American Wire Gong Repair (Tutorial)

I happened to notice the other day that one of my clocks (a beautiful William S. Johnson Ogee from around 1845) was simply making a "clunk" sound rather than striking. I opened the door to find the gong wire sitting in the bottom of the case. I've never had this happen on any of my other clocks, but this isn't the first time I've had to repair a wire gong.



Since this is an easy and simple repair, I thought I would post a quick tutorial.

Spiral wire gongs are simple devices used in clocks, and they have been around since the late 1700s, I believe. They vary widely in quality from thick, heavy Victorian ones (found largely in English and German bracket clocks) to thin wiry ones found in Vienna clocks and American clocks. The sound they produce depends on the wire gauge, as well as the length, quality and hardness of the steel wire. The wire can be square, rectangle, oval, or round. Some wire gongs sound incredibly beautiful and mellow, while others sound absolutely terrible.

The gong on this particular clock has a very nice sound. The link at the beginning includes a sound file on the web page.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough lighting in this photo, so it's blurry, but you get the picture. The gong wire snapped off the brass hub right at the edge. This could have been caused by bending or adjusting the gong too much (in the past), and then eventual metal fatigue at the joint from all the thousands of hammer blows inflicted over the past 11 years since I've owned the clock (the clock was bought in 2005), and all the ones before that. For fun, here's the quick math: 156 hammer blows per day, x 365 x 11 = approximately 626,340 hammer blows over the past 11 years. Unrelated, but fun to think about: this math also means that I've wound this clock daily approximately 4015 times.



To repair a gong, you CANNOT and SHOULD NOT ever use solder. Solder will deaden and potentially ruin the sound. The wire needs to attach to the hub by purely physical means. This is done very simply by a friction fit, and a punch mark.

To do the repair, simply mount the hub into a small vise, and drill a hole into it for the gong wire to pass. The hole doesn't need to be tight, but you want the fit to be as close as possible. My wire was 0.055" diameter, and the hole I drilled was 0.054". With the wire coaxed into the hole, align it into a parallel plane, and on the back side make a small punch mark with a centre punch. That's it. Done. This is about a 5 minute repair.



You can see the old wire stub here. If it hadn't broken cleanly to the surface, any protruding stub can be filed down flat to the surface, or if you're able, the stub can be punched through the centre, and removed, and a brass pin can be used to plug the hole. Be warned, however, that these wires are usually set into the hubs very securely, so you may do more harm than good trying to remove the old steel stub.



Here you can see the punch mark on the reverse side. Nothing too crazy. This is extremely secure, and the gong wire will not slip out or lose its position.



Sounds exactly like it did before, the only difference is that I've lost about 1/8" on the length.

Junky Clock Haul

Today's post deals with a whole bunch of clocks and clock parts I got today in exchange for some clock repair work. All of this came from the same man from whom I bought the 3 ogee clocks and the "Duane" mantle clock last summer. See this post: http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2014/06/clock-haul-4-new-acquisitions.html

Basically, if you'll recall, he had bought the contents from a retired (or deceased) clockmaker, and he had kept all the clocks he wanted, sold many others, and then all of this was basically all the leftovers that no one else wanted.

In total, I walked out with 5 full boxes.



With everything unpacked, sorted, and laid out, it equaled to a full dining room table's worth of stuff.



A lot of this is junk, however. For example, most of the anniversary clocks are missing hands, domes, pendulums, suspension springs, and have scratched or otherwise damaged bases. One is even missing all 3 adjustable feet. Another is missing several mounting bolts and screws. One is cheap plastic, and will probably go right in the trash after I cannibalize anything worth saving from it (screws, knobs, brass parts, etc).

Then there's the two matching "Black Forest style" shield clocks. One is complete, with weights, hands (no pendulum), but the second one is an empty case, with a fair amount of wood chewed away from the box by an animal.



The gongs may be useful to have, and what's nice is they all have the original bolts and washers with them.

Several of the cuckoo clocks are nice, but only ONE of them is complete. One is missing the crest, and only one of them has the pendulum. Another is missing the back/gong. I believe I have all the weights and chains, and they all have their movements. Most are missing their hands.

The orange wood mantle clock in the upper left is an empty case, but in one of the small boxes, I have the complete movement for it (in pieces - all of it is there) but no dial, no back door, and I don't have the rods/block for it either. There's also 3 or 4 damaged teeth on one of the main wheels, and it's likely not worth repairing it.



The back mantle clock (Sessions) at the back is 90% complete, and it's the best clock in the lot. It needs a glass for the bezel, and a backboard (and key & bob) but otherwise it's in good shape. 2 clocks ahead of it and next to the cuckoo is a rather nice silver rectangular-ish clock (or desk clock) in a very well made Art Deco case. That one is by HAC, and it has an unusual winding arrangement. I will probably keep that one. It runs, and it has uranium painted numerals and hands (glow in the dark).



The second black mantle (Ingraham) is kind of nice, but it has no movement, no glass, and one of the columns is missing. Otherwise the case is complete (backboard and gong are there). The white cuckoo is an empty shell, and I have no crest or pendulum for it, only a pair of white-painted weights. I'm not even sure that the white painted treatment is original. I think someone just slapped some white paint all over it.

The square 70s looking clock is complete, but I'm missing 1 weight, and the pendulum (I think he said he had it hanging on the back wall and forgot to give it to me).



Additional shots:



The plain white dial on the top right says Arthur Pequegnat (a very desirable Canadian clockmaker) but I have nothing to go with it. If anyone reading the blog is interested, it's very likely I'll be selling it.



I also kinda like that white cellulose clock at the very front. It works and ticks VERY loudly.



So that's it. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going to put all this stuff now.