Antique and Vintage Mechanical Clocks

The Seth Thomas Clock Company is a well-known American clock manufacturer with a long history dating back to the early 19th century. The Type 89 movement is one of the many clock movements produced by Seth Thomas over the years. This type was made between 1900 and 1938.

This is a first look at the movement of a Seth Thomas time and strike mantel clock with a type 89 movement. Since there is no year stamp on the clock movement I am surmising that this clock was manufactured in the mid to late 1930s judging from its design and construction.

Discovered at a thrift shop in Renfrew, Ontario, the clock was not functioning initially.

Generally speaking, a clock movement faces issues with low power output caused by friction resulting from wear over time. The primary issue with aging clocks is their gradual deterioration due to extended periods of operation. Common culprits are dirt accumulation, insufficient lubrication, and lack of proper adjustments, although these are unlikely to be the reasons for the malfunction.

Interestingly, a dirty movement often continues to function even without lubrication if it’s in decent condition. There is no doubt that this movement requires bushing work to address accelerated wear, yet regrettably, I do not currently have access to the necessary bushing tools for the task as I am on holiday.

Despite the accumulation of grime, and potential wear-related concerns, I opted to put the movement into action, primarily with the goal of uncovering underlying issues. Doing this required removing the hour and minute hands, releasing 4 screws holding the movement to the front of the case, removing the strike block, and taking the movement out of its case.

Once on the work bench an initial inspection of the movement did not reveal any obvious issues with either the time or the strike side, so, it was safe to proceed further. When found both mainsprings on this time and strike movement were wound tight and appeared ceased likely as a result of the build-up of glue-like dirt between the coils of the mainsprings.

I have found that in some cases gently unwinding the coils of mainsprings with a let-down set can often relieve enough tension to provide a clock with the necessary energy to start running but there was one more step in the process.

Although there was a noticeable amount of dirt around the pivots, I applied oil to each one. However, it’s important to be cautious about mixing new and old oil, as their interaction can result in the formation of a harmful abrasive paste, which can speed up wear on both the pivots and the bushing holes.

Thus, while oiling a dirty movement is a temporary solution, it’s not a replacement for proper disassembly, thorough cleaning, and addressing wear issues.

As a result of releasing the mainspring, oiling the pivots, and putting the movement in beat, it now runs strongly. However, there is something amiss with the strike side and further investigation is required. Despite this, I am not anticipating major issues with this movement.

The next step is disassembly, cleaning, reassembly, and testing. Should it require bushing work, that step will have to wait a while longer.

I have every confidence that this movement will run very well once serviced.