Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2018!

It seems I'm starting off the new year pretty well! It's only the very first day of 2018 and I've already bought a clock!



This is a Seth Thomas (Plymouth Hollow era, pre-1865) 30 hour column clock that is generally referred to as a "Style 1". It's a clock that's been on my wish list for several years now. Seth Thomas made many different column clocks in many sizes and styles (and over many decades), but there are generally 3 main styles that use a standard ogee movement. This one is the earliest and most popular style (thousands of these were made). Bill Stoddard has compiled a lot of useful information on the production dates of Seth Thomas clocks, dials, and movements. I use his information fairly often, and you can check out here: https://clockhistory.com/sethThomas/products/30HourBrassWeight/index.html

This column clock is the smaller (and original) version of this rare 8 day column clock that I also own:
https://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2014/01/very-rare-seth-thomas-8-day-column_26.html

The columns on these clocks came in different finishes as well (wood, gold, gold with ringed decoration, and tortoise shell). Seth Thomas was not the only maker who offered this case style, but they were the first. I have seen some by Jerome / New Haven, E.N. Welch, and a few others.

That said, this particular clock is in pretty TERRIBLE condition. BUT, pretty much all of of the parts are there, and the seller was only asking 30$ CAD for it. He even dropped it off for me! I can't ask for any better than that! I found the clock in the local online classified ads and it had only been posted for 22 minutes! I e-mailed the seller right away and he dropped it off this afternoon. I'm already itching to work on it, but I have a few other clocks to work on first.



Some of the pros:
- Original dial
- Original movement
- Original hands
- Pendulum (small but old and period - not 100% sure if it's original)
- Both weights present
- Hardly any veneer chips (only 3 small ones)
- Nice label (99% complete)
- Price!

Cons:

- The entire bottom board was (poorly) replaced
- No tablet
- The dial is quite flaky
- The finish is very lumpy, thick, alligatored, and covered in paint smears (both white and beige)
- Case parts are loose and the whole thing will need to be reglued/reassembled
- Large chip in the original dial glass
- Alarm movement is missing (?)
- Smells like an ashtray

Overall, pretty good, and I'm very happy with the purchase.

I think this dial might be a good candidate for some fairly elaborate restoration/touch-up work.



The alarm setup is confusing me a little. The bell seems quite shiny, but it seems to match others I've seen on Seth Thomas clocks, and there's a heavy layer of dust on the top part of it. The wood block(s) for the alarm are also very unusual. I haven't found any other examples of Plymouth Hollow era clocks with alarms, let alone alarms held in place with wood blocks. Most ST alarms have projecting brass feet on them for mounting. The key in the photo is not original (and it's covered in solder).
November 2019 EDIT: I have come to realize that the alarm bits are not original to the clock and don't appear to have ever been fully fitted to the movement for use.



The movement is a standard "old" but not super early ST Plymouth movement. The earliest ones have a crescent shaped hammer, while the later ones have screws for the corner posts rather than pins. The label says Steam Press of Elihu Geer 10 State Street, which dates the clock between 1850-1855 which is consistent with the movement.





The movement is ABSOLUTELY FILTHY, however, I see no botch repairs or solder, and it actually RUNS in this condition. The verge stem seems a bit loose, and there isn't much swing to the pendulum (very narrow arc), but it shouldn't need much more than a regular tune-up (cleaning and maybe a few bushings).



This shows the condition of the finish quite clearly. I am very likely going to strip this case and refinish it with shellac. It will basically be a complete top to bottom restoration. Another reason for the refinish is that matching the new bottom board would be very difficult. It's also impossible to see the beautiful mahogany under this mess. This is not at all a rare clock, so I'm not worried about losing value.





One of the small veneer chips at the door latch. It's so small that I might only do a putty repair here.



The large chip in the dial glass. I will try to rotate the glass 180 degrees, and hopefully this will be hidden a bit more by the upper door trim. I will not replace the glass even if it's damaged, since it's the original (nice and wavy). The lower glass is modern and will be removed.



The lower moulding is completely loose, and you can see the poorly rebuilt base (not thick enough, and the edge should be squared). This replacement bottom is held in place with screws underneath, so hopefully they didn't use much (or any) glue and it will be easy to remove.





This corner of the door might need attention. The other corners seem fine.

William S. Johnson Bevel Case (Ogee) Clock

This is another clock I'm currently working on. This one has also been on the waiting list for a very long time. I got this clock as part of a trade with my first clock collector friend and mentor Larry. I forget where he bought it, but I think he had picked it up very inexpensively due to the mediocre condition of the clock. The best feature of the clock is the painted tablet, but unfortunately the tablet split in two during shipping.

The following photos were taken recently (in nice lighting), but the dial has had some work done to it since I received the clock. Down below are some older photos of the clock.

Sometimes I'm so focused on the project details that I forget to even talk about the clocks I'm fixing. This is a wonderful "bevel case" clock by William S. Johnson of New York. I normally refer to these clocks as "ogee" clocks simply because they are nearly identical to ogee clocks in every way, but because they lack the actual ogee mouldings which give those clocks their name, they tend to be referred-to as "bevel case" clocks instead. I tend to use the terms quite loosely. As far as we can tell from research, it isn't known if W.S.J. actually manufactured clocks himself, or if he simply assembled them and sold them under his name. He was mainly active between the years 1841-1861. This clock is pretty early due to the bevel case. Bevel case clocks first appeared with wooden movements in the early 1840s, and very quickly went out of style in favour of ogee clocks by the mid 1840s. I have a nearly identical W.S.J. clock already in my collection with the same address, but different fonts on the label. Both are within the 1840s due to their wood dials and hand painted tablets. My other clock can be seen here: http://www.angelfire.com/me5/clockman/wsj.html



I was very sad to see that the tablet broke during shipping, but at least it's a nice clean break. I plan to buy some expensive specialty adhesive (used by museums) to repair the break.



The original label is quite dark, but 90% present. Note the mangled (and broken) gong, as well as the additional holes for the dial.



On top of being broken, the tablet was also stuck into the frame along one edge with caulking. Dial glass is also broken.



The movement is filthy, but otherwise in not too poor condition. The verge is not missing, but rather the post on which it sits has fallen out.





Here was the dial "as received". Someone had decided to go over the numerals (poorly) with some sort of marker.



After removing as much of the marker and excess paint (newer paint) this is what was left. Normally the base paint has a bit more gloss, and any newer paints will come off fairly easily (even if a bit of the original paint goes with it). In this case, however, the base white seemed chalky, and as a result a lot of the marker has permanently stained an outline around the numerals. Coupled with the fact that 4 holes had to be patched, and there's a fair amount of flaking, I was left with the decision to repaint the dial. I tried pretty much everything to avoid this, but it's a bit too butchered to salvage.



Here are 3 older photos of the clock (after Larry had first bought it):





Why yes, that *IS* a coping saw blade being used as a suspension spring. I can't imagine that this worked as it's far too stiff.



Now for the list of necessary repairs:

- Hide glue repairs to the door and case corners
- Small veneer patches and filler repairs to the case
- Shellac and hand polish the case
- Remove and repair backboard (split glue joint which had previously been repaired)
- Glue-down loose sections of label
- Repair dial and repaint
- Repair dial mounting holes
- Reinstall movement/dial support braces to backboard
- Replace dial glass
- Repair tablet
- Repair movement
- Repair movement
- Replace suspension wire
- New weight lines & hooks
- Replace missing weights, key, and hands
- Make new pulley covers

Currently the case is restored (chips and veneer patched, and new hand polished shellac), the dial glass has been replaced (with antique wavy window glass), and the verge pin has been fixed. I still need to redo the dial, work on the movement, and complete the rest of the items listed above.

Rossignol à Caylux Comtoise - Repairs

This is a long overdue post, as this clock has been finished, and running for over a month now. It seems as though almost all of these comtoise clocks require repairs. This is the third one I buy, and all three needed repairs (some more severe than others). However, all three are now fixed and in great working order.

Repairing the Dial

I did *NOT* want to take this dial apart, because it still had the original rivets in place, but the enamel portion was loose, and there was quite a bit of rust, so I had no choice if I wanted to do a really proper repair. The two bottom tabs were also broken and I wanted to fix them.

Trying to pop the rivets out was too difficult and very risky (the enamel dials on these are EXTREMELY fragile), so I ground off the backs with a Dremel.



Now, what's extremely bizarre here, is that the enamel dial is completely loose in here. No rivets holding it in place, and no later screws. Note the position of the holes (1 and 7):



The original dial holes in the sheet metal backing plate are at 11 and 5! The arrow shows the 5 o'clock dial rivet, and the lower right brass facing rivet.





There are no holes at 1 and 7, so this dial can't be the original.



I already knew that this entire dial assembly was not original to the movement (there are 2 sets of holes in the front pillars) so one possibility is that the enamel dial is original with the movement, but the brass front and backing plate are off another clock. The reason I think that the enamel dial may be original is that so far ALL three of my comtoise clocks have different hole spacings and locations with respect to the centre. It would have been very difficult to find an exact match, since a lot of these movements were all hand made. I think the original brass front might have been crushed very badly, and this was the best repair option. It's hard to say for sure.

In either case, I decided that since the clock was unlikely to ever have a more suitable replacement as this current setup, I'd make the marriage as seamless as possible (while also not erasing all traces of it). I very carefully fitted the dial to the backing plate (with small screws), and with some careful fitting of the brass front, it looks great.

Misc Repairs

One other piece of the clock that needed attention was the pendulum's silk thread support box. This little hat shaped box is fixed onto the top of the clock, and it was missing the front cover. Luckily I know what it should look like, since it's made the same as on the Radet père comtoise.

The cover was cut from some old rusty steel strapping material, shaped (using a vise and an old nail as a forming tool).







Once it's painted it will match everything else perfectly.

While I was cleaning the wheels, I found two old inscriptions. One appears to read "Biorgues 1888":



While the other appears to read "A Wallez":



A few photos showing the cleaned-up wheels and levers:





A few other repairs included patching the large hole in the top (using JB Weld), and small odds and ends such as cutting new leather washers for the bell. I did not find an affordable set of replacement doors yet (I'm not spending 100$ on them) so I made a temporary one from thin Masonite painted black.

The last thing I need to do now is photograph my "make do" replacement pendulum, and photograph the completed clock. I will also need a proper set of weights, and new lines/hooks, etc.

Rossignol à Caylux Comtoise - Before Photos

I had no real intentions of purchasing a third comtoise, but this one happened to be within Ontario (my home province) and was very cheap. This was the least expensive comtoise out of the three. I went from fairly expensive, to well-priced, to a real bargain!

The clock is not without its flaws, however. As the photos will show, the clock has had an ugly metal wall-mounting bracket added to the top, and it has a missing side door. It also came without weights, a pendulum, or a key. The weight lines are also no good. Still, this is a great piece. The quality and craftsmanship on these clocks is exceptional, and I don't mind owning several of them.

The clock has a similar "Sun King" theme as my 1840s comtoise, but this one is a bit later, and the theme is more geared towards "The Harvest" from the prominent sheaves of wheat and farming tools shown surrounding the sun. More details on the dial later.









This particular clock has a number of slightly odd features, such as the round bell post (most have a square section). The bell is also brass, and it is likely an older replacement (but it sounds beautiful).





The movement is fairly early, and uses a crown wheel escapement, with a single spun brass (these are lead-filled) detent weight. It also uses the earlier style of thinner main wheels.



Here you can see the metal bracket added to the back (which will be removed), and the incorrectly installed hammer (it should be to the back, and under the bell).



Note that the bracket is not even centered. I'm not sure if the back panel and door are original to the clock or not.







Very finely detailed crown wheel support stem.



It's not too visible in this photo, but the front cap/cover of the silk thread suspension "hat" is missing.



The following photos show areas of the dial that will have dents repaired.



The scythe is very crumpled.





This is the worst section of the dial front. I'm not too sure what kind of tool this is, but the handle is very damaged.



The figure on this model is very androgynous compared to the other pattern.



The bottom corners are very unusual. I'm not sure what sort of huts these are meant to represent. They seem to sit on small platforms with 2 feet. It seems like a very unusual choice to mix with the rest of the design. If anyone has any information or thoughts on this, please feel free to comment about it and let me know.







I have started restoring this clock, and I've made several interesting discoveries. More soon.