Mechanical Wall Clock Kit WMKIT1

Mechanical Clock Kit Styles Available

Mechanical Clock Kit Styles Available include wall clocks, mantle (shelf) clocks, and floor clocks. Floor models includes the granddaughter, grandmother, and grandfather series. Mechanical Clock Kit Styles are in the list below.

Mantle clocks

Mantle clock kits are always spring driven and wound with a clock key. Moreover, it can come in a variety of chime types. Triple chime, Westminster only, bell strike, bim bam or gong strike.

If the clock has three places to wind with the key it is a quarterly chime unit. This means it is either Triple chime or Westminster only. In other words every 15 minutes it will progressively play part of the song. At the top of the hour it will play the complete song then strike out the hours.

Wall clocks

Wall clock kits may be spring driven or weight driven. There are more spring driven wall clocks in the world than weight driven. The weights are not light and it is a lot for a wall to hold.

So fastening it well is very important. The movement can have a pendulum or no pendulum but of course the pendulum is most popular. When a mechanical clock does not have a pendulum it has a balance wheel instead. This is a floating and rocking wheel on the top of the movement and operates more like a watch balance.

Mechanical Clock Kit Styles - Granddaughter or Grandmother clocks

Typically, granddaughters are spring driven with no weights.

The grandmothers are usually chain driven. The chiming units have three weights. Any other strike style has two weights. It is a shorter clock overall than a grandfather clock.

Grandfather clock kits

Typically cable driven with three weights and triple chimes.

This means the weights will hang on cables instead of chains, and plays choice of three songs. However it is not always triple chime because some are Westminster only. This is the largest and tallest of the floor clocks.

Chime types

All of the above mechanical clock kit styles, in the past, have been made with every chime type. In other words there are all these various ways to make the clock play a song or make a noise.

There is the quarterly sounds that play a tune ever quarter hour, the most common of the songs is Westminster. Or there is the triple chime that includes Westminster, St. Michaels, or Whittington.

As for the other noise makers, we call them strike clocks because they only strike out the hours and usually bong once on the half hour. These include Gong strike (coil gong on the back or below the movement), Bell strike, or Bim Bam (sounds like its name, on two or three strike rods).

Clock kit before building the clock case

It is important to order the clock kit before building the clock case. If the case is built before getting the mechanical clock kit it is possible the kit will not fit.

It may seem counterintuitive, but it is more common than you might think to put a lot of effort into building a luxury case only to realize that the necessary components do not fit inside. To avoid this frustration and potential financial loss, it is advisable to purchase the clock kit first. This will allow you to ensure that all the components fit properly before investing time and resources into the case.

Why order a clock kit before building

To find or adapt a clock kit to the case is very difficult. The ideal dial or other parts may not exist in the size that the case requires.

Moreover, measurements need to be correct for the clock kit to fit into the case.

Always order the Mechanical Clock Kit before building the case. Having the clock kit set up on a stand while working on the case is ideal.

This way it will be easy to measure the various parts of the clock kit such as the pendulum swing and dial. Having the luxury of the components being in the air before you makes it much easier to measure and is a wise decision.

Not all clocks are made

Many sizes of antique clocks dials are not made anymore. Grandfather clocks back in the day had large Clock dials with ships on them.

They most certainly are gorgeous but try to find another one like it. These are no longer available. This is the case with many others as well. This is yet another reason to buy the clock kit before building the case.

If the dial is found, we need to drill winding holes. This way it will have a hole to put the key or crank into. Chain driven clocks are the only style that does not need winding holes in the dial.

Alternate kit component availability

Clockworks offers a large variety of clock movements. However, when it comes to some components resources can get slim. This is why it is important to buy the clock kit before building the case.

Clock dials are the hardest because there are so many shapes, sizes, and options available. Examples include round dials, square, hump top with no moon, and moon dials.

Summary

To sum up this topic on clock kits. It is wise to get the Mechanical Clock Kit before building the clock case. The best thing to do is set up the movement kit in the workshop. This way is easy access to visualize the size prior to installation.

Do not build a beautiful case before buying components for it. Purchasing all of the components first will give you the opportunity to measure them and ensure they will fit in the case. This will help you avoid the disappointment of designing a case that cannot accommodate your components.

Mounting the Gong

Gong-Strike Wall Clock Kit Instructions begins with the gong installation. The coil gong mounts in the back of the clock case first before the movement. The strike hammer is on the back of the movement.

It adjusts with the wire that the hammer head is on. The hammer on the movement gets its final adjustment by bending the wire the hammer is on.

The destination where the hammer should strike is in the center of the round gong, on the flat portion. This is where it should make contact. When the hammer is at rest, it should be about 1/8 inch away from the gong wire.

There needs to be a space between the hammer and the gong wire so the hammer will make a crisp gong sound without double hitting, thudding, or missing the gong completely.

The gong comes with a small metal mounting base. After the base installation, the gong wire is next. The base has a mounting screw that is already in the base's center. Take the screw off the base, put the gong wire on it, then screw it back together.

Before tightening it up too much, position the gong wire to its approximate position and then tighten it. Approximate position because as previously mentioned, the hammer wire on the movement is what will be the final adjustment.

Gong-Strike Wall Clock Kit Instructions - Mounting the Dial

The dial on this kit is a simple white round dial with gold trim and Arabic numerals. We drill the dial for the winding arbor configuration of the movement. This is done so the clock can be wound up with the key.

Attach the dial to a thin board by drilling holes and using some brass finishing nails, or screws, to adhere it to the board. Alternately, epoxy will also work to attach it to the board. Position the dial so the hand shaft itself and the winding posts align with the dial holes.

Gong-Strike Wall Clock Kit Instructions - Installing the Hands

After mounting the dial, it is time to put the hands on the clock. First, install the hour hand. It is a friction fit so twist and push down toward the dial at the same time. The more the hour hand pushes down, the tighter the fit will be because the post is tapers.

Fairly snug but not touching the dial or the minute hand. The hour hand, the dial, and the minute hand should all be parallel with each other. They cannot hit each other during any part of their rotation.

Hands for modern German units have a center mount in the minute hand that rotates. If the clock does not strike exactly on the hour or the quarters like it should, follow the following steps. To correct this issue, take the minute hand off of the clock and turn it over.

With a pair of needle nose pliers, rotate the center mounting bushing a little bit. Hold the minute hand in one hand, the needle nose pliers in the other while grabbing and spinning this center hand bushing.