Thinking of going back to school.......Sort of.

[hoser]

One of the things I like to do is tinker with small mechanical things. One of my real loves is antique clocks. We have around six or seven wind ups in the house and I love working on them, I have had several movements totally apart, found the problem with them and re-assembled. And yes they work. But I want to learn more about repairing these old movements so I have been looking at several courses that are available. Besides MD'ing that would be a great side business when I retire. Don't want anything to do with watches though. Just way too small for my old eyes. stretcher: And if we ever move out east I'll have something to keep me occupied when the snow is on the ground. What do ya'll think. Sound like a good thing to get into?

[xzlr8n]

I have an older Junghans that I inherited from my Grandfather that needs work?? There are not too many people around my area that still work on older clock movements. I think you could get some premium pay for your service!!

[hoser]

xzlr8n I'll give you a little trick of the trade. If the movement is an old one(pre plastic) you probably only need to give the movement a good cleaning and then apply a QUALITY clock oil. What I found to clean certin areas of a movement is good old eletro contact cleaner. It is a very good grease and old oil gum remover. DO NOT USE ON MODERN MOVMENTS as some have plastic gimbals and bearing points and this would destroy them. Apply a minute drop of oil only on the bearing or pinion points. Too much oil will only attract a lot of dust and dirt and cause your movement to fail in a short time. thumbsup01

[coinnut]

I had an old clock given to me that didn't work and was lucky enough to have an old time clock repair guy live near by. He completely dissasembled the clock, did an ultrasoinc cleaning and reassembled it. He had to make some wooden spools for it along with a new wire for the pendulum. All that for about $125.00. When I can get to scanning the pictures, I will show it to you. It's kinda unusual, and is around @1840's I think. Old clocks are still cheap and I think they are well worth the money. Where else can you get such workmanship for around $300.00??

[Epi-hunter]

Clocks are my thing.

I have a wall clock that my dad built me before he died ten years ago, that quit working. It's a wall mounted grandfather type clock. I need to take it somewhere... but where? I don't trust just anyone with it.

One of my oldest and fondest memories is Christmas eve when I was a child... we used to go to my great aunt and uncle's house... they collected and fixed clocks. They had a really old, fairly small house. But they had fourteen huge old grandfather clocks in the foyer and first floor... and over two hundred cuckoo clocks hung on the walls and on surfaces, as well as dozens of mantel clocks. They were always all set for the same time, so each new hour was interesting with literally hundreds of clocks going off.

After they died I inherited several very ornate wall clocks and rare cuckoo clocks.

Wish I could give you my wall grandfather clock to fix Bill!

[hoser]

HAHAHAHA! coinnut we have windups in the house and when the power goes out I still know the time. Lot to be said for old technology.

[hoser]

Angie if it just quit without any type of a CRASH sound its just dirty and needs a good cleaning and oiling. If I was closer I could help you out in a VERY short period of time. thumbsup01 If you decide to have it fixed remember, if it didn't go bang, its probably dirty. A whole lot cheaper to fix.

[Epi-hunter]

My great uncle fixed clocks for people.... he did it as a business on the side. Usually what he did was what you said.

[coinnut]

Here's some pictures of my clock. I guess it's kinda a rare one, but not super rare. Something about the third winding, I forget I think an early alarm It was covered up with the clock faceplate, but the guy who cleand it drilled another hole to expose the winding part :bangahead01: I would have left it hidden. He said it wasn't very popular so they put a different face plate on it and covered up that option. Better than rebuilding a lot of already made clocks. Not bad for free + cleaning/rebuilding fees. Hope the pictures come out OK, I took pictures of my pictures. Wife has the scanner and her computer has been taken over by spies :bangahead01: I guess we'll be getting some spywear. Now she is downloading a program to remove the spies

[RickO]

I really like old clocks.. particularly the Grandfather, floor clocks. Always wanted one... never did get one. RickO