History of the American Clock Business for the Past Sixty Years, and Life of Chauncey Jerome: Barnum's Connection with the Yankee Clock BusinessJerome, Chauncey
History
History of the American Clock Business for the Past Sixty Years, and Life of Chauncey Jerome: Barnum's Connection with the Yankee Clock Business
Jerome, Chauncey
Clock and watch making -- United States
Pendulum clocks are the oldest style, and are more generally introduced
than any other kind. I will give a few simple suggestions essential for
keeping this clock in good order as a time-keeper. In the first place, a
clock must be plumb (that is level;) and what I mean by plumb, is not
treing up the case to a level, but it is to put the case in a position
so that the beats or sounds of the wheel-teeth striking the verge are
equal. It is not necessary to go by the sound, if the face is taken off
so that you can see the verge. You can then notice and see whether the
verge holds on to the teeth at each end the same length of time; or (in
other words) whether the vibrations are equal as they should be. Clocks
are often condemned because they stop, or because they do not keep good
time, while these points and others are not in beat, the vibrations are
not regular; hence it will not divide the time equally, and it is called
a poor time-keeper, when the difficulty may be that it is not properly
set up. A clock which will run when it is much out of beat, is a very
good one, and it must run very easily, because it has a great
disadvantage to overcome, viz: a greater distance from a perpendicular
line one way than the other in order that the verge may escape the
teeth. A clock may be set up in perfect beat, but the shelf is liable to
settle or warp, and get out of beat so gradually, that it might not be
remarked by one not suspecting it, unless special notice was taken of
it. This matter should be looked to when the clock stops.
I have explained the mode of setting up a clock with reference to
putting it in beat, etc. Another essential point to be attended to is
that the rod should hang in the centre or very near the centre of the
loop in the crutch wire which is connected with the verge, and for this
reason, if it rubs the front or back end of the loop, the friction will
cause it to stop. To prevent this, set the clock case so that it will
lean back a little or forward, as it requires. It sometimes happens that
the dial (if it is made of zinc) gets bent in, and the loop of the
crutch wire rubs as it passes back and forth. This should be attended
to. It should be noticed also, whether the crutch wire gets misplaced so
that it rubs any kind of a dial; the least impediment here will stop a
clock. The centre of the dial should next be noticed. It sometimes
happens that the warping moves it from its place, so that the sockets of
the pointers rub, and many times it is the cause of the clock's
stopping; this can be remedied by pareing out the centre on the side
required.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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