Welcome to my blog which follows my furniture restoration business. Please feel free to comment at the bottom of the post, and if you would like a response please leave your email address. you can also contact me directly at info@johnmarkpower.com. And by all means, if you like something please feel free to share it.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

New Haven No. 1 Movement Walnut Regulator Clock (ca. 1885)

Recently , I received a regulator clock made by the New Haven Clock Company.To read a little about the history of the New Haven Clock Company, you can follow this link:Link
http://www.clockguy.com/SiteRelated/SiteReferencePages/NewHavenClockCoHistory.html

Judging by the overall style of the clock I dated it to be from around 1885. The clock has a Pine case with a Walnut turned frame surrounding the clock face. The Pine portions of the clock had been stained to match the natural color of the Walnut frame.It was evident that the clock had been refinished at some point in the past, and that the existing finish on the clock could be restored. the following photos show the restoration of the finish as well as the repairs made to the clock.

Here is a photo of the clock as it came to me.
On the inside of the lower door which houses the pendulum, I found this label on the reverse side of the glass.
To work on the case of the clock, I needed to remove the face of the clock as well as the works. This gave me the opportunity to take a photo of the works which were in very good condition.
Most of the repairs were made to the turned Walnut frame. this was made up out of six individual pieces of Walnut which were assembled using several lap joints. Once the pieces were fit together, they were turned on a lathe together to produce the molded frame. Several of these lap joints had become unglued over time and were loose. The photos below show the joinery being glued on the frame.

After the repairs were made, the case was cleaned and new finish was applied to the old, bringing out the natural beauty of the wood. Meanwhile, all of the brass parts (excluding the movement) were cleaned. After the case was waxed, the entire clock was reassembled. Below are two photos of the clock during the application of the new finish. These are followed by several photos of the clock after it was completed. The last three photos were taken using the Retrocamera setting on my phone and seemed to be very appropriate for the clock. As for the clock itself, I started the pendulum when I was finished and it seems to keep pretty good time!








1 comment:

  1. Hello. I found a partial case for this exact clock. From research have determined that it's The New Haven Clock co. "No 1" School house long drop regulator. Thanks for the post of the movement as mine does not have that or the round top. Love to restore old clocks and watches. rjstuff4sale@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete