1930’s era Gustav Becker/ long case-marriage clock FINAL

Here is the 1930 Gustav Becker wall clock movement/ American long case marriage clock project completed. I actually finished the project about 4 months ago, but I kept forgetting to post it. The entire case had a very rough ‘alligatored’ finish on it. Certain spots were dented, scratched, or the finish had started to come off. The movement had stopped working in about 2017/ 2018 and my grandmother had put a battery powered quartz movement in it. As soon as I started restoring clocks I started to consider restoring this clock, and one day back in February 2021 I asked my grandmother if I could fix it for her, and she agreed. My goal was to have it done by her birthday which was on June 2. I spent February through may Stripping off the original finish, gluimg areas of the case which had started to become deformed such as the dial area at the top of the case, and then hand sanding with 100 - 400 grit on the whole case. It took quite a while to get the sanding done because every section where the wood grain was going in opposite directions I had to put tape down to ensure that I didn’t sand in the wrong direction over the opposite section that I intended to sand. I made sure to get as much off the defects out of the case which included some stains that were present on the case prior to refinishing, some areas that had been filled, and the areas where the old finish had melted into a thick plastic much on areas of the case. The top trim that goes above the dial had to be completely re-glued and straightened as the three pedestals had come loose and the wood supporting them had cracked loose. In the end, I decided to finish the case with an Irish tung oil. It was recommended to me by a boat builder and restorer who has been working with wood for 60+ years. I applied it with a cloth, letting the finish dry for about two days between each coat. In total I think I applied about four coats. Once the wood had dried I buffed with high grit sandpaper (600), and waxed with Mayland’s wax and Polish. The movement needed a new barrel spring, which I did not have the tools to do myself, so we had the movement restored by a qualified clock mechanic, and the clock was done. I managed to get it done for my grandmothers birthday, and she was over the moon about it. Thank you for following me as I navigated this project which is by far the biggest restoration project I have ever done. The clock is now in my grandmothers dining room standing proudly among all of the other antique items that she has picked up over the years. The clock keeps time perfectly and chimed westminster every 15 minutes. I apologize for being so late with the final post!

Thanks for looking,
- Gage Robertson