Tag: clock dial

Using a paint roller to revive a clock dial

It might sound a little strange to use a paint roller on a clock dial. This is not just any paint roller but one specifically designed for the purpose. The candidate is a embossed dial pan for a Waterbury Wren shelf clock C.1895.

Most of the paint has been rubbed off the dial over the years which you can see in the photo below.

Should the dial be left as-is or retouched? It is an age-old clockmaker’s dilemma. We all have our views but I tend to take the position that if it is grimy and unsightly and takes away from the look of the clock it should be cleaned and retouched.

I decided to start from scratch. I knew that if I immersed the dial in my ultrasonic cleaner with the heat setting on I would risk stripping away all paint from the numbers and that is exactly what happened.

The cleaning also took off a thick layer of grime and dirt leaving a much brighter dial.

Dial as found

Hand painting is an art and a steady hand means the difference between a homemade job and one close to the original factory application. I used a multi surface water-based acrylic satin black paint, one I often use for clock dials, hands and so on.

Here is the dial just out of the ultrasonic cleaner. All paint has been released from the embossed areas. The ultrasonic solution was black and had to be discarded.

The paint roller is made out of 18 gauge wire and masking tape, specifically made for this job. I added a strip of double-sided tape to the roller to allow a rough surface so that the paint could adhere.

A homemade paint roller

The roller worked reasonably well over the embossed dial and it was certainly a lot faster than hand painting. Excess paint was removed from the dial with a Q-tip and toothpick.

Using a Q-tip to clean excess paint

I used the roller for the chapter ring as well. After rolling there were some touch-ups and an artists brush #2-0 was used for areas the roller could not reach.

Artist’s brush

I allowed the paint to dry and scraped off the excess.

Inpainting nearly complete

I am very pleased with the results. Here is a before and after shot of the dial.

Before
Movement yet to be installed

It is not factory perfect but from a reasonable viewing distance it is difficult to tell it was repainted plus, it looks much more presentable.

Now, to find a 5 1/2 inch bezel and glass to complement the dial.

Inpainting a Seth Thomas clock dial – Part II

And now for the exciting conclusion.

This is Part II of a two part series. Part one covers the first three steps in renewing a Seth Thomas clock dial. In this, Part II, the decorative design is restored on the corners.

The Seth Thomas clock as found

Inpainting is the process of reconstructing lost or deteriorated parts of a clock dial. In the museum world, in the case of a valuable painting, this task would be carried out by a skilled art conservator or art restorer. Inpainting, as opposed to repainting and restoring the entire dial, addresses the degraded areas of the dial using a few simple techniques.

Inpainting is cost effective and can be done on the home work bench

Inpainting certainly does not meet the higher professional standards of a service such as The Dial House, which perform exemplary work but I will not have a dial professionally restored if the cost is twice what the clock is worth. There will always be occasions when a professional restoration is justifiable, however.

Inpainting is cost effective and can be done on the home work bench.

Continue reading “Inpainting a Seth Thomas clock dial – Part II” →

George H Clark Ogee clock – movement and dial work

George H. Clark 30 hour movement

One cannot deny the classic style of an American Ogee clock. This one is in great shape and required almost nothing to get it to top form. 30-hour shelf clocks are abundant but not many cases survive years of wear and tear.

Dial removed to show the 30 hour movement

This George H. Clark 30-hour shelf clock is a very good example of Connecticut form. The case form is called an “og” or “ogee”, a mathematical term that describes the “S” curve shape in the primary molding that surrounds the door.

The clock has a brass time and strike, weight driven movement with an excellent original printed paper label on the interior reading in part “Made and Sold at/46 Courtlandt St/New York…. George H. Clark”. It measures 28 x 17 x 4.5”. This rectangular shaped case is decorated with nicely grained mahogany veneers. The veneer has very little if any losses.

The dial face

The upper section of the door is fitted with clear glass. Through this one can view the painted wood dial. The wood dial tells me that it is an early pre-1850 clock. This dial is formatted with a Roman numeral time track.

It is always a challenge matching 100+-year-old paint but by combining white. brown and yellow acrylic paint I was able to approximate the original colour. Some Roman Numerals were touched up with black acrylic paint.

The wood dial before touch-ups

And after numerals and face given a matching paint; you can see the difference in the number 4

I also glued two small blocks under the left and right “L” pins to centre the dial correctly.

The door is open showing the gong coil and the pasted label in very good condition

The lower section features a beehive painted tablet. The tablet is a replacement but fairly close to what would have been there at the time.

Beehive design; not original but in keeping with the style

Observations regarding the movement

The movement looks like an early (unmarked) Waterbury, ca. 1860 type 2.411. Waterbury movements have “quarter-round” corners, while most other ogee movements tend to have the “tombstones” or plain rectangles. The movement could have been swapped but It is difficult to tell.

A clean Jerome style movement

Everything except the movement points to a period between 1840-50. If the movement is a replacement it was likely an early replacement.

30-hour movements will run surprisingly well with horrible pivot wear. However, regarding repair, my view is this: I do not normally install new bushings in every single pivot hole on the movement. If a bushing hole is passable I will leave it as-is but if the hole is quite oblong I will install a new bushing to mitigate potential gear meshing issues in the future.

Addressing the movement

I will also ignore some past repairs. For example, in this particular movement I noticed 4 punch marks around the escape wheel bridge pivot hole. As most clock repairers know using a punch to close a pivot hole was an acceptable practice many years ago though it is not considered a good practice today. In this particular case, the pivot hole was in good shape and I decided to leave it as-is. After assessing the movement further, I installed one bushing on the second wheel front plate strike side (S2) and the second on the second wheel strike side rear plate (T2). Just two bushings. As to the three lantern pinions, they were in very good condition.

Reassembly was routine. The time side ran fine.

Adjusting the strike side was not easy and should have been a simple procedure. The problem was not only correctly positioning the warning pin on the fly but ensuring that the warning hook lever could actually meet the warning hook. The levers in this clock had been bent every which way making it a real challenge to find the correct angles. It did not strike correctly before servicing. Trial and error combined with colourful language certainly helped correct the strike.

The finished clock

The gong block and coil were also cleaned up. Tip; it helps to put the same screws back in the same holes. Seems trivial but it is a good practice. Not all screws are the same.

Gong block removed and cleaned

Little time was spent on this clock and I was fortunate to have an almost perfect case. The previous owner knew how to take care of the case but the movement neede work. When many of these clocks stopped they simply became decorations but I am sure that this one will run reliably for many more years to come.

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