Sessions 8 Day Pendulum Clock - Made in USA, Porcelain Face

[Doug Rose]

Any idea on this? Jan and I went to a Flea market on Sunday and I bought this before the sun came up by flashlight. $20. Amazing porcelain face white with black lettering. Only has Made in USA on the bottom of the porcelain face.  On the instructions (sorry its raining here) has No 39 top left of instructionsbut no maker. Any ideas?...thanks....Doug

[Bill]

Doug -

I suggest you go to the NAWCC forum and ask. It is a forum very much like this one, but devoted to clocks instead of phones. They have members who are VERY knowledgable, and very willing to help. This is where I got most of the info on my snowbank longcase clock!  That thread went on for weeks, with many members chiming in with comments and help. If you have any interest in that thread, to see what kind of help you can expect, go to http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?t=65377

A better picture of the label will help a lot, of course.

Bill

[Doug Rose]

thanks Bill....I did send them the bad pictures that I posted here. I will have better pics tonight.....I appreciate it....Doug

[Bill]

Doug -

Good work going to NAWCC. You should get some good info from them.

As an aside, your third picture shows a coil of "wire rod", for lack of a better term,  at the bottom of the opening. I have an old Connecticut mantel clock with this same coil. The coil is the gong, and there is a hammer (which I don't see in your photo) that strikes the hour on the side of this coil. It is actually a terribly discordant sound - not at all pleasing like the nice BONG of a true chime.

Perhaps irrelevant ...

Bill

[Doug Rose]

Better pictures

[Doug Rose]

more pics

[LarryInMichigan]

I am not a clock expert by any means, but the 'S' on the pendulum would lead me to guess that it was made by Sessions.  Also, I think that the clock would work better with the pendulum attached.

Larry

[LarryInMichigan]

Look at this:

[Doug Rose]

I am not a clock expert by any means, but the 'S' on the pendulum would lead me to guess that it was made by Sessions.  Also, I think that the clock would work better with the pendulum attached.

Larry

Larry..... I have no pendulum post, I tried a paper clip, but it did not work. The right hand spring is broken, but I think it is for the chime. The pendulum will not swing, almost like it is stuck. Usually the pendulum will swing back and forth for a few swings even if ot wound. No go with this. S for Sessions is the consensus. Thanks for your insight...Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

Doug,

Now is your opportunity to develop your clock repair skills.  Fixing pendulum clocks is orders of magnitude more difficult than fixing phones.  I have a box full of parts of a 1930s Seth Thomas "Plymouth" clock movement which will probably never be reassembled.

Larry

[Doug Rose]

Look at this:

sure looks like my label....very cool

[Doug Rose]

Doug,

Now is your opportunity to develop your clock repair skills.  Fixing pendulum clocks is orders of magnitude more difficult than fixing phones.  I have a box full of parts of a 1930s Seth Thomas "Plymouth" clock movement which will probably never be reassembled.

Larry

Larry my clock is missing the pendulum rod as seen in the picture as well the strike spring is broken. Beautiful clock but definitely above my meager talents. I just love the porcelain face on this....bummer.....Doug

[Bill]

Doug -

Take this from someone who knows next to nothing about clocks. I'm not even sure about the terminology, so forgive me if I mumble.

In post number 11, just above this one, I think the pendulum rod is the long straight silvery steel rod that hangs down at the center of the clockworks, and goes out of the picture at the bottom. The pendulum weight/bob would be at the bottom of this rod. Yours is indeed missing, but most any piece of steel rod of more or less the right diameter and length should work.

At the top end, this rod is suspended from a post of some kind, and the post does not move or rotate. The rod is not attached directly to the post, but hangs from it via a short spring-steel strip. (I can't actually see this strip in the photo above, so I may be drawing too much info from long-case clocks.) This springy strip reminds me of the steel strap that is used to bind cargo onto a shipping pallet, for instance. Anyway, the springiness of this strip is critical, and the clock won't operate with anything else in place. Believe me, I've tried.

In the photo above, just to the right of the pedulum rod and running parallel to it, is a brass (?) rod that runs down to the midpoint of the pendulum rod, then makes a right-angle bend, and hooks around the pendulum rod. This is what transfers the pendulum motion into the clockworks, and it does so at its top end where I think it is centered in a fork of some kind - I'm just not sure. I thiknk this fork is (or is part of) the "escapement". Are you saying that at its top end, this fork mechanism won't move at all?

You can see many of these parts at
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/science/measuring-devices/measure-time/weight-driven-clock-mechanism.php
although in this picture the pendulum rod drives the fork directly.

Sorry I don't know more. I would be very pleased if someone with more knowledge than I would chime in and expand and correct what I have said. I would like to learn as well.

Bill

[Doug Rose]

Bill great information!!! See the picture I just received that looks just like my clock. Pic 2 is the suspension rod I need. I'll try to straighten a paper clip to see if it will work in the interim.  Thanks for your help......Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

Doug,

Even if you can replace the rod, I would not expect the clock to work very well until is has been thoroughly cleaned and oiled.  The old oil, mixed with decades of dirt, forms a sticky mess which keeps the gears from turning properly.

Larry