Grandfather Clocks

One of my favorite hobbies is restoring Grandfather Clocks.

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Great work! Some great clocks, you need to get them all chiming at once!

Before I got married a girlfriend had a beautiful Herschedes Grandfather clock. If you set the time by winding the hands backwards it would knock a pin out of the strike movement and wouldn’t chime. I took that apart and fixed it but the relationship never went anywhere.

Still got my Great Grandfathers calendar clock from 1905.

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I have one Herschede Grandfather clock that I finished last week.

I did that a while back, but it was a pain to get the all there at once.

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Very cool hobby. I overhaul Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos Clocks. These Swiss made works of art run on nothing but air. A 2° temperature change in the room will wind it for a few days. Most of my clocks are 50-80 years old and still running like new!

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Very nice!

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That’s cool, that you work on the clocks and flip them. I do the same thing these clocks are extremely delicate. I am currently working on two clocks. I overhaul them between inspections which are keeping me very busy. Here’s the one I started reassembling after my inspection this morning.

I just installed a new suspension spring last night. It’s a very very delicate process. The clock is running at 450° amplitude which is fantastic.

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Was your Herschede like this or was is cable ?

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Very nice! What do you use for a brass cleaner?
Do you have an ultrasonic cleaner?

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The brass is chrome coated, and then covered with a 24 karat gold guild. The gold is covered in lacquer. I have to be very careful to ensure I don’t use a clock cleaner with ammonia.

I have found that warm water, and Dawn dish soap along with a ultrasonic toothbrush is the best way to clean the movement and the clock. Of course, the jewels all get pegged with Pegwood, and all the pivots are highly polished.

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That is really cool! Yep!
What does one of these clocks look like complete?

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Really nice, Roy, Robert and Martin. :slight_smile:

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This is a Clock from 1973. I just wrapped this up for a client in Wisconsin.

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Thanks
You guys in the cold country use clocks? I assumed you’all used sun dials still… LOL!

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Good year… :smiley:

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Beautiful! Really !
I have probably passed up several of them not knowing what they were.
What do I look for in knowing it is one …

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Lll

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Virtually every Atmos clock on the used market is not running. The general rule is if you have an Atmos running you don’t sell it. The bellows require ethyl chloride be refilled approximately every 40 years. The clocks need to be serviced every 25 years and overhauled. After that, they will run on nothing but air for 25 years

I have two bellows out for ethyl chloride refilling.

There are only a few guys in the country that overhaul these clocks. I know one guy has a two-year waiting list and charges $1000 for his overhaul.

If you’re looking to buy one, make sure you buy a clock with a warranty. They run new for about $11,000.

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Very cool! I’m into the grandfather clock to deep to start anything else… In addition, My wife would kick my ass ! Yep!
I was just looking on FB market place. There were several there near my area.

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I have a couple of nice floor clocks but I would never have the nerve to try and work on one of them

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It was 40 years ago! I do remember it had a larger case and full length chimes.

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