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Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998

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Clock repair

Posts

Clock repair

#1

Clock repair

john lucas

I do a lot of clock repairs for a friend. This one is going to be a bear. With the top finial (that I have to repair) it's over 8 feet tall. There are several pieces of really small molding that I will have to make and replace. There are dings all over that I will have to patch and color match. Something is wrong with the upper door hing so will have replace the wrong screw that's in it and figure out what is wrong with the screws in the bottom of the hinge, Probably stripped. Lots' of other odds and ends need fixing. It's over 100 years old.

Wasn't looking forward to doing this right now but I need the money so will tackle it anyway.

Re: Clock repair

#2

Re: Clock repair

Ed Davidson

Looks like a big and complicated job. It would scare the beejeebees out of me, requiring more than one change of underwear. Hope you're being well paid.

Re: Clock repair

#3

Re: Clock repair

Michael Wilkins

Like the old saying goes-how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I too am in the middle of restoration projects for other folks, but the moolah it generates is nice. I would much rather build from scratch than refinish/repair.

Re: Clock repair

#4

Re: Clock repair

john lucas

He asked me to build one last year and I refused. Just not interested in building a grandfather clock. The small turned ones I build are about all I want to do. The repair and patching and carving are the easy part. It's matching the stain and fixing small scrapes and scratches that is the hard part. I've gotten pretty good at filling in corners with dirt and wax and in some cases even putting a layer of finish on and throwing dirt at it to try and match the existing pieces. I guess if I wasn't good at it he would quit asking. I would find it harder to turn down if he hadn't given me an older performax 16/32 drum sander free. I've gotten an awful lot of use out of that machine.

Re: Clock repair

#5

Re: Clock repair

Larry

I like building Grandfather clocks. Would like to build one like that, I think it would be fun. Haven't built one for some time.

Re: Clock repair

#6

Keith Tompkins

Re: Clock repair

Keith tompkins

John, when I had my cabinet shop, I did lots of high end furniture repairs for antique dealers. The is far more money to be made repairing pieces like this than custom work. Customers should pay a premium for repairs on fine pieces. Even more to fix someone else's botched repairs.

Re: Clock repair

#7

Re: Clock repair

john lucas

I hate fixing botched repairs. Especially chairs where someone put a nail in to secure a loose tenon. This clock fortunately only has one piece that appears to have been glued on with hide glue so it should be easy to remove, clean up and replace.

Re: Clock repair

#8

Re: Clock repair

John K Jordan

Hey, if you get a chance some before and after closeups would be nice!

I've never repaired a wood clock case but I've worked on antique movements before. I'm OK until I get to a worn out gear or bushing.

I once went to Scotland and visited a clock/watch maker/repair expert I met through a graphics forum. What an education! I never saw lathes and drill presses and other metal working machines and tools so small. He could remake the smallest shaft or gear in a watch, needed a microscope to see what he was doing. His machine shop took up very little space! He made his living restoring rare and expensive timepieces - he showed me pictures of one that was worth millions.

JKJ

Re: Clock repair

#9

Re: Clock repair

Rik, WI

Yes, some close up pictures please. That's a beautiful tall clock case.

I find working on clocks - both the case and movements to be very relaxing.

With minimal research re-bushing a movement is pretty straight forward. The more you do the easier it becomes.