| Horological hints & tips | June 2004 |
Don't go round the bend!Warning pieces, racks, rack hooks, minute wheels etc, on 20th century striking and chiming clocks are often retained by pieces of wire passed through holes in their arbors or posts and bent into the shape of a letter ‘S’. If one tries to guess the length of wire required and bend it in position during the assembly of one of these clocks it will sometimes twist sideways and look rather untidy or even end up to short. A better way is to do it as follows.1. Cut off a straight piece of soft steel wire of suitable thickness about 1in (or 25mm) long. 2. Form a small C-shape on one end with pliers. 3. Poke the straight end through the hole in the arbor or post, after remembering to fit the washer that goes under the S-bend. 4. Pull the straight end with pliers until the C-shape is snugly on the arbor or post. 5. Check that the C-shape is not twisted sideways at all then pull the straight end round the arbor or post to complete the S-bend. 6. Cut off the excess length of wire using diagonal nippers or side cutters. 7. Use pliers to tidy both ends so that they fit snugly around the arbor or post. Don’t let your clocks send you round the bend! Alf Wilford, Australia |
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