Posted 10 years ago
Anubis
(2 items)
Hello all,
This is my Old Lady - an Enfield mantel clock, which belonged to my late grandmother. (1898 - 1968)
I remember it from when I was a child, and it used to grace the mantel piece above our fireplace. I always used to love the sound of its chiming through the night - it was a very comforting sound, and you always knew what time it was, especially in the wee small hours! For many years, it was the only clock in the house.
I do not know the year of manufacture, but I would guess the mid-1930s. It is in original condition, with a few scratches here and there, and I would dearly love to get this Old Lady serviced and running again, even if only as a mark of respect for my wonderful old grandmother.
If anyone can supply any information about my clock, I would be very grateful. I am in Melbourne, Australia.
Many thanks.
wow beautiful piece ,..going to have to find a clock shop,..shouldnt take all that much to get her going again,..these old american movements seem to last nearly forever,..clean the spiders out of her blow the bigger chunks of dirt out of the works realy well and put a tiny drop of nano lube or a good clock oil on alll the pivots/axles,.and it might start up easy,..put her on a nice level shelf and give her a few winds,..and give it a rock to get the pendulum going,..and see if she ticks
oops Enfield that would be English rite,..same deal ,.back then they were built to pretty much last forever,..definitely worth fixing,..even if only for the family history and memories attached,..good luck and let us know when you get her going
Go to the NAWCC's message board for information on Enfield along with proper repair & maintenance. Here's a link: http://mb.nawcc.org/
Hello again,
Just over seven months later, and I have had My beautiful Old Lady serviced and repaired by a clockmaker here in Melbourne. He never did anything to the timber and veneer casing, but he totally re-did the mechanism. (I quite like the few scratches and the patina of age on the timber anyway. Sort of adds to her character.)
Anyway, I have had her sitting on my bookshelf for a week or two now, and am having an almost daily chore of trying to get her running on time. A little bit of advance on the thumb-wheel on the pendulum bob makes her gain five to ten minutes overnight, and a little twist the other way causes her to run slow. Oh well, I'll get it sorted.
It's just so comforting to hear her steady 'tick-tock' in the quietness of my front room..... but the only real problem that I have is that her chime is not quite right.
There are four chime rods that are struck by their respective leather-faced hammers, and the second from the rear (the shortest one) emits a 'CLUNK' instead of the lovely tone of the other three. The hammers are not fouling any of the rods, so that is not the problem. Even when I gently tap the rods with a small screwdriver or a pencil, the other three emit their lovely tones, but this one just sounds ...well, flat. Really spoils the Westminster chime all together.
The rods are anchored into the cast steel post, and seem to be well seated, with no sign of movement.
Can anyone please shed some light on this problem?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Hello again,
Last week, I had a bit of a closer look at the (repaired) mechanism, and found that the chime rod that was causing the 'clunk' had in fact, not been properly screwed into the gong post.
I unscrewed the gong assembly from the cabinet, and removed it. This enabled me to gain access to the four chime rod mounting screws. Once they were all re-tightened, and the gong assembly re-fitted to the clock, I was then rewarded with my beautiful Old Lady's chiming 'voice', clear and sharp.
I am now a very happy Enfield Three-Quarter Westminster clock owner...
Thank you to all.