Grandfather Clock Restoration

The Restoration of any timepiece starts with a general inspection to look for damage, wear or bodging (bad repairs). The main problems with the clock above was lack of servicing which generates more wear and a broken rack tail which controls the the number of strikes on the hour. After removing the mechanism on the front plate the rack tail is replaced and positioned. The rest of the clock is then dismantled and cleaned by hand machinery such as buffing machines must not be used this will cause damage to the metal. The pivots are checked for rutting and general wear, if there is any rutting then they are polished out or re pivoted if the wear is to great. Assembly of the train wheels if there is any wear in the pivot holes then these have to be bushed. When all the wear and bushing has been done the movement is re cleaned and hand polished. The movement is reassembled and the striking mechanism is set up for the correct wheel alignment and the new lines are fitted normally Gut or cable. I personal test the clock for a few days without the dial fitted to see if any further adjustments are required. When I am happy with this the dial and hands are assembled and the mechanism is further tested before re installing back in the case.