Two New Purchases

I recently acquired these two clocks locally. One was clearly a run-of-the-mill gingerbread clock (in rather nice shape), and the second one was for a plain looking mantle clock. This was for sale locally through Kijiji (similar to Craigslist) with a single photo, and a rather brief description:





I was almost tempted to buy only the gingerbread clock, but the price was so cheap I decided it may well be worth it to get the mantle clock for parts. Since the seller was just on the outskirts of town (and I have no car), I asked him if he'd be willing to drop them off, and I sweetened the deal by offering 40$. He counter-offered 45$ but I felt this seemed a bit greedy as I had already doubled his asking price, so I didn't reply. A week later he responded and said he'd take the 40$ and he could deliver them.

When he dropped them off, he mentioned that they had recently come out of either a barn or an attic recently. The first one he pulled out was the mantle clock, and as soon as he handed it over to me, and I saw that it was solid 1/4 sawn oak, I knew it was not going to be "junk" or "for parts". After he left, I took a closer look at both clocks. The plain mantle clock had an ill-fitting modern dial stuck to the original dial plate (hiding the winding holes), but the clock had its original CHROME PLATED movement, and a telltale gong block, and the original pendulum bob. My suspicions were confirmed when I turned the clock over and saw the original label.

The clock is an Arthur Pequegnat!

Pequegnat clocks are highly prized and collectible (especially up here) as he was one of the only few Canadian clockmakers to exist here in Canada. We certainly had lots of clocks here, but they were all largely Connecticut made USA clocks with overpasted labels. There were primarily only two major clock companies that were Canadian. One being Pequegnat, and the other being the Hamilton Clock Co. As a result, these clocks are much more scarce, and collectible. In all my years collecting (since 2004) this is the first one that I happen to come across (other than online).



Pequegnat clocks have this specifically shaped gong block/stand and I don't believe any other company used this pattern:



This particular model is the Pertoerboro (the name of a city in Canada):



It is not a very early Pequegnat clock, however (which would be more desirable). It bears the name "Kitchener Ontario", which was formerly known as Berlin Ontario. The city changed its name shortly after the war, as Germany was not popular at that time for obvious reasons.

I thought that the chrome-plated key might be original, because it matches the chrome plated movement, but it's not a good fit.



The gingerbread is a New Haven, and it also has a complete and intact label which identifies it as the DUXBURY model. However, even with the model name, it doesn't appear to be in any of the catalogues from the company. The fact that it uses a multicoloured glass (mainly gold, but with added sections in black and blue) would make me think that it's before 1900, since this detail was largely on earlier clocks, and phased out in later ones to save time, materials, and money.





Someone had added a nail with a plastic tube into the base as a pendulum fastener (I ended up removing this -not because it doesn't work, but because it's just plain ugly). The original hands are with both clocks.



Seems like this movement had the option for an alarm, but one was never fitted.





The gingerbread needs to have the crest reglued to the body, and a new triangular glue block on top behind the crest. The latch tip is also broken, and the movement needs cleaning. The main issue with it is the dial. This is the original painted dial, but 90% is flaked off. A paper dial is not a good option, as this dial is recessed and curved (it's not flat).

The Pequegnat has similar condition issues. The case, movement, and parts are all there, it's just the dial. It originally had a white-painted zinc dial with silk-screened fancy numerals. The shadows from the original numbers are still faintly visible on the zinc, so I can tell exactly which design it used to have, which is this:





This is a rather specific "Fancy Arabic" pattern, with more of a Gothic type font (square zero) and 4-dot hour markers. No paper replacements match this, and hand-painting this would be exceptionally tedious and time consuming. The closest pattern commercially available is also only available with the Ansonia label slapped on it:



I will likely custom-make a printed dial for this to match the original style.

Stay tuned!

Brewster & Ingrahams Miniature Ogee - Before Photos and Case Repairs

This is a lovely little Brewster & Ingrahams miniature ogee clock that I had purchased as an empty case way back in May 2006. I was attracted to the lovely tablet and overall good condition. I eventually found a movement for it, but it still needs a dial.

Before:



I'm not sure how this happened, but there was a long and thin break along the edge of the top. This break is ACROSS the grain, so you can't easily patch this w/o it looking very strange.



The backboard was removed to make a few interior repairs.



The 3 arrows show new pieces. The clock was missing one dial block, and it had only 2 small cleats holding the ogee frame in place, so I added two more. Everything was glued in place with hide glue and painted/stained to match.



Sadly the label is largely missing, but there's just enough there to make out that it's Brewster & Ingrahams, and the printer's address is also still visible.





Here is the 30hr spring driven movement I was able to find for the clock. It needed restoration, but it's now in working condition again.





Here's the case "after". I did very little with the case, other than a few touch-ups, two teeny tiny corner veneer repairs, and a wax polish.









That long awkwardly chipped spot along the top edge (visible on the right in this photo) was puttied, sanded, and painted to blend in.



More on this project later.

Waterbury Miniature Ogee Clock - Part 1

I have had this clock for long enough that I seem to have lost the paper work for it. I bought it as an empty case. Actually I just checked a purchase list, and I bought it in summer 2006! At the time I wanted a miniature ogee clock, and I believe I may have had a spare Waterbury shelf clock movement for it. I had only paid 34$ USD for the case, plus shipping. Not such a great bargain based on today's prices, but mini ogees back then would normally sell for 200-300$ USD.

Anyhow, the case had lots of loose or flaked-off veneer, and it needed work.

A few years ago (early 2015), while I was working on a whole bunch of different veneering repairs (http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2015/02/veneer-patching-extravaganza.html) I had glued down the loose sections of the veneer for this case.





Then a few weeks ago I finished the rest of the repairs. This involved gluing another big section that popped off on the door, and patching the missing sections on the veneer. Before I start showing the patches, this is how the clock looked after the 2015 repairs.



The edge uses curved veneer, so I used some of my pre-curved mahogany veneer stock for the patches. Any of the small chips, I did not use wood, I used putty. This is especially good for small chips along the bottom where the veneer is already really dark.



Putty-filled repairs:



Veneer patch on the corner, putty on the chips.



Again, a mix of veneer and putty. Keep in mind that any putty repairs must be touched-up with paint.



Top left corner:



Top right corner:



All the repairs and patches before stain, paint, and touch-ups.



Stain is applied first. Depending what stains you use, how much sanding you did, and what wood was used, the colour may be too light or too dark. It's kind of difficult to predict how certain spots will turn out. For the painted putty areas, those mainly work best on very dark finishes. This case is quite dark brown, so it's pretty forgiving to mix any "close enough" shade of blackish-brownish-reddish paint, and blend that in. I use one or two small paint brushes, but a lot of it is creative finger painting. Water is used to add transparency.



Bottom chips after painting. There are 4 decent sized chips, and a veneer patch in the left corner.



All the repairs and patches were then coated in several layers of orange shellac. The entire case was then buffed down with #0000 steel wool lubricated in dark paste wax. The wax is left to dry and go dull before polishing.

This shows the wax-buffed case just before polishing (so looking quite dull overall).



Here's just a small bit once you start buffing the wax.



Hopefully I can photograph the finished case soon.

Small Wag-On-The-Wall Clock Restoration & Custom Wall Shelf

This is a really cute little clock that I picked up a few years ago. It didn't need too much work, but it had problems with all the dial hooks, it needed new doors, and some general cleaning and maintenance.



While I took the clock apart for cleaning, the original keeper for the count wheel broke. I had to make a new one.



I'm not sure if these are factory markings, maker's markings, or simply a former owner, but more than likely they are in German, and I can't read German.





The dial appears to be printed paper glued over wood, but I'm not 100% sure. I bought the clock purely because it had such a wonderful dial. Many of these Black Forest clocks have beautiful, colourful dials.





Top:



Front (after cleaning and repairs):







The bottom still has the original dark red paint. I tried to match this for the side doors and shelf.



New doors. The "hinges" are more or less just bent staples, and they were tricky to install. They are drilled at an angle, and then driven into the wood. A lot of care has to be taken not to split the wood while forcing the staple end in place.

The teeny tiny little slots were cut with a small drill bit and a jeweler's saw.





The clock came with original (painted) weights and pendulum.



All done! This one is fairly small. The dial is about 8 1/4" high.









The paint is sort of a 2-tone (mottled) burgundy that is bordering on dark pink. I was aiming for more of a red, but the pink matches the dial. The shelf was made of thin pine, and wax polished after painting.







For size:





The only issue with the clock is that both chains are only about 3 feet long. I would need 2 new chains at 50 or 51 LPF and these are not available.