It is getting on for 30 years ago since I found the remains of this single weight driven Vienna wall clock in a junk shop in Leeds – if I remember correctly I think I paid £20 for a cardboard box full of bits.
I was a self taught amateur clock repairer at the time and successfuly restored the clock back to working condition. Today, if you were to buy a similar clock in good condition I doubt whether you would receive much change out of £1,000.
The clock has kept remarkably accurate time ever since until recently the click spring, part of the wind mechanism, failed through metal fatigue. A replacement was made from a blank ‘washer’ turned on my lathe, milled to remove excess metal and finished by hand filing. The clock is now back on the wall and hopefully set for another 100 years service.
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- The backplate removed to gain access to the winding mechanism of this Vienna wall clock.
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- The 100 year old broken click spring from the winding ratchet which had finally been the victim of metal fatigue.
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- A blank washer was turned from brass bar on the lathe and parted off to the required thickness.
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- The old spring was superglued into position to act as a shaping and drilling template for the new spring.
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- Old and new. The new click spring alongside the original before being fitted back into the winding mechanism.
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- The complete winding assembly with new click spring in place and ready to go back into the movement.
