the eBay musical cuckoo out of the box
Clock Repair

My Clock Repairs So Far

Since I attended my first local chapter meeting of the NAWCC (National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors) I thought I’d make a quick gallery of the clocks I’ve worked on so far.

A 31 day Schoolhouse clock sold by Montgomery Ward

My first clock to repair
My first clock to repair

I bought this one from Goodwill. It had no pendulum and was dirty.

The disassembled Montgomery Ward clock
The disassembled Montgomery Ward clock

I was incredibly lucky that despite this being my first clock repair, I was able to fully disassemble it, clean the parts, reassemble and adjust it, add a new pendulum, and… it works!

The finished Montgomery Ward clock
The finished Montgomery Ward clock

An Ansonia “Derby” Mantel clock

I found this clock at a local antique mall and took pity on it.

Ansonia Derby clock as I found it
Ansonia Derby clock as I found it

It had four coats of different-colored paint over its original oak wood.

As with the first clock, I fully disassembled the movement (and alarm), cleaned the parts, reassembled it, and replaced the broken pendulum hanger.

Path to the minute post
Path to the minute post

This clock had a couple real problems to fix: one warning pin was loose and threatened to come off – I replaced it; a couple wheels had no end-shake at all – I added thin washers to the posts to increase the wheels’ clearance.

The running, striking Ansonia clock on a test stand
The running, striking Ansonia clock on a test stand

The case of this clock is proving to be a challenge. I don’t know much about stripping paint from oak, except that it’s easy to mess it up because oak has an open grain that can collect paint. I’ve sanded much of the paint off, but still need to strip the remainder of it.

The mostly-sanded Ansonia clock case
The mostly-sanded Ansonia clock case

A Rusty Regula cuckoo clock movement

The rusty cuckoo clock movement, before cleaning
The rusty cuckoo clock movement, before cleaning

I bought this movement on eBay to practice repairing a cuckoo clock before working on a family cuckoo clock.

You know the drill: disassemble, clean with dish soap, water, and a toothbrush, then ultrasonic cleaner, rinse, wipe with alcohol-soaked paper towels, dry, reassemble and adjust.

The disassembled and cleaned Regula 25 cuckoo movement
The disassembled and cleaned Regula 25 cuckoo movement

Once again, I lucked out over my ignorance. I also designed a case for this clock – it’s awaiting time for me to do some woodworking.

The new case for the Regula 25 movement
The new case for the Regula 25 movement

A whole cuckoo clock, via eBay

the eBay cuckoo clock out of the box
the eBay cuckoo clock out of the box

Working on my first cuckoo, I realized that there are so many connections to the clock case that I really needed a whole clock to work on. So I bought this one on eBay. It looks like it had suffered – as many cuckoo clocks have – a fall off the wall.

I did a lot of repair on this clock, including replacing the tops of the whistles and replacing the missing numerals. I also learned how not to do a few repairs: In removing rust, I also removed the bluing (which is an oxidation) from some levers.

the cleaned eBay cuckoo clock movement
the cleaned eBay cuckoo clock movement

This clock is currently running on my wall. I’m a little surprised that I like the hourly “coo-coo” and the light ticking sound. This clock is waiting for me to clean a replacement surround and crown, and to make a replacement tongue for the cuckoo bird.

running on the wall
running on the wall

A soldered Regula cuckoo movement

I couldn’t resist this half-badly-repaired Regula cuckoo movement on eBay. I plan to learn bushing on this movement, because several of its pivot holes are heavily worn.

The “soldered Regula” out of the box
The “soldered Regula” out of the box

It has a couple of nasty repairs: the verge has been soft-soldered(!), the wrong clips are holding a few parts on, and it’s missing a few clips.

The verge was easy to replace, but once again I learned some things not to do: don’t polish the levers that are held by pressure clips (“Regula Crab Clips”) because now the clips won’t stay on.

I’ve cleaned this clock and done a few simple repairs; it’s waiting for me to finish the other clocks before I learn bushing on it.

The cleaned ‘soldered Regula’
The cleaned ‘soldered Regula’
the ‘soldered’ Regula, cleaned and mostly reassembled
the ‘soldered’ Regula, cleaned and mostly reassembled

A family musical cuckoo clock

As I was working on all these clocks, some folks in our extended family handed me a musical cuckoo that didn’t run, and that had been in a dresser for at least 15 years. Mostly, it needed cleaning, new whistle tops, and a crown.

The family cuckoo, before cleaning
The family cuckoo, before cleaning
the cleaned musical movement of the family clock
the cleaned musical movement of the family clock
the cleaned family cuckoo movement
the cleaned family cuckoo movement
the cleaned, repaired, and adjusted family cuckoo
the cleaned, repaired, and adjusted family cuckoo

The eBay musical cuckoo clock

Again, I was really lucky that I was able to repair the family cuckoo clock without knowing enough (!), so I bought a musical cuckoo clock via eBay, to practice on.

the eBay musical cuckoo out of the box
the eBay musical cuckoo out of the box

In addition to the usual work, I learned how (I think) to re-blue blued parts after removing rust (and bluing) from them.

Blued parts, after rust-remover removed the bluing – note the silver color
Blued parts, after rust-remover removed the bluing – note the silver color
those parts, re-blued with a cold bluing
those parts, re-blued with a cold bluing

Like some other clocks, the case is the tricky part for me. I cleaned it with Gojo, then tried to stain it – only to discover that it has some sort of finish on it. I need to strip it and re-stain it.

a failed attempt to stain a finished surround
a failed attempt to stain a finished surround

A Sessions Black Mantel clock

A while back I bought a Sessions Black Mantel clock to practice on, from The Clockmaker’s Gallery in Eugene Oregon. I’ve done nothing to it; I’m waiting until I’ve finished the other clocks before I start on this one.

The Sessions Black Mantel clock – to be repaired
The Sessions Black Mantel clock – to be repaired

I’ve learned a lot, and been remarkably lucky with these clocks! I’ve learned a lot from dperry428 on YouTube, a few clock repair books, and the NAWCC.org message boards – thank you, everyone!