Thread: First time Clock build

Hi Dez Built. By the silence since your post, your question may have been too open. I can’t help much either, but if you are going to the trouble of making a grandfather clock, I would advise that you don’t bother with a quartz (battery operated) movement. When I made mine I bought a Hermle Werk 3 weight with a Westminster chime and it hasn’t missed a beat in 8 years. You can get a plain pendulum or the more fancy Lyre pendulum and you can also get a moving moon dial. Good luck.

Sorry Dez, I have not logged in for a few weeks and so have not seen your post until now.

I think it might be best to work out what type of movement you want and then buy the plan to fit the movement. Nothing worse than putting hundreds of hours into the case and then finding that the movement you have picked won't fit the case! The movement you pick will probably be at least partially determined by the cost. The more features, the greater the cost. Generally most Grandfather movements have three weights and a pendulum about 1 metre long (114 cm or there abouts)

After that, you can choose for the weights to be hanging on cables with pulleys and you wind the weights up with a crank (key) through holes in the dial or the weights can be hanging on chains, where you wind them by pulling the chain. The better (more expensive) movements tend to have cables and pulleys.

Some movements give you only a single chime, usually "Westminster", and more expensive movements will often give you a choice of two or three chimes to choose from, usually "Westminster", "Whittington" and/or St Michael's. (The CHIME is the tune that the clock plays on the hour and parts thereof on the 1/4, 1/2. and 3/4 hours. The STRIKE is when the clock gongs out the number of gongs corresponding to the hour. eg at 6 o'clock, the clock will CHIME a tune and then STRIKE 6 gongs)

Some clocks will give you a choice of a "MOON DIAL", for extra money. The Moon Dial sits above the clock face and slowly rotates over a month, showing the phase of the moon for that particular day of the month.

Where abouts in Queensland are you? There is a clock shop called "Black Forest Hill" about 20 minutes north of Toowoomba. I have never been there myself, but their internet site indicates that it might be a good place to look to get ideas about what you might want.

There is a company called CMI (The Clock Movement Importers) who sell movements, plans and kits. Check out this. They have a list of clock plans and a list of movements and they tell you what movement goes with what case.

All the best. Let us know how you get along.

Walesey

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