I have just acquired a Seth Thomas movement, which I understand from an article by Steven G Conover in the Clockmakers Newsletter Workshop Series Book 6 entitled Seth Thomas, is a version of the No 44 movement. The number 3 5/8 is stamped on the movement, exactly as described in the article. The article is primarily about an intriguing "turn back feature" and was one of the main ST movements from the 1890's. The movement appears to be working, but the purpose of this post is to seek comments about, what appears to me (being a complete novice) as a rather strange repair job. Instead of bushing the worn pivot holes, a small brass lug containing a new pivot hole has been attached over the old pivot hole my means of a self tapped screw into the main plate. Having done this on the outside of both plates, it effectively increases the distance between the pivots by twice the thickness of the main plate (3-4mm), but somehow seems to support the original arbour, yet the axial play does not seem to support this...maybe new arbours were made? Even the bearing for the centre arbour has been renewed with a cranked brass lug crudely brazed to the main plate instead of using a self tapping screw (probably because there is hole where the screw would have to go). The escape wheel bearing has been treated in a similar way.
Can anyone explain why a repair has been done in such a way?
I hope the photo's attached support what I am trying to describe. I suggest opening each image in a new tab to view the whole image at once.
Thanks, Richard