The Case for Clocks

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Norman,

That’s a nice summary about RAW.

I have to admit that most of my pictures in the clock album have been enhanced one way or another. Having been a Leica man, there’s something in me which craves good results.

As for polishing the brasses, 1200 grit is the finest I have, before going on to `Silvo’.

But, what’s the best way of getting rid of this stuff after polishing, especially in the nooks and crannies?

Regards,

Sam

 

PS I have a little ultrasonic (pen) cleaner from when I drew in ink.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi Sam

 

I’ve been waiting and hoping that you would get a flood of replies detailing good ways to remove excess polishing compound from clocks –  but there is a deafening silence !

Yes it is slow and tedious and the traditional peg wood still has its place. How about dental floss for some of the internal angles? I would be interested to know the success of your ultrasonic cleaner, and , if it works, where such a tool can be obtained.

 

Regards Norman 

 

[StovepipeParticipant @stovepipe]

Would some of the Dremel accessories (mounted on a flexible shaft) do the trick ?

 

Dennis

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by NJH on 04/11/2010 10:35:15:

Hi Sam

 

I’ve been waiting and hoping that you would get a flood of replies detailing good ways to remove excess polishing compound from clocks –  but there is a deafening silence !

Yes it is slow and tedious and the traditional peg wood still has its place. How about dental floss for some of the internal angles? I would be interested to know the success of your ultrasonic cleaner, and , if it works, where such a tool can be obtained.

 

Regards Norman 

 

 You can buy inter-dental brushes of various diameters that have always struck me as having potential uses for cleaning out pivot holes etc.

 

I purchased a small ultrasonic leaner from Aldi a couple of years back – not many ££ – it works fine, but the bath is way too small for cleaning clock plates. I have seen similar sized ones on sale at the various ME shows (although not as cheaply). Would be useful for cleaning individual wheels and smaller parts though. An ultrasonic cleaner big enough to accommodate clock plates would be nice, but not cheap.

 

Regards,

Tony

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Thanks a lot Tony

Inter – dental  brushes – great idea! Now my wife is a fan of these so there must be some around here somewhere.I don’t suppose I could get her to demonstrate their use on a clock ?………………………no best not ask I guess!

 

Regards

Norman

 

 

[Tony JeffreeParticipant @tonyjeffree56510]

Posted by NJH on 04/11/2010 12:02:56:
Thanks a lot Tony

Inter – dental  brushes – great idea! Now my wife is a fan of these so there must be some around here somewhere.I don’t suppose I could get her to demonstrate their use on a clock ?………………………no best not ask I guess!

 

 

Might also be worth giving these a try:

 

http://www.dentalshop.co.uk/acatalog/Sulcabrush.html

 

The brush tip (which unscrews for replacement) has a cylindrical bundle of nylon fibres with a conical point – looks to me like it was designed with cleaning inaccessible bits of small mechanisms in mind…

 

Regards,

Tony

 

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Sort of on topic (in respect of producing jpgs) I use a tip from another forum –

With your required image on screen, hit Ctl,Print Scr. Go to Accessories and open Paint. Go to Edit and Paste. Select the crop tool and delineate the edges of your image and Crop. Press Ctl, C. Open Paintshop (or similar) and press Ctl, V. Select Save As and jpg as the format and Robert is your Dad’s brother!!

Rgds

Bill

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Sam, if you can find a supplier, brass extrusion in many shapes are available, including angle with a groove for glass, it can be plain, or patterned, and would make a nice frame for the transparent pannels of your clock. The door could be made of U section brass to matchthe rest of the case. Ian S C

[BusterParticipant @buster]

Hi Sam, i have made lots of cases from (L) shaped wood from diy stores, most that i have seen is a white hardwood but there are some that is made from Mahogany type wood, each corner is mitred so that 3 pieces make one corner, i use super glue for a quick fix and then use veneer patches to strengthen each corner on the inside, you can then use thin double sided tape (window fitting outfits) or coloured silicone to fix thin picture glass, light and easy to lift on and off for winding, cheers Dave

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Hi David,

Thank you for your posting. I have to admit to only ever making one case similar to your description. It was made to enclose and protect a model of the Wasa Sailing Ship by Airfix, which had received a considerable amount of my time and patience.

For each length of the framework, I actually joined together three quadrants to form the 90deg internal angle (L). A sort of 3/4 quadrant.

There was a lot of work in fabricating the corner-joints, but the end result was a nicely rounded outer profile. It was also a much bigger case than the one I need for the skeleton clock. I’ll be heading to my local hardware store once the clock is finished and ticking.

 

BTW, I have breathed life into it, but only with torque supplied manually. I still have to work on the main spring to fusee coupling, and find a neat way to stop the bell hammer from bouncing on the edge of the bell.

 

Thanks for your input, and thanks to everyone who has offered their help.

 

Regards,

 

Sam

Edited By Sam Stones on 30/12/2010 02:39:47

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Norman,

Sorry for the delay in answering your question about ultrasonic cleaners. I can only reiterate Tony’s answer. It does seem to work OK for smaller items.

The stainless steel tank measures about 90mm ID and is about 40mm deep. The base of the tank is fairly well rounded, which further limits the size of items to be cleaned. I have to assume that the transducer is connected to the centre of the tank, which also appears to be isolated from the casing via a rubber seal at the top edge of the cleaner.

By causing cavitation around dirt etc., it appears to lift off loose particles which either begin to accumulate on the bottom of the tank, or as scum on the surface of the solution. I generally use diluted washing-up liquid (about 1/3 of the tank volume), but I feel sure there would be a better solution.

I’m not too keen on using anything aggressive, especially after having imparted a high polish to the various brass components.

I trust this helps.

Regards,

Sam

[RJWParticipant @rjw]

Sam, I don’t know if you’ve decided upon a method for constructing a case for the clock, but a method I used some years ago may be worth considering.

 

I built a 1/8th scale Ferrari Testarossa for a client, for which he also wanted a display case constructing.

This case was going to be huge, had to be light enough to move for cleaning etc, yet unobtrusive on the corners so as not to distract from the model from all angles.

 

In the end, I decided to use good quality 3mm glass, which was free of defects, then polished and finely radiused all edges using fine carborundum stone – this was mainly to get rid of sharp edges and make the stuff safer to handle.

All edges were then covered using self adhesive copper tape, which should be available  from craft shops or eBay etc.

 

When I bought my tape, it was available in various widths and bought on the roll, not sure what would be available now.

Each side of each pane of glass was then carefully soldered together via the copper tape, using the top to keep square, the top being the final addition, but you could assemble any way you choose.

 

The job was fairly tedious, but once on a roll, soldering does progress quite quickly.

I used one of those instant heat solder guns that uses a bent copper wire tip.

For the base, I polished and routed an oak plank, then routed a slot all the way round for the case to sit in, the copper tape being left exposed but waxed.

The end result was a high quality looking glass box, with ‘fine’ obviously hand made soldered joints, constructed in the same way as those miniature greenhouses, the name of which totally escapes me at the moment – and where I nicked the idea from.

The solder can be left either faily matte grey, or polished to a shine!

 

I added a final flourish to the model and case, by copying  the ‘Ferrari’ and prancing horse logo onto one side and bead blasting the stencils into the glass.

 

If you wanted a more ‘antique’ appearance to the glass, then the cheapo 3mm stuff used for greenhouses has a nice random ‘distortion’ to it, which also works well as a replacemtn on antique cases such as Vienna regulators and dial clocks etc.

 

Best regards,

 

John

[RJWParticipant @rjw]

 This is similar to the stuff I used, just copy and paste the item number into any eBay search box, should bring it up.

Glass art products.

 

 Item number: 130455049166

 

Best regards

John

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Hi John

 

That’s an interesting variation. Can you recall the dimensions of the case please?

 

Regards

Norman

[RJWParticipant @rjw]

Hi Norman,

 

It was quite a while ago now, (early 1990’s) so I can’t recall the exact size, but around 24″ x 12″ x 12″.

It was made to case up a Pocher 1/8th scale model with room to spare, and checking on the web, that model comes up as 20″ x 10″ x 6″, so probably not far out for the case.

 

When soldered up, the glass, although only 3mm, made quite a substantial and solid construction.

 

The solder gun i used was a Weller instant heat job with 2x heat settings, (remembered after I posted my last reply), and the solder, was fairly fine multicore stuff – I pulled off lengths of it to make it easier to manpulate.

Best regards,

John

[The HarperParticipant @theharper]

Posted by NJH on 04/11/2010 10:35:15:

Hi Sam

 

I’ve been waiting and hoping that you would get a flood of replies detailing good ways to remove excess polishing compound from clocks –  but there is a deafening silence !

Yes it is slow and tedious and the traditional peg wood still has its place. How about dental floss for some of the internal angles? I would be interested to know the success of your ultrasonic cleaner, and , if it works, where such a tool can be obtained.

 

Regards Norman 

 

Hi Norman,

 

You can get a very good heated or unheated Ultrasonic cleaner from Allendale Electronics http://www.machine-dro.co.uk. They have plenty of sizes, so one will be big enough for you. The prices are very competitive too. It does depend on how often you will use it though! I use mine daily as I am a part time clockmaker / repairer. I would recommend you use a proper Horological clock cleaning solution though, I have the ammonia based ones give the best results as this cleans the brass to a very nice yellow colour and needs very little polishing as a rule. You can get the solution from Cousins http://www.cousinsuk.com.

 

The other thing is cleaning inside angles etc, I was taught to use a soft bristle brush or a soft brass wire brush to clean awkward areas, I have since found pipe cleaners and cotton buds to be of great help, although you stillhave to clean off fibres afterwards.

 

I hope this helps a bit?

 

regards

Paul

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

Hi All,

From my notebook;

http://www.just-bases.co.uk            01803-558-820

 

21 Graham Road,

Paignton

TQ3 1BB

 

Bases, plinths, Perspex cases and domes, turntables, display boxes.

 

I cannot recall where I found the above but suspect it was probably a link from another site. I have no connection with this business and have not done any business with same, so readers should take usual precautions. Having said that, hope this helps.

John.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Thanks Paul

 

That’s very useful. I have bought measuring equipment from Allendale in the past but had missed the ultrasonic products. It’s only a hobby for me but, from the comments I get when others learn this, I guess there could be a lot of work out there! The Cousins site is interesting too although the cost of tools there is eye-watering!

 

Regards

 

Norman 

[Ian AbbottParticipant @ianabbott31222]

The Just Bases guy is local to us.  The wife’s met him socially, seems to be ok.

I think he should have been at the ME show, I thought that I saw him listed.  Or was it the other one, can’t remember.

 

Ian 

[The HarperParticipant @theharper]

Hi Norman,

Glad to make comments that are of help or interest.

I agree with you on the Cousins tool prices, parts prices are very competitive though. Although, I must say the clock cleaning solution is worth it ?35+ for a gallon, but it is diluted 7-1 and one tank will last a considerable amount of time as long as you don’t put really greasy dirty movements in it! It is always best to clean really bad muck with petrol or jizer or something similar first.

Good luck

Paul

[Ralph MalanParticipant @ralphmalan66626]

W.R.Smith in How to Make a Skeleton Wall Clock gives detailed instructions with many pictures of how to make an acrylic (Perspex) dust cover.  It is by lap joints solvent welded together.  How to file & polish the joints where the lay-up was not 100%.  It looks fairly straight forward judging by the pictures. It is a great little book but you have gone past all the earlier steps where his advice would have been appreciated.

 

Essentially draw file the edges properly smooth.  Assemble the box holding it with masking tape.  lay one big face flat on a towel.  Add weights to the upper face on planks to close the gap between the vertical sides and the flat big face.  Fiddle the edges to get them as perfectly aligned as possible.  Flow the solvent cement (Tensol has been mentioned, can be chloroform I believe but then you but work outside) using a thin hypodermic in a plastic bottle.  glue just the edges joining the face lying on the towel.  Allow 3 hours to set.  Turn & repeat until all edges are glued.  Protect the face with masking tape where the joint is not 100% and file it then polish with muslin buff & tripoli followed by red rouge.

[david newman 9Participant @davidnewman9]

In 1986 I completed John Wildings skeleton clock  and remember going round London on a motorcycle trying to find a glass dome to fit, I eventually found one in an old shop in Clerkenwell Road . I always remember the old guy that ran the shop said he may have one in the loft, he went up and came down with several covered in pigeon crap and there was one the exact size in needed . He knew they were like gold dust even then  and wanted £85 for it , still got it and it looks superb.  David

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