Ingraham Clock Repair

[wingman]

I'm working on an old Ingraham clock with previous repairs most likely done in the early 1960s. Actually most likely done by a clock repair in Whittier, CA. Several bushings have been installed. It appears the many of the bushings have been peened on the inside. Was this a common way to secure bushings? One bushing appears to have a brass washer/bushing soldered over it on the outside. The pivot is long enough to reach through the bushing and extend into the washer. It can be seen in the photo above the strike hammer pivot. It is on the escapement wheel. Any idea why it is there? "Bush" repair?

Steve

Ingraham Clock 045.jpg (218.03 KiB) Viewed 8152 times

[wingman]

Well here is another and more pressing issue. The clock requires a couple bushings. The bushing for the escapement wheel pictured is badly worn. Someone had installed a bushing and peened it into place. The pivot is best sized at 1.25mm. The old bushing outside diameter appears to be close to 4.5mm. Bergeon doesn't make bushings with this small a pivot hole and such a large outside diameter. Any suggestions?

Also the escapement wheel is on a riveted on arm. Sure doesn't want to clamp into the Bergeon bushing machine. Any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

[wingman]

It wasn't the best fix but I managed to ream out the old larger bushings and insert smaller ones inside. They seem to be holding.

Steve

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Wingman,
Ahhh, Whittier, Ca...my home town! I lived in Whittier during the 60s but I promise I didn't work on that clock Steve!
You may be correct about the peen marks around the bushings. You see that once in a while. It could be a quick and unacceptable fix for a poor hole broaching job which left the bushing loose when inserted. More often though it's what's left behind of the marks made from a punch used to close worn holes. This you see much too often. Hole closing is a quick and dirty fix for worn pivot holes which doesn't last long and scars the movement. Punching the worn side of the pivot hole will spread the brass back in toward it's original position moving the pivot back with it. The problem (other than the scar) is that the metal making contact with the pivot is made thinner by spreading it inward and will wear very quickly. It's a repair that's frowned upon by almost all clocksmiths. I'll probably get pounced on for what I'm about to say here but I'm going write it anyway. Although you'll see many repair jobs that are just not acceptable in the clock repair world it's important to remember that many of these repairs were probably made by the owner of the clock in a work shed behind their house many years ago. These guys were just like us...fascinated with how a clock and watch worked and determined to repair it themselves.Besides, they needed a working clock in the house. Most likely they had no access to books, proper tools and my guess videos were hard to come by 80 or more years ago! When I look at these repairs in this light I am sometimes amazed at the creativity that some of these people possessed. So rather than condemn the person that made a repair that's unacceptable to trade standards I try to appreciate their effort and ingenuity. I personally always try to have fun with clocks and watches and find that hard to do if I'm always judging others work or find myself arguing with someone about the best way to do something. Besides I'm usually wrong anyway. There's always a better way to do something and it's usually the uninhibited beginner that discovers it.
The soldered on washer that you mentioned is an example of a quick repair. Correctly positioned it will return the pivot to the center of the hole where it belongs. Not a good repair but effective for a time. If it's a steel washer it will eventually grind a groove into the pivot. If it's brass it won't last long.

Clamping isn't always straight forward with bushing tools. You sometimes have to get creative as the standard clamping arrangement on your Bergeon tool as well as other makes might not be suitable for all bushing jobs. You can purchase a bushing tool jig from http://www.clock-parts.com/catalogmain2 ... 63&Level=3 that helps support the escape wheel bridge for bushing. Wood blocks can also be used as risers to raise or lower the plate to a different level than the clamp height. Pieces of mainspring, steel, wood...you name it can be used to extend the clamps or the clamps can be completely removed and scissor or c-clamps can be used to hold down the plate. Endless possibilities.

Double bushing (inserting one bushing into another) is quite common in clock repair. Here is another topic that can spur a debate as to whether this is an "acceptable" repair. There are times that you just can't find a bushing (as in your case) that has a large enough OD to clear out the old bushing and still have a small enough hole for the pivot. One reason for this is that someone may have made the bushing with a large OD and now that it needs to be replaced a standard bushing just isn't available. In your case the Best repair would probably be to turn a new bushing but not everyone has a lathe. If done correctly your repair will last just as long and will work just as well as if you had made a new bushing. When double bushing a good press fit into the old bushing is very important.

Hope this helps Steve and as always Have Fun!
Bob

[wingman]

Thanks Bob

I figured it was probably someone older, unless you were doing clock repairs at 10 years old. I guess was I was in Whitter at that time and attempting clock repairs but with the disasterious result I mentioned before.

I have been having the darnest time getting the arbors to catch the spring holes. Any secret there? The old spring hole seem to be really tight against the next coil. I tried spreading them apart with a screw driver to see if this would help but with no success.

Steve

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Steve,
That's a common problem. If you have a pair of smooth jawed pliers you can bend the inner coil in so that it presses against the arbor hook. Just grab the inner coil about 3/4 of a turn back from the hole and squeeze and bend inward a little then release the plier, move a little closer to the end and bend it a little again. Keep doing this until the end of the spring presses slightly against the arbor hook. You'll know when your are there when you can turn the arbor and the hook catches the hole in the spring without having to physically push the spring towards the arbor. I use a pair of parallel jaw smooth faced pliers but any smooth jawed plier will work.

Enjoy!
Bob

[wingman]

Thanks Bob

That worked. Each clock brings new challenges and more experience! We are hoping to attend our first NAWCC meeting next week. We rarely get off the Island at the same time as the meetings but next week it should work out. They are held in Vancouver at a heritage building complete with tower clock. I'm looking forward to checking this out. Also we hope to go to the regional convention this May, near Portland. Should be very interesting.

Cheers
Steve

[wingman]

The escapement wheel arrived from Merritts, but is smaller than the one I need. I have another Ingraham escapement wheel that is the exact same size and has the exact same shaft but the wheel turns in the opposite direction. As a result the teeth of this wheel are pointed in the opposite direction. I have been thinking about removing the wheel from the shaft and flipping it over. It is staked onto the shaft with four stake punch marks. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might remove it? Drill out the stake holes?

Steve

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Steve,
After your last post about purchasing the escape wheel form Merritts I checked around for other sources. TimeSavers has tons of different sizes available. You may have already checked them but thought I would post it just in case.
The material was spread out over the escape wheel by using a punch to help secure it to the arbor. You must remove the material by either filing it back or chucking it in a lathe and turning back the material to the original shoulder being careful not to go beyond the shoulder as you'll need to spread the material back after putting the new wheel on. You can then drive the arbor out by placing the escape wheel on a stump with a hole just big enough to clear the lantern pinion and the escape wheel shoulder that the wheel is staked onto. Fortunately the new wheel has a hole the exact same size (when does that ever happen?) so it won't need to be opened up to size on your lathe.
Oh, also make sure the punch you use has a hole deep enough to fit over the end of the arbor and can reach the seat with a little depth left over so you don't damage the pivot. I've been there! Also applies to the punch used to drive the wheel back on to the shoulder.
Enjoy Steve!
Bob

[wingman]

Thanks Bob

It will be my first real repair with lathe. I sure enjoy learning. I need more time away from work so I can do clocks and watches!

We attended our first NAWCC meeting. Awesome folks and very supportive. We are looking forward to the NW Regional in May.