pulling clock arms

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

In sync with the thread on removing manifold bolts, here is my current problem.

I need to pull the clock arms to get the dial off to restore, and clean/lube/diagnose the mechanism. Decades ago I broke the speedometer shaft on my Packard doing this, so this time I thought it would be an easy deal to rig up a simple tool to use the mill head/drill press to be able to carefully pull the clock hands straight off without bending the delicate shafts. Both hands and shaft have some red rust on them indicating they are steel and there is probably corrosion between them.

Well, so far hasn’t popped with a frightening amount of force. Currently I am dabbing with Kroil and letting it sit with a large pull force. I am thinking of getting a butane micro torch to heat it up if that doesn’t work.

Jim

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

You need a clock hand puller, it has an internal plunger which pushes on the handcraft while supporting the hand.You could borrow one from a clock repair guy. The only safe way to go.

Miles

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Jim,

You need to send that out to a clock & watch maker, or at least to a sophisticated jewelry stop with a watch repair person.

There are some mechanisms that are far too delicate for we mere mortals to repair / refurbish.

Peter

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

It is pretty hard to tell if the available clock arm pullers are the right scale for this particular clock, with flanges thin enough to get in between the minute and hour hands, and then strong enough to force them off. There is enough of the shaft sitting proud of the minute hand to make a miniature puller with a screw to push directly on the shaft instead of just trying to pull it off as shown. I am going to do that today. Thanks, Jim

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Well, maybe the kroil did its work. When I slid the puller away, I slid my fingernail under the minute hand and it finally popped off. Hour hand as well – it was on brass. I now have the clock out of its case and it looks like new inside. The contacts for the electric rewind were closed, so first thing to check out is to see if they burned when the battery discharged enough to where it wouldn’t pull the spring back.

Jim

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

Sometimes it is interesting to wonder what happened to something along the way. The front clock mechanism looks to be in very condition, and just rewinding the main spring manually it took right off working. But…I couldn’t figure out how the electrical rewind was supposed to work. So I disassembled the rear seat clock and suddenly all was clear, the front clock was supposed to have a magnetic coil but someone had removed it. Why they removed it (to fix another clock?) and then reassembled it and put back in the car is a mystery. Maybe they thought they could find or wind a replacement coil and gave up.

The rear clock mechanism is the same basic design as the front but not the detail design. Years ago I bought a ’36 rear clock just for the beveled shaped crystal which is the same for ’35 rear clocks. Oddly, the ’36 rear clock work mechanism is 97% interchangeable with the ’35 front, but not the ’35 rear. Fortunately it has an intact coil. Looks like some open heart surgery.

[Author]

Posts