grandfather clocks
Discussion
hi all
was in tooting today and came across a local store who had 3 absolutely beautiful grandfather clocks, The store to be honest has loads of junk but these 3 grandfather clocks definately stand out
ive fallen inlove with the one
its marked
J robbinson dewewsbury 1745.
I spoke to the owner and he says the clocks work but im not entirely sure.
can anyone give me some advice of what to look out for. what the right questions to ask and what to offer . He has it marked at £650 so not entirely sure because if it is faulty it might cost me more to repair it. The overall wooden caseing is in good condition and has no obvious scratches or bits of wood missing.
this is something new for me but Ive always wanted one and the ones I have come across have been well over £3000 and the one in the store has a lovely character about it
any help or info would be very much appreciated
w
was in tooting today and came across a local store who had 3 absolutely beautiful grandfather clocks, The store to be honest has loads of junk but these 3 grandfather clocks definately stand out
ive fallen inlove with the one
its marked
J robbinson dewewsbury 1745.
I spoke to the owner and he says the clocks work but im not entirely sure.
can anyone give me some advice of what to look out for. what the right questions to ask and what to offer . He has it marked at £650 so not entirely sure because if it is faulty it might cost me more to repair it. The overall wooden caseing is in good condition and has no obvious scratches or bits of wood missing.
this is something new for me but Ive always wanted one and the ones I have come across have been well over £3000 and the one in the store has a lovely character about it
any help or info would be very much appreciated
w
I know a little about them.
Long case tend to be 24 hr or 8 day mechanisms. 24 hr are much cheaper.
8 day ones have 2 winding holes on the face one for each mechanism - the clock mechanism and the striking mechanism.You also have 2 weights inside the case with the pendulum.
24 hr ones only have one weight and maybe only one winding hole. Not entirely sure. Have a look on ebay and look at the faces and what they say about the mechanisms.
if the clock is wound without the pendulum on the pendulum holder will more back and forth like mad. Make sure the pendulum is a good fit in the holder (the bit that goes like mad above) as if it doesn't then it won't keep good time.
They need to be fairly level to run well.
Look at the mechanism closely. If any bright spark has tried to oil it with 3 in1 or similar then the mechanism will be well and truely gummed up. Its far too thick. Clock oil is like water. The whole thing would need to be cleaned thoroughly. They do tend to look a bit dusty.
You can slide the top cover off simply by pulling it forward - the whole glass face cover and wooden top of the clock will come off leaving the face and mechanism exposed. There may be a little catch holing it in place at the back.
Don't worry about the case too much - it is 300 years old and will have been cut about a bit along the way. When new it may have been stood on an earth floor so will have got a bit rotten so its common for the base to have been repaired at best or replaced maybe more than once.
They can get seriously expensive but don't need to. We managed to get an 8 day one for 600 about 4 years ago. A friend knows lots and he came with us and did a bit of work after we had it. It keeps great time and lends a great atmosphere to the house. It helps we have a 17th cottage so it sort of fits.
It'll take a while to get used to it striking through the night and your visitors won't appreciate it at first either!
Anyway thats about the sum total of my knowledge hope its of some help.
There are clock fairs around - http://www.quicktest.co.uk/clock&watch_fair.ht...
we got ours from the one at the NEC.
David
Long case tend to be 24 hr or 8 day mechanisms. 24 hr are much cheaper.
8 day ones have 2 winding holes on the face one for each mechanism - the clock mechanism and the striking mechanism.You also have 2 weights inside the case with the pendulum.
24 hr ones only have one weight and maybe only one winding hole. Not entirely sure. Have a look on ebay and look at the faces and what they say about the mechanisms.
if the clock is wound without the pendulum on the pendulum holder will more back and forth like mad. Make sure the pendulum is a good fit in the holder (the bit that goes like mad above) as if it doesn't then it won't keep good time.
They need to be fairly level to run well.
Look at the mechanism closely. If any bright spark has tried to oil it with 3 in1 or similar then the mechanism will be well and truely gummed up. Its far too thick. Clock oil is like water. The whole thing would need to be cleaned thoroughly. They do tend to look a bit dusty.
You can slide the top cover off simply by pulling it forward - the whole glass face cover and wooden top of the clock will come off leaving the face and mechanism exposed. There may be a little catch holing it in place at the back.
Don't worry about the case too much - it is 300 years old and will have been cut about a bit along the way. When new it may have been stood on an earth floor so will have got a bit rotten so its common for the base to have been repaired at best or replaced maybe more than once.
They can get seriously expensive but don't need to. We managed to get an 8 day one for 600 about 4 years ago. A friend knows lots and he came with us and did a bit of work after we had it. It keeps great time and lends a great atmosphere to the house. It helps we have a 17th cottage so it sort of fits.
It'll take a while to get used to it striking through the night and your visitors won't appreciate it at first either!
Anyway thats about the sum total of my knowledge hope its of some help.
There are clock fairs around - http://www.quicktest.co.uk/clock&watch_fair.ht...
we got ours from the one at the NEC.
David
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