Soundproofing a clock

An oil bath would make good sense, and make the behaviour of the oil easier to understand, too. Having done a little more research it transpires that the GE Telechron synchronous electric movement had an oil bath (with the motor coils on the outside).

I suspect that inconsistent friction is less of an issue in an electric clock, but I can still see that without a bath the oil will soon spread away from the gear teeth. One chap at alt.horology suggested using a trace of thin grease on the gears as it will stay in place better, but it seems like most people would leave them dry.

I had a look inside a clock I acquired from my grandmother recently (the one with the broken teeth on the drum which I'm trying to repair - so far I haven't found a sheet of brass of the right thickness to cut a wedge from). It has been liberally oiled, probably by my grandfather. There is more grime than I would expect inside a clock with an enclosed case. It doesn't feel especially abrasive, but I guess dirt that is abrasive over many years is hard to feel.

Indeed. But it seems mighty counter intuitive. I feel like I'm going to have to unlearn the desire to oil things. I wonder if anyone has ever done any experiments regarding clock lubrication and wear? It would be interesting to do a scientific experiment on the subject.

Best wishes,

Chris

The 'old' way of lubricating mantle and Grandfather clocks was to set a small cup of kerosene inside the case. The vapors gave a very light coating of lubricant that didn't attract dust like heavy oiling does. Clocks lubed in this way ran twenty years or more before needing service. Bugs

Two organisations worth noting.

The NAWCC, National assn. of Watch and Clock Collectors

The BHI, British Horological Institute

Both have extensive libraries of good technical books. Some of wich refer to studies of just the type you refer to.

I have forund the book written by Laurie Penman to be easy to read and very understandable. In Clock Making and Design, he get right into the math behing pivot sizes, spring rates, and a whole pile of other things that have been found out to be a requirement for a clock that runs well without wrecking itself. Worth a read from the library, in any case.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Thanks for the recommendation!

Chris

Interesting. I did a search on clock lubrication and found a site which recommends this, and another which says it's bad because it stains the case. Anyhow, I can't do it. The case of my clock is too small to fit a dish inside.

Thanks for all the help.

Best wishes,

Chris

I have read part of a study that debuncked that particular method of "lubrication". The findings over a period of several years showed that the dish of kerosene did nothing but make the clock smell. The guy's findings were that under identical conditions, the clocks subject to the kerosene without regular lubricant stopped after a very short period (months) with advanced wear, and that no difference could be seen when the kerosene was added to a properly lubricated clock, other than the odor.

That came from one of the NAWCC publications IIRC.

Cheers Trevor Jones

Today I had an interesting chat with a local clockmaker who seemed very knowledgeable. He confirmed your advice that oil on the gear teeth is a bad thing. I think I have finally banished the desire to oil the teeth, and will stick to oiling the pivots. Thanks for dissuading me!

Chris