The Modern Clock A Study of Time Keeping Mechanism; Its Construction, Regulation and Repair

Before going further with the mechanism of our clocks we will now consider the means by which the various members are held in their positions, namely, the plates. Like most othe...

Of all the instruments used by a watchmaker in the prosecution of his business, there is probably none more important than his regulator. Its purpose is to divide time into seco...

Electric clocks may be divided into three kinds, or principal divisions. Of the first-class are those in which the pendulum is driven directly from the armature by electric impu...

We see by the preceding calculations that there is one definite point in the time train of a clock; the center arbor, which carries the minute hand, must revolve once in one hou...

As the pendulum is the means of regulating the time consumed in unwinding the spring or weight cord by means of the escapement, passing one tooth of the escape wheel at each end...

Owing to the difficulty of calculating the expansive ratios of metal which (particularly with brass and zinc) vary slightly with differences of manufacture, the manufacture of c...

Probably no portion of the clock is more important than the dial and it is apparently for this reason that we find so little variation in the marking. The public refuses to acce...

We remarked in a previous chapter that the lifting planes were sometimes on the wheel and sometimes on the anchor. In another chapter we pointed out clearly that the run on the...

Motion work is the name given to the wheels and pinions used to make the hour hand go once around the dial while the minute hand goes twelve times. Here a few preliminary observ...

This escapement is so-called because the escape wheel remains “dead” (motionless) during the periods between the impulses given to the pendulum. It is the original or predecesso...

Now if we hold the above considerations in view we can readily see that cast iron, wood and glass, with joints of wash leather (which is kept soft by a wax cement which does not...

In taking up the study of calendar work the first thing that the student observes is the irregularity of motion of the various members. Every other portion of a clock has for it...

LENGTH OF PENDULUM.—A pendulum is a falling body and as such is subject to the laws which govern falling bodies. This statement may not be clear at first, as the pendulum genera...

While the majority of snail striking movements made in America are on the French system, because they are cheaper when made in that way, still this system is so condensed and so...

REGULATION.—The reader will have noticed that in describing the various forms of seconds pendulums we have specified either eighteen or thirty-six threads to the inch; this is b...

As the clock repairer is almost of necessity a watchmaker, or hopes to become one, and as he must enter deeply into the study of all questions pertaining to the detached lever i...

The distinguishing feature of this escapement lies in the fact that it aims to drive the pendulum by applying to it a falling weight at each excursion on each side. As the weigh...

We now come to a point at which, if we are to keep our pendulum vibrating, we must apply power to it, evenly, accurately and in small doses. In order to do this conveniently we...

The cuckoos are in a class by themselves for several reasons, all of which have to do with their construction and should therefore be understood by the watchmaker. They are boug...

Just as the tone of a piano depends very largely upon the condition of the felts on the hammers which strike the wires, so does the tone of a clock gong or bell depend on its ha...

The need for information of an exact and reliable character in regard to the hard worked and much abused clock has, we presume, been felt by every one who entered the trade. Thi...

As this pendulum is only found in the 400-day, or annual wind, or anniversary clocks (they are known by all of these names), it is best to describe the pendulum and movement tog...

This escapement, always a favorite with clockmakers, has had a long and interesting history and development. Because it started with a suddenly achieved reputation, and because...

Probably in no other escapement, except the lever, has there been so many modifications as in the pin wheel; this is so to such an extent that it will be found by the student th...

PRECISION CLOCK CASES.—The casing of a precision clock is only secondary in importance to the compensation of its pendulum. The best construction of an efficient case can be asc...