On Thu, 16 Aug 2018 15:38:40 +0100, "NY" wrote:

"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...
If the clock is wall hung, use a spirit level to get it
perfectly vertical and make a small mark on the wall so that
you can see immediately if it has moved.

Both clocks are longcase, standing on the floor.

Now start the clock and see if that cures the problem. If not,
you need to adjust the pendulum's vertical position

Move the pendulum to one end of its natural travel range and
keeping going slightly further, just overcoming the
resistance.

Start the clock and listen. Is it better or worse? If better
keep nudging the pendulum a bit further in the same direction
and try again. If it is now worse, move the pendulum in the
opposite direction, again moving it past its natural end stop.

Repeat the adjustments until the clock sounds right. All
things being equal, it should now carry on ticking without
stopping.

Fascinating. I didn't know that. I'll try it on our clock.

Did you get round to trying it - and was it successful?

For the very old grandfather clock about 7 feet tall, I tried that. I can't
feel any change in resistance as I move pendulum aside as far as the side of
the case, which is obviously the limit of its travel. I wonder if the
mechanism is so old that it doesn't have automatic adjustment.

Maker dates from early 1800s (Barwise Mitchell, Cockermouth) and may not
have had any enhancements since then.


For the much newer granddaughter clock (about 4 feet tall), the pendulum is
about 3" long and consists of a bob that hooks onto a vertical piece of
springy metal that nudges the escapement feed sideways. This moves with the
same resistance as far as a hard limit, beyond which the escapement release
doesn't move any further and the spring metal pivots about the escapement
release mechanism rather than about the suspension point of the springy
metal which is slightly higher.

Pressing and holding the springy metal on one side of its hard limit doesn't
seem to alter the neutral rest position of the bob or the even-ness of the
tick and the tock. The clock runs for a few minutes and the ticks get
fainter and fainter until the clock stops. The hands do go round. The
mainspring (and chiming spring) are both fully wound and the mainspring
winder definitely won't go any further, so it's not broken and winding
forever without tightening the spring.

The clock seems to be fairly sensitive about its fore/aft angle. Against the
wall it stops but pulled out a few inches it has been running for about ten
minutes and the tick sounds more even. I wonder if that's what the problem
was. I'll find a spirit level and see how vertical it is fore/aft and
side/side.

Up to now it's been about your grandfather clock, but now you also
mention a granddaughter clock. Regarding the original one, I don't
understand Terry Casey's suggestions. Perhaps he's trying to bend the
flexible strip at the top of the pendulum, which might have the same
effect as tilting the whole clock sideways by a wedge underneath.

Making the clock vertical by plumbline or spirit level is no guarantee
that it will tick evenly. so I recommend you try my tilting
suggestion.
--
Dave W