Schatz Elexacta Carriage Clock

[HectorLooi]

I received this electromechanical carriage clock this afternoon. It's a Schatz Elexacta. The seller described it as "balance swings freely but doesn't work, nonetheless a nice piece to display".

I thought the four panals would be glass but it turns out to be plastic. Externally, it doesn't look too bad.

But once the cover is off, the true extent of the damage is evident.

There must have been a massive battery leak. A lot of the brass is corroded and some pivots have rusted away. Some of the pinions have also rusted. 

The winding mechanism is a little strange. Instead of a DC electric motor, it uses a modified DC relay which when activated, kicks a weight which will wind the mainspring. The mainspring is so small and fragile that some of my other clocks have hairsprings that are beefier that it.

Looks like this project would be more involved than I expected. I'll need to repivot two wheels and straighten one pivot. Clean off all the rust and polish the brass. Then apply lacquer to preserve the brass. It's probably going to take me a month or two to complete this.

 

[Dell]

The pivot on the right hand mobile looks bent , I had a rusty torsion clock and soaked it in Evaporust for 12 hours to remove the rust , before & after pictures.

Dell

[HectorLooi]

5 minutes ago, Dell said:

The pivot on the right hand mobile looks bent

Yes, it quite obvious, isn't it. That's the one I intend to try straightening. If it breaks, then I've to repivot another one.

I still trying to dissolve the rusted pivots out of two holes. Managed to loosen one already. The other one is completely rusted, not a bit of steel left. I might have to drill it out and rebush that hole.

I'm curious as how these plates were finished. Are they plain, polished brass and varnished over or are they gold plated?

This piece I'm working on seems to have some shiny bits. I tried softening it in paint thinner but nothing happened.

[Dell]

I would have said lacquered brass ( is it magnetic) because it may be brass plated steel , if brass then you can soak it in a very concentrated solution of alum it will not touch brass but will dissolve steel over a few days.

[HectorLooi]

I got tired of waiting. I drilled out the centre of the pivot with a 0.2mm carbide drill and reamed out the hole with a dental root canal file.

[oldhippy]

Dell is right it would be lacquered brass. I have repaired many with the 8 day wind up movements, never seen a battery one before. Looks in a hell of a mess.

[HectorLooi]

What would be a good method to remove the old lacquer?

So far I've tried paint thinner, acetone, denatured alcohol and kerosene. I've not tried heat and methanol yet.

[Dell]

Paint stripper is what I use on the torsion clock bases, then polish , then wash in panel wipe then lacquer but peg holes before lacquering to stop lacquer getting in bushes.

[RichardHarris123]

Petrol worked for me but Dell us far more experienced with clocks. 

[oldhippy]

Horolene clock cleaner will also do the job but it isn't cheap. 

[HectorLooi]

4 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Horolene clock cleaner will also do the job but it isn't cheap. 

So, if Horolene removes lacquer, does that mean that the brass plates have to be re-lacquered everytime they are cleaned?

[Dell]

Any ammonia cleaner will remove lacquer if left in long enough especially if heat is used as well.

[oldhippy]

10 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

So, if Horolene removes lacquer, does that mean that the brass plates have to be re-lacquered everytime they are cleaned?

That all depends on the repairer. If the clock came to me and it needed a complete O/H it would certainly get the full works.  

[HectorLooi]

I have been cleaning and polishing the brass plates the last two days. The battery juice has caused dezincfication of the brass leaving patches of porous copper. I might have to dig my polishing lathe out of storage to buff out the damage.

I have a question about the prep work prior to to applying lacquer. What material would be suitable to plug the pivot holes to prevent lacquer from getting into holes?

[Dell]

Tooth picks

[HectorLooi]

20 minutes ago, Dell said:

Tooth picks

Bamboo or wood?

[Dell]

On 9/13/2024 at 8:46 AM, HectorLooi said:

Bamboo or wood?

Doesn’t matter because it is only to stop the lacquer getting in the bushes and don’t touch the plates with bare hands once clean before lacquering.