Blind holes
Re Mr Davis Ross’s question in the October issue of Clocks, the ‘blind holes’ on the plates of the Lenzkirch clock originate in the late 19th century. The Brauckmann Bros, owners of a clock factory in Villingen in the Black Forest decided, in view of the increasing competition with larger factories in the area, to standardise their production methods.
Templates were prepared to locate, by means of ‘dotting’, all holes which would possibly be required in the plates of the various types of regulators they produced. Only the holes needed for a particular type would be actually drilled, using the dots as centres. For instance a template would locate the holes both for rack striking and countwheel striking but, depending on the clock to be made, only one of the sets would be drilled, leaving the other set redundant.
In 1890 the Brauckmanns obtained a patent for the brand name ‘Schablonenuhren’, ie ‘template clocks’. Upon the demise of the company, Carl Werner took over and used this brand name. Various other factories such as Lenzkirch also used the template system.
This information and more can be found in: Lexikon der Deutschen Uhrenindustrie 1850-1980 Villingen-Schwenningen 2005 by H H Schmid, ISBN 3-927987-91-3
Robert Schut, Germany
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