Tag: dugena

Dugena mantel clock revisited

Sspriral spring for floating balance escapement

In a precious article I wrote about my frustrations getting this clock to run reliably. No matter what adjustments I made it ran poorly.

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there”, Yogi Berra

This time and strike movement (Hermle?) has been out of its case and lying in drawer for the past year or so. When I met the seller in a parking lot some time ago as I handed him $20 for this Dugena mantel clock he climbed into his car he said, “I hope you don’t expect much for $20; it’s not perfect”. Well, it’s not perfect.

It was keeping poor time, losing an hour or so a day but I thought, what a great clock to practice on and practice I did.

Oiling the movement had no effect. Issues? A weak spiral spring, a worn jewel on the floating balance, a power issue associated with a weak mainspring or perhaps pivot wear. I disassembled the movement several times and serviced the mainsprings. I had an issue re-hooking the strike side mainspring and so, discouraged, I put it aside.

Dugena time and strike German made mantel clock

Dugena – is it a clock company?

Dugena was a German retail clock name only, a marketing name, not a maker of movements or cases. Dugena was a registered cooperative society, a “Genossenschaft”, that bought clocks from other makers to sell them under their own brand. A brand name for a retail chain more or less.

Dugena floating balance
The clock runs slow, this bent spiral spring does not help

Floating balance clocks are much more accurate and above all, they do not have have the disadvantage of the pendulum; these clocks work even when the case is at an oblique angle

A great invention – the floating balance

The floating balance movement in this clock could have been made by anyone; Urgos, Jauch or Hermle perhaps. Hermle is likely since it was one of the leading companies using the floating balance escapement. The floating balance was invented in the 1930s but it took till 1941 for the patent application to be registered. It took another 10 years after that for the patent to be granted slowed by the war years and the challenges of industry recovery following the Second World War.

The floating balance was a great invention. Floating balance clocks are generally more accurate and above all, they do not have have the main disadvantage of the pendulum; they will work even when the clock case is at an oblique angle.

Time and strike movement, maker unknown

Back to the the clock

Months passed. I took the movement out, looked at the strike side barrel a second time, popped the barrel cap off and using pliers gave the inner part of the mainspring a turn and it hooked onto the catch. Success at last. The mainspring barrels can be removed without dis-assembly of the movement, so, in it went. Despite my minor triumph with the strike-side mainspring, straightening the spiral spring and adjusting the balance wheel to its fastest set point, the clock ran only marginally better. The only consolation is that although it runs 5 minutes slower per day it runs a full eight day cycle.

Despite the minor disappointment it has been a productive learning experience but I am inclined to put it aside as I have other projects on the go. Every time I think about the issues I am having with this clock it always comes back to the balance wheel.

Some day the solution will pop into my head.

 

8500 views and climbing

clock
Clock hands Vienna Regulator
Clock hands for a Gustav Becker wall clock

In the year or so I have been running this blog I never imagined that it would have achieved so much. It is at 8500 and climbing page-views.

In the late spring of 2015 I attended a workshop on WordPress blogging. I was impressed how a powerful blog tool it is. I had already had some experience blogging and still maintain my Blogspot site though it was always intended to be a general interest blog only. However, I had been collecting antique and vintage clocks for about 4 years and I wanted to narrow the focus to clock collecting / repair so this was a good time to start a brand new blog and explore something more in line with my current interests.

Like any blog the first 2-3 months was a little discouraging. I was getting very few page-views, struggled with the content and tried to improve my writing style. I am sure that many out there become frustrated to the point of quitting but I was determined to press on.

Things began to pick up in the fall of 2015 with a steady increase in daily page-views. Obviously someone out there in cyberspace was interested in what I had to say. It is a lot of work and I also discovered that to improve traction to the site I had to reach a wider audience and use social media more effectively. I slowly learned that I had to not only appeal to those with a modest interest in antique clocks but those with a deeper knowledge thereby striking what I think is a comfortable balance.

Because my own knowledge about clocks was expanding I was more at ease with the content and I was developing a writing style that felt more like me. I also learned that in writing one has to edit often to ensure that the message is exactly what you intend it to be. I often save up to 20+ drafts before I publish (yes, WordPress has a really nice “save draft” feature.

I have received many comments in the last few months. Some offer suggestions and advice on projects I am working on while others are looking for direction on their particular clock problem. As for for advice given to me, I do what I can within the limits of my knowledge. Even those readers with more extensive knowledge graciously comment which I appreciate. Suggestions and the critiquing my work is all part of my learning.

As for some of my stats. My best day was in February of this year when I hit 109 page-views. On a good day I receive 45 or more page-views while the average is 32 per day with roughly 257 per week. Monday is my most active day. I have 259 followers and a few who comment regularly. I have been viewed in 88 countries.  The top 6 are; USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Romania and South Africa. I am sure that there are a great many sites which do far better but I am encouraged by the steady rise in interest from those from around the world from month to month as I make continued improvements.

Since I am an amateur photographer, clocks and photography have become a happy marriage, especially the area of macro photography. Below is an example of a floating balance from a Dugena mantel clock taken with a 50mm Olympus Zuiko lens. I am using a 10 year old (old by digital standards) Olympus E330 as my go-to clock camera.

Dugena floating balance
Floating balance from a Dugena mantel clock

I am also producing short YouTube videos with a Panasonic G6 which you can see on this blog from time to time.

G6
Panasonic G6 interchangeable lens camera

Is blogging fun? Of course it is, but it is also a lot of hard work.

Let me know what blog experiences you have had that have been positive or negative

 

Floating balance no longer “floats”

Sspriral spring for floating balance escapement

Floating balance movements began appearing in mechanical clocks in the early 1950s. The floating balance has distinct advantages over pendulum clocks. It is robust, dependable and not susceptible to disturbance. It will tolerate being out of level unlike pendulum clocks which must be on a level surface.

clock movement
Hermle movement showing floating balance escapement

This Hermle movement was taken out of a Dugena 1960s vintage Mantel clock and is otherwise unmarked. The seller advised that it loses time and might just require a simple adjustment. This is code for, “it’s worn out”. The clock has been completely disassembled, cleaned, reassembled, oiled and tested. have I have eliminated friction loses in the trains. Not sure, but let’s see.

To function correctly the balance wheel rotates back and forth and maintains the steady beat of the clock through a pallet fork assembly. There is a speed adjustment and after adjusting it enough it becomes clear that the problem is within the balance wheel itself since it continues to run slowly.

The floating balance assembly consists of a balance wheel, 2 jeweled bearings on each end of a hollow tube riding on a pivot wire supported in a u-shaped frame.

mantel clock
Dugena time and strike mantel clock

The most common reasons for sluggish balance performance are dirt, rust/pitting/roughness of the wire, bent or weak wire or excess oil on the wire & jewels.

Removal is simple – take out two screws, tilt the balance to avoid bending the pallet fork and pull out. Here is the assembly removed from the movement. The bad news is that the helical hairspring appears to be distorted. Ideally it should enclose the balance shaft without bending.

clock part
Floating balance

The balance wheel should float on the wire that goes through the cylindrical shaft like the next photo. While in this position a push on the balance wheel should allow it to rotate freely for a minute or more. No more than a few seconds for this one, however.

clock part
Arrow shows a properly functioning floating balance

The thin wire is actually resting on the banking forks (or base). If the shaft rests on the base, additional friction slows the rotation of the balance wheel and will eventually slow the clock.

clock part
Cylindrical shaft is resting on the banking pins

In this case either the jewels are cracked or the spring has lost its strength. The solution is to either find a new helical torsion spring or find a replacement balance wheel assembly.

Given what I paid for it, it is probably not worth additional resources.

Call it a learning experience. Into the drawer it goes and perhaps someday it will provide parts for a better running movement.

A Barrel of Fun – Dugena mantel clock issues

Mainspring barrel

I am continuing work on my Dugena mantel clock with a Hermle movement. Everything seemed to go well after re-assembly but the strike barrel.

A serious problem or simple fix? The latter, thankfully. Something was definitely amiss since the winding arbor was not engaging on the mainspring. The spring was either broken or had not engaged the winding arbor sleeve.

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Mainspring barrel

I had no choice but to open up the barrel but it was not much fun getting the cap off. Some suggestions I received on a clock forum site were to bang the arbor with a steel hammer or a rubber hammer and it would pop neatly into my hand. This did not work. Finally someone suggested that if it was really stubborn to find a piece of hardwood, hold the barrel in a gloved hand and bang it with some amount of force on the hardwood. It worked!

Once I got the thing apart I inspected the spring and arbour for possible damage. I initially thought the spring catch (see photo with black arrow) was broken but a member of NAWCC (National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors) assured me that this was quite normal. I re-positioned the catch onto the spring, tested it and snapped the cap back on.

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Strike mainspring barrel on the left

The barrel can be easily slid back into the clock without taking the movement apart. Using the clock key I gave it a few turns, tested the action of the strike side and everything seemed to be working.

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Arbor sleeve spring catch

Now for bench testing. I put a make-shift hour hand for the clock to see if it marked the hours properly. Testing for a week or so will reveal any issues and allows for finer adjustments before I install the movement back into its case. Everything looks good at this point.

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Mainspring with barrel cap off

The original problem was that the clock was running too fast and no amount of adjusting would slow it down. I am hoping now that after a good cleaning it will run as it should.

Dugena Mantel Clock Progress

Dugena clock

 

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Dugena mantel clock

If you are following the progress on my Dugena mantel clock project it seems to be going fairly well though there have been some minor issues.

I had no trouble taking the movement apart and cleaning all the parts to the best of my ability. Everything seemed to be in good order with minimal wear. My initial method months ago of dunking the assembled clock in a solution clearly did not work. The clock did not run at all after that procedure. So, I put the clock aside to decide what to do. Dis-assembly is the only way to do the job correctly as I am learning. After a thorough cleaning comes re-assembly.

I have learned from taking apart movements that getting it back together means that once the back plate is on it is better to work from the bottom up, by getting the barrels in place, the main wheel and then working up to the top of the clock. Once I have the barrels in place I put on the lower nuts. I am not sure if that is the correct procedure but it works for me. I then use a pair of tweeters to carefully move the pivots in their proper place.

7ff7a-dugenaclock
The hammer assemblies are on the right side

The hardest part was re-aligning the hammer assemblies since the hammer wires are located outside the back plate. You can see this in the photo. I later learned that even when the clock is fully assembled the barrels will come out by simply removing the winding arbors and sliding them out. It’s all good learning!

It took a lot of fiddling to position the hammer assembly properly. With time (no pun intended) it all came together. Once the back plate was on securely next came the balance wheel escarpment and aligning the fork correctly which I think I did. I then put the clock in beat, oiled it and started it up. It did not run. Whoops, it needs power and had to be wound. I immediately noticed that the time barrel spring would not wind at all. I am guessing that the spring had, at some point become un-clipped from the barrel. I say un-clipped because I did not hear a broken spring sound. I switched barrels (#8S spring barrel) since they are the same for both time and strike. Once I got the barrels switched I gave the spring a few turns with the key, gave the balance wheel a little shove and the clock has been running for 24 hours as of this writing.

Does it keep time, I have no idea at this point? I suspect it does with a little adjustment. As for the strike side, if I can re-attach the mainspring within the barrel I am on my way to re-installing the movement back into it’s case. I know the strike side is working properly because when I had the good spring on that side for a brief period the strike assembly seemed to be working as it should.

Should I try to fix the mainspring or buy a new (or NOS) barrel and mainspring? I am not keen on fixing a mainspring because of potential injury but if I can scour around and get a used 8S barrel and mainspring for a reasonable price that would be the better option in my view.

As I said, it’s all good learning!

Dugena Mantel Clock Dis-assembly, Cleaning and Adjustment

Dugena was a German retail clock company. The name Dugena still exists today but whether or not it is related to the Dugena company of the 1950s is anyone’s guess. This particular clock has a Hermle floating balance movement which is both reliable and dependable. Dugena, like many other clock companies at the time contracted out to a number of movement manufacturers during it’s heyday.

I bought this Dugena mantle clock for very little money. The previous owner assured me that it was an old clock and not to expect it to be perfect. He was right, it is not perfect. It is a 2-train time and strike Bim-Bam clock. When I got it it had no trouble starting. However, I could not get the clock to keep time (ran too slow) despite numerous adjustments to the balance wheel which was a little frustrating. I had to remind myself that the previous owner did say it was not perfect. There is also something amiss about the strike train side because it  strikes incessantly till the clock winds down. No doubt something is either worn, broken or misaligned. Misaligned rack and snail, I hope!

 

Dugena clock movement showing floating balance escapement
Dugena clock movement showing floating balance escapement
Hermle movement showing balance wheel escarpment

My first attempt at cleaning the clock involved taking out the movement and placing it in an ammonia bath with some Murphy’s soap, the so-called Dunk and Swish method. The net result is that once I dried it completely it functioned no differently than before, maybe even worse.

As mentioned it has a balance wheel escarpment and I am assuming the spring might be weak because the wheel does not spin more than 180 degrees. Either that or the darn thing is losing power from somewhere else. The bottom line is that it needed to be taken apart and cleaned properly. That is exactly what I am in the process of doing. My first assessment is that the clock is pretty tight and the pivots, pivots holes, pinions and arbors are in pretty good shape with a minimum of oily gunk. The springs are in barrels and at this point I am not going to service them. Reason, I don’t have the tools.

I have taken clock movements apart in the recent past and I have a pretty good understanding of what goes where and why as well as a basic set of tools to get me through. I can clean and oil but I don’t (can’t) do bushings. My hope is that once I have finished cleaning, assembling and oiling the clock it should work correctly though if it doesn’t it is no great loss. Good learning though.

So, I have a couple of choices. I can get the clock to function or I can investigate a replacement movement if it doesn’t.  The replacement movement (last photo) is $128CDN for a pendulum movement or $198CDN for a balance wheel escarpment. I will go for the pendulum movement since it is easier to work on, has fewer parts and makes that distinctive tick-tock sound. There is a third option, throw the movement into the parts pile and junk the case. We’ll see.

Balance wheel escarpment

 

possible replacement movement from Hermle

If I bought a new movement the clock would likely run trouble-free for years. Is it worth it? I am not sure. The case is in pretty good condition for it’s age and it would not take much to make a few cosmetic improvements to make it presentable but obviously not brand new looking.

Leave a comment for me if you have any advice.

All photos (except the last on) were taken with an Olympus E330, Zuiko 50mm F2 macro lens

 

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