Striking - Seth Thomas Early 30 Hour Ogee Clock

[MirceaD28]

It's in a very bad shape. I sow a loot of wear on the minute shaft. Great clock and beautiful

[Clockhistory]

@MirceaD28 This type of movement always has a lot of play in the minute shaft, they were made with a lot looser tolerances than modern clocks. There is no reason for a repairer to try to tighten things up.

[brutusamiga]

This clock has exactly the same issue my ansonia has. The fly makes a terrible noise. Do you have any idea why? As least your clock does not strike as fast as mine. I don't know if the fly should be replaced. Perhaps it needs rebushing. To my knowledge the fly is the only thing that regulates the speed the clock strikes.

[rshopelmt]

I have one of these old clocks. Can you tell me where I should put a drop of oil Part of the paper is missing where the instructions are printed. Thank you!

[Clockhistory]

@rshopelmt "Oil the pallets or ends of the part commonly called the verge, the pin on which the verge plays, and the wire which carries the pendulum at the place where it touches the rod. One drop of oil is sufficient for the whole."

The verge is the part that rocks back and forth as the clock ticks.

[andyseamaster]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm a little reluctant to try to straighten the minute hand. I don't want to broke it and maybe is a little weakened because the previous bending. The hands of the clock are these with the initials of Seth Thomas and look to be made in iron, not steel, so I believe that they are not much flexible. Anyway, thanks again for share your knowledge.

[andyseamaster]

Nice clock. I have one Seth Thomas OG myself, probably made in 1862. Lyre movement stamped Plymouth CONN and the label also from Plymouth Hollow era. I have a slight problem with my clock, because the gong does not strike exactly at the hour, instead about 45 seconds before. I believe that the previous owner tried to fix the issue...bending a little the minute hand! Any idea? Thanks and congratulations for your very interesting videos.

[Clockhistory]

Adjusting the strike will involve bending the J shaped strike lift wire so that the L shaped piece on the center shaft lets it drop exactly at the hour. If you are going to do this, first straighten the minute hand so that it looks good. Then make sure that the L shaped piece on the center shaft is parallel to the shaft. It will be best to have a pair of wire benders to slightly bend the J shaped wire at a point opposite the end of the J. A small bend will do it - may take several tries.

[norbert736]

nice

[sooth15]

Wow, that looks like a very early Seth Thomas (Plymouth Hollow) ogee. I can tell by the label, and by the hammer tip.

You should consider buffing-down the hour hand with steel wool to antique it, since it's very obvious that it's a replacement.

[Clockhistory]

You are correct about the hour hand - I am hoping to find an old one to install. When I bought the clock, it had two new aluminum hands!

This is one of the earliest Seth Thomas ogee clocks that I have - I estimate it was made in 1845, the 4th year that Seth Thomas was making brass movement clocks. Since the original lower glass is missing, I am having a reproduction made on old glass.

[sooth15]

I have several source images of early ST ogees if interested.

You can fairly easily antique the reproduction hand to look like an original. You would have to buff it to clean metal, trim it up with a file a little bit, then reblue it.

I'd love to see the clock when it's done.