Clock Setup...you will need a small level.
Words of caution
- Do NOT clean the face of the clock....dust the face of the clock with a feather duster or better yet do not dust it at all. These clock faces were painted with alkyd type paint but the numerals and decorations were done in INDIA INK. So do NOT wash the face or spritz it with windex, however tempting or the clock numerals will instantly dissolve. Just close your glass cover and admire from the other side!
- Straighten the strings around the barrel...Before you do anything --make sure the strings are straight and neat.
- Hang the Weights....you need to put them on the string loops BEFORE you wind or the strings will wind up into the clock head and you won't be able to get to them easily again.
- Do NOT move the large hand on your clock face. Move your minute hand ONLY clockwise.
- Follow these intructions. Clock set - up will go smoothly if you will follow the instructions.
Step One.Place your clock body against the wall.
Clocks were often bolted to the wall for stability.
If you wish to tie or bolt your clock to a wall, look for little holes that you can use once again.
Here you see a hole on the back of the head.
Here is one more little hole for securing a string to the wall. It is in the middle of the body back
.
Step Two. Level your clock.
To work properly, clocks must be perfectly level in from
side to side AND from front to back.
Level your clock before you place the clock works on the body!
Check that the clock is level from both sides.
Then check from front to back.
Step 3. Take a look at your clock works.
a. Look at the barrel of the clock works.
Make sure the string is wound evenly and hangs straight and has not twisted around anything.
b. Examine the back of the clock. You will see a vertical assembly with two small crutches.
This is where you will hang the pendulum.
Step 4. Place the face and its works on the clock body.
Slide it gently in place by holding the base of the works.
Step 5. Center the clock face.
The face of the clock must be centered exactly. Look for pencil marks on the body for guides,
if there are none then center visually.
Step 6. Hanging the pendulum.
Take the pendulum in one hand and place in the lower body with the round pendulum part hanging down and facing front. Insert the pendulum upwards through a little boxed area in the body to the head.
Then gently insert the very top of the strap through the top crutch of the works.
On most clocks the pendulum works best if the strap is as far towards the clock back as possible,
but you may need to experiment with this later.
Insert into the bottom crutch.
The pen is pointing to the bottom crutch. The strap must hand loosely and be towards the body back of the clock as much as possible. In other words, the pendulum can not swing freely is it is jammed into these supports. So place gently and look for a good vertical appearance and flexibiity.
Step 7. Putting on the bonnet.
Make sure that the glass face is latched firmly before removing or replacing the bonnet.
The clock head is removed or replaced by sliding on horizontally.
Step 8. Hanging the Weights.
a. To make it easier to hang the weights, check to see if your ropes with the little brass pulleys are exposed in the body opening.
If the brass pulleys are hanging below the opening, then go ahead to Step 9 and wind your clock JUST UNTIL you can see the pulleys and NO MORE!
If the pulleys are hanging up above the opening, then call us immediately
802 394-7753 Janet & Borge. This is really important. If you wind the ropes up without the weights attached, then the clock works will have to be returned to us or to a clockmaker to be sorted out!
b. Turn the little brass pulleys so that the hook hangs down.
c. Hang the weights on each pulley. The weights will be marked left and right.
c.It should look like this when the weights are hung.
Step 9. Pendulum
Before you close up, set the pendulum swinging gently from side to side. A tiny push will do it. The pendulum must not be scraping against the back of the clock. If so, go back and check your steps.Make sure the pendulum is moving freely, that the ropes supporting the weights are not twisted and that the body is level.
Make sure that the pendulum is pushed to the waaaay back of the crutches, i.e. towards the tip of the crutches facing the back of the clock body.
Step 10. Winding your clock.
Follow the winding chart we have included on your written instructions which accompanied the clock.
Open your face plate and place the clock key on the left winder. Turn your key according to your diagram for your clock.
Of course if you do not want your clock to wind, do not use this winder!
b. Wind the pendulum mechanism.
Turn your key in your right hand winder which is for the time. Follow your diagram for the appropriate direction.
Step 11. Setting the time.
To set the time, please move the minute hand only in a clockwise direction. We repeat ONLY
in a clockwise direction.
We also strongly recommend that you do not move the hands until the hands are out of the 10 of and 10 after position. Just wait until the hands are in the 20 past or 20 of the hour position then make your adjustment.
Wait for the bells to chime at the hour. Please do this slowly. Never push the hand backwards. Please use care here.
Most clocks are seven days clocks.
If you have only one hand on your clock see these instructions.
Other Balancing Tricks!
If your floors are terribly uneven (like ours!) then you can shim the works on the interior to balance them. If the pendulum doesn't sound quite right then this is the problem. It is swinging more to one side than another....
Because of our striped wallpaper it is very noticeable that this clock
is not standing straight.
Make a shim of cardboard.
Experiment until the shim is placed so
If your dial is drooping when you unbox it, then you will need a butterknife to fix this...
Please look closely and you will see that the dial hands are mounted on a conically shaped piece of metal. If the clock is moved or rattled, the dial hands can slip forward. Decide where you want your hand to be, move it into position, then with the butterknife, slip the blade between the hands and push the dial gently back towards the face of your clock.
You will be pushing it back onto the cone and it will tighten just enough to hold itself in place.
Many clocks can have an extra chime string. This was your middle of the night time check. The explanation is that candles were expensive and difficult to light in the dark, so you would attach the string to your bed and if you woke and wanted to know what time it was, you would pull on the repeater string!
Please don't do it between ten of or ten after the hour or the timing will be impaired.
Otherwise just gently pull on this string...
If you have printed instructions and would like to see the photos enlarged, please go online to....
www.country-gallery.com/clocksetup.html
If you have questions or problems or would like us to talk you through set up,
Please Call Us!
The Country Gallery Antiques
Janet Fram and Børge Hermansen, shop proprietors
telephone 802 394-7753 e.st. fax 802 394-0076 e.s.t.
Email us!at antiques@country-gallery.com