I just aquired a Waterbury Forum mantel clock from a garage sale for $5.00. It works great except it doesn’t always chime on the hour. It always chimes on the half hour. I haven’t yet found out when it was made and I’ve seen a wide variance on the possible value.
Here it sits happily in it’s new home.
Here’s a close up of the inner works. Sorry for the blur. Notice the pink circle. There’s a small wire hanging there. If I push or pull that wire the chime mechanism will sound. I am wondering what that wire is for.
The only thing that I know about clocks is that some of them go tick-tock, and some of them don’t. My advice would be for you to have a clock repair person look it over. It may be very easy to fix the hourly chime function, but I wouldn’t try doing it myself. The repair person could also most likely give you a good estimate of the value, but we both know that it is worth considerably more than $5.
If I push or pull that wire the chime mechanism will sound. I am wondering what that wire is for.
Doesn’t that answer your own question?
Sorry, I really couldn’t resist. Nice clock, though. I just can’t stand ticking noises anymore. Reminds me of waiting my turn at the piano teacher’s house.
Tony
The purpose of the loop that makes the clock chime is to enable you to get the number of chimes coordinated with the hour. i.e., if the clock has stopped, and you reset the time, to, for example, 6 o’clock, but the chime schedule stopped at 3 o’clock, you will need to manually cause it to chime 4 times, then 5 times, until it’s caught up.
I have an old Seth Thomas–very old actually, but it needs to visit a clock expert before it can be set up again. It used to run, but even then would only go for about 6 or so hours without stopping for unknown reasons. I really loved the ticking though. It’s waiting for me to take action.
Your photo reveals the problem. The works are gravity sensitive, and you have it sitting on an angle. Amazingly, you have set the clock at the precise angle for it to ring on the half-hour instead of the hour. And if you believe that, you will also realize that the clock is worth five dollars more than you paid for it.
If it doesn’t have any antique value and the works are hosed, you could also gut it and install modern works. Here’s a source for lots of clock stuff – http://www.klockit.com/
I have a mantle clock that was given to my great-grandfather when he retired from the police force in Sheffield, England, on January 31, 1900. It used to chime every 15 minutes. My mother was always very careful about setting it up absolutely level.
But one day about 30 years ago it started chiming - and chiming - and chiming - and chiming. We counted up to 60 before opening up the back and moving the part that the hammers hit so it would shut up, and let it run down. After that it never worked right. We’ve had it to several clock repair shops. The last one started tearing it apart before my father even finished explaining the problem, and when we got it back it ran for a while then quit again. They lost the pin holding the hands on and the wire they replaced it with will probably need Superman to get it loose!
So for the last 15 years it has been a big knicknack collecting dust. But I’m going to keep it for the sentimental value. Hopefully you can find a repair shop that will actually fix yours correctly!
The last time someone fixed the clock, they put the hands on the wrong way round - 180 degrees from the way they should be facing. The clock is chiming on the hour, but the hands are pointing the wrong way. Take the pin out, reverse the hands, and bingo!
Then use Emmline’s loop tugging solution to get the chimes co-ordinated with the actual hour on the clockface.
btw, you probably know, but the two winding mechanisms are one for the movement, and one for the chimes. If you ever get fed up with the chimes, just don’t wind that part and eventually they’ll stop. Not sure whether the left or right hole is for the chimes.
Old clocks are notoriously fernickerty, however, and you may prefer to take the thing to a clockmaker to have it cleaned (the movement) and fixed (the hands), though this might cost more than the clock did originally.
Anyway, nice clock! I can’t stand loud ticking clocks myself, it’s like chinese water torture!
I used to know a lady with a problem/phobia where if she was in a room with more than one ticking clock, she would panic and go mental. The phobia had a specific name, but I’ve forgotten it.
Digital or non-ticking clocks didn’t bother her. It was just that her brain/mind couldn’t stand two or more clocks ticking at the same time.
[quote"Charlene"]I have a mantle clock that was given to my great-grandfather when he retired from the police force in Sheffield, England[/quote]
Our family, too, had an emromous mantle clock that my grandfather had built while he was in the navy. It was built in tiers with brass tubing for railings around each tier, and steps up the front, like a war memorial (this was after WWI). Each post in the railing was a bullet. The clock itself was mounted in a brass pot off some ship’s instrument with an opening glass plate door. The clock was held up above the base on two large shells from a ship’s gun. The clockworks were long gone and my parents let us bash around and play with the remainders of the clock for years. One of my brothers took advantage of a stint in the military to have all the bullets and shells checked. They were all live.
That’s fixable by moving the hour hand with respect to the bush it sits on. You’ll probably have to remove the minute hand too though, so take care to get it back on in the same place (so the chime bongs as it gets to the 12).
:roll: