. This screw is what holds the hour hand on, so it is essential.
    If the above is not the mechanism on your clock, it will have to be something very similar to the modern clock mechanism, and you can follow my original instructions.
    A few antique clocks have had their hour hands replaced over the years, and fitted with an old style hand (that is, no hour hand collet, just the flat hand with a hole in the center). In these cases, you have to just press the hour hand  onto its location and let the tightness of the fit on the hand pipe hold it on. These cases are always a problem because, lacking a hand collet, the hand tends to move up and down, thus hitting the minute hand or the dial. All you can really do in these cases is press the hand on and be very careful when setting the the time that the hand remains parallel to the minute hand and the dial. If you want to take a bit of a chance, you can tap the center hole of the hour hand VERY CAREFULLY with a very small ball peen hammer, thus putting a small burr on the hole, which will make the hand hold tighter.
    Thanks for your question.   Martin