Would like to repair grandmother clock

[mbk]

The clock belonged to my grandfather however I've never seen it running in approx 50 years. It's a German movement  Mullko Harmonie Gong Nr.22. It's completely jammed up with dust but everything appears complete inside. I think it was made by Wilhem Muller & Co. of Muhlheim, Germany. It has two sets of 4 chime rods within the case. It has 3 key holes for winding in the front though none of them will move an inch. I'm guessing one is for the movement, another for the hourly chimes and the last one for quarter chimes but I'm guessing here. I suspect it's not worth taking to a repair shop but I would enjoy doing the work myself. I have partially repaired a cuckoo clock in the past that just had chains stuck within the mechanism and broken bellows but I can see this will be quite a lot more work.

I wondered if anyone can give me a few pointers on where to start My intention so far is to:

• Take off the hands and face.
• Disconnect the chimes
• Remove the mechanism
• Work out how to lock the springs (they currently won't turn and are in barrels of some sort).
• Take all the parts out
• Clean everything
• Reassemble and lightly oil
• I'm guessing the springs have all glued up over time but I'm hoping I can get them going again (no idea how)

What equipment or tools might I need? Special oils? Cleaning fluids? I do have a small  ultrasonic cleaner that could be used for cogs but not for the main plates. Obviously I'd photograph everything as I went.

Many thanks for reading

Mike

 

[watchweasol]

Hi  First thing to do is read up on three train mechanisms before starting they employ some complex gear work for the strike and the chime not forgetting the auto correction for the chime. To remove the springs one has to let down the power on all the barrels before doing anything. If this is your first attempt at repairing a clock I should get hold of a simple two train strike only to practise on and gain knowledge before doing a three train clock. Cleaning can be done using any branded clock cleaner and a brush, wear rubber gloves , Priory polishes do a good cleaner and not too expensive, Windles clock oil is a good one  a good selection of screwdriver, pliers, an eyeglass or loupe for inspection Donald de carles book on clock repairing or brian loomes book  or laurie penman all available on the net as are the tools, you may need a spring removal tool to get the springs out of the barrels. So s you see it is not some. .thing to be taken lightly  there is a lot to go wrong.  One could write a whole chapters on the rights and wrongs and do's and dont 's on clock repairing.

[Lenj]

AS Watchweasol said..Sounds like the springs are fully wound and under a LOT of power....To remove the springs you HAVE to let down the power on all the barrels before doing anything to this movement, as I found out when I first started the hobby many years ago. If you have never taken a movement apart before, this is Not really the best movement to learn on.

 

Hope all goes well for you..

Len

Edited November 13, 2019 by Lenj
spelling

[mbk]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Should I find an non working clock at a flee market and start there then? I assume one with twin winders would be best?

I assume extracting the whole movement as it stands and putting it inside a larger ultrasonic cleaner wouldn't help?

[watchweasol]

Hi  Yes a twin train clock no matter the state its in will give you the basics of how the clock fits together and what makes it tick.  taking it to pieces once or twice cleaning and oiling , removing springs etc for practise is a must. Once you have gained the dexterity and knowledge and feel confident enough tackle the project clock. It is far better to make a mess of a clock costing a pound or two than destroying the family heirloom.

Dumping the whole mech in the ultrasonic will lead to trouble as the main springs will be dried out and bind in the barrels also the pivot bearings will not be cleaned sufficiently, and also if the pivots/bearings are worn you have just opened another can of worms. When you dismantle a clock and clean it all the pivots are checked for wear and polished, the bearings are pegged out with pegwood and polished or re-bushed if worn then re assembled.  It all sounds dramatic I know but its just common sense.

[nickelsilver]

Just gotta say weasol, that's some sound advice.

I think if OP follows it they'll get that clock going. Thumbs up!

[oldhippy]

For starters you will need a clock mainspring winder to remove the three springs. The chiming spring will be very powerful so you need to take care. The tool will not be cheap, I see second hand ones on ebay and they fetch over £100, there are youtube videos that show how to make your own, I don't know how good they are. I can talk you through in a complete repair, but you need to send good clear photos so I know what the movement is like. 

[mbk]

At present I'm working my way through "An introduction to repairing mechanical clocks" by a Scott Jeffery. I'll next get a 2 spring clock from a local charity shop and aim to take it apart and rebuild it (if I can). When I've done that I'll pull the 3 spring movement in my Grandfather clock. Thank you very much for your offer.

[nad]

At present I'm working my way through "An introduction to repairing mechanical clocks" by a Scott Jeffery. I'll next get a 2 spring clock from a local charity shop and aim to take it apart and rebuild it (if I can). When I've done that I'll pull the 3 spring movement in my Grandfather clock. Thank you very much for your offer.

Mbk

Some really good advice from all who's contributed already.

I find myself in a similar position to you with the family long case clock, see earlier posts where OH was very helpful in dating the clock.

We differ in that I've been "playing about" with watches for some time before the clock came into my possession. I've also lately been doing some clock work on mantle clocks of varying degree of complication. Been enjoying working on the clocks but I'll not be touching the family clock for a while longer, at least until I've learned some more, and have significantly more space to work in. Everything is significantly bigger in the long case clock than the half dozen Elliott's that I'm currently working my way through.

Enjoy the journey.

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