Boston Clock Company

[estanek70]

I have just received a marble mantle clock made by the Boston Clock Company in the late 1800's. The movement is round and made in layers. There are two mainsprings in brass barrels mounted one on top of the other and controlled by one winding arbor. The winding arbor is turned in one direction to wind one spring and then in the other direction to wind the second spring. The escapement uses a balance wheel. In this movement the arbor is frozen and will not turn in either direction. I have partially disassembled the the movement but have been unable to remove the springs to get at the problem. Does anyone have experience with this type of a movement? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Ed,
You have an interesting and nice quality "tandem wind" movement there. The idea behind the design was to allow the disassembly of either the strike or time without having to disassemble the entire movement. The two assemblies are linked together by means of a coupler or sleeve (not sure of the correct terminology) on the winding arbor. I have either a pdf of or the actual link to the original patent (can't remember which) somewhere on my laptop or on an external drive. I'll try to dig it up and post it for you up here today. I'm not at all sure of what may be causing the locking up of the arbor. It could just be gunked up with old dirt and oil. Pulling it apart to see what's going on would probably reveal the problem. I'll try to find the info in a minute and we'll see if that helps.
Bob

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Ed,
I couldn't find the pdf but did find the link that I got it from. You can download the pdf or click on the links on the left side of the page for info.
Here's the link
Hopefully this will help.
Bob