Posted 14 years ago
Hudson1449
(1 item)
After my uncle and aunt passed away, we decided to keep his favorie clock and stored it in our loft. It remained tere for the last 30 years. The other day I cameupon it and took it out of storage. I was surprised how heavy it was. It lives up to it's name of #1 IRON E N Welch. Id like to know more about it, when it made, why it ws made of cast iron, How to set the time, what the little key hole at 12 oclock does, and what it might be worth. Thanks to anyone that can supy this information.
That's a nice clock hudson1449. maybe someone can tell you what the value would be. i looked one over for a lady once. on the back of the movement some have the date and sometimes on the front which can't be seen unless the movement is out of the case. never set the time by turning the hands backwards on these old clocks. the winding key has a small little hole at other end of the key for putting in the little hole on front of dial turns for fast or slow. hope this will some help to you.i hope you will find a clock shop to service it. i think you will be glad you did.
Cast iron allowed US makers to imitate the more expensive Belgian black marble cases seen on French clocks. Cast iron was cheap and with a good coat of "japan black", it was hard to tell them apart when new. The movement is called an open escapement as you can see the gears move as it ticks. The small hole at 12 is for regulation of timekeeping (to speed up or slow down the clock). Depending on the age, you may find the strike for the hours is out of sequence. Just move the small hour hand to whatever the clock strikes and then set the time clockwise, waiting for it to complete it's full strike. There are two different types of strike; count wheel and rack and snail. If you forget to wind a count wheel movement, when you do rewind it, you may find the strike is off or even upside down (hour on the half and half at the top of the hour). If this happens, advance clockwise to the half hour and while it is still striking, quickly advance the minute hand clockwise to the top of the hour. This will reset the half hour to 6 and the hour to 12. Then, simply count the number of strikes at the top of the hour again and move the hour hand so it points at the correct number. The hour hand is press fit and can be turned forward or backward, unlike the minute hand.
Now, if it's a rack and snail, under normal conditions, it will never go out of sequence. It's a better design. If for some reason it is wrong, most likely someone moved the hour hand by accident when setting the clock. General rule for rack and snail, whatever the clock strikes is what the dial should read. Move the hour hand to the correct location.