Member postings for Stephen Benson

From reading some of the posts lately it seems to me that subscribers effectively join a club so MEW is the club magazine which is also sold in the newsagents and we must lower our expectations accordingly.

Even when I was a subscriber I did not realise this so all I can do now is apologise.

I thought this issue was tailor made for me when I read the contents on here but  I was very disappointed very simplistic. The coordinate drilling did not mention toolmakers buttons as I was expecting but went on about reading standard dials and the 9+ pages of Chesters Generic Chinese tools just made it worst.

The only thing that was not simplistic was the milling for absolute beginners which contained no pictures or diagrams at all, I liked the nice picture of a clock on the front cover.

Edited By Stephen Benson on 05/09/2013 19:42:14

You are right of course times are a changing hobby magazines were once the main providers of expertise, suppliers and news but not any more. Information is now given freely because information and expertise is the new currency on the Internet , your online personality/ credibility are very important much more so than the measly payment and the ephemeral nature of a magazine article.

So magazine owners need to create a space for this information exchange not as an aside but as the main feature then they will be able to cash in as F/B Google and others have done. They do have an advantage they should make their back catalogue available at a modest cost and let us purchase high quality print out of the articles we need when we need them.

Ooh I thought this thread would be about the latest MEW it reads more like a trade publication from Chesters with a few articles tagged in to pad it out that was the last straw for me never again

Another vote for CTC Tools very good quality excellent price certianly good enough for clock repair they take a while to arrive a couple of weeks normally but then they are coming from Hong Kong.

Yes the whole digital thing could of been brilliant and a joy to use but its all gone for a burton I will not be renewing anytime soon.

I have been drawing parts for my clock on Turbocad and printing them on my printer gluing them to brass and steel with great success. My Epson printer seems to hold a 0.1mm tolerance putting dots in the holes centres means I can use my optical centre punch to do the holes taking a lot of the boring work out out of the job, in fact I am quite in enjoying myself which is of course the point.

Steve

Like you I made my clock from the red book bought on ebay for a song, however I bought the latest book from Ian T Cobb which includes the additional info infact he has made the clock much simpler to make although basic time piece is pretty simple to start with it certainly makes a good first clock and the additional stuff make it very interesting for the more experienced.

Steve

Edited By Stephen Benson on 01/08/2013 19:35:18

On the John Wilding 8 Day Wall Clock design you can adjust the Anchor/Recoil escapement height while it is running and it very satisfying to see the action getting better and better as you turn it.

Steve

Edited By Stephen Benson on 01/08/2013 10:59:03

Yep Sorry got my passes mixed up it is the Horse Shoe pass however the Llanberris pass is one of my favourites and depending on which way you are going not that far away.

At the top of the Horseshoe Pass is the Ponderosa Cafe its car park is normally full of motorcycles if you like that sort of thing.

Steve

Llangollen is not very far away and they steam loco's and nice canal boat trips, next door to the Snake pass might be worth a look.

Steve

The WIlding regulator has a dead beat escapement and you really need to understand the action to make a good job as they need four faces to be perfectly aligned to work well.

The Wilding 8 Day Wall clock has recoil escapement which only works on two faces it is very tolerant of errors and as it is weight driven it will keep time to 30 seconds a week or better if you add a simple maintaining power mechanism.

Both will go into a long case but Wilding has updated the recoil 8 day wall clock to make it even more interesting with an amazing perpetual calendar and a normal one also a very interesting striking mechanism using the single 10 pound weight plenty to keep the average model maker or clock maker happy with all most no repetition.

I think you can guess which one I am doing.

Steve

Edited By Stephen Benson on 31/07/2013 18:20:52

In answer to your first question you are quite correct they should not be used to drive a gear and they do give less friction in fact a 8 pin lantern has about the same friction and 10 tooth solid pinion. However most Horologists agree including John Wilding that it is perfectly OK to use a lantern pinion to drive the hour wheel in the motion work, this is what I have done to good success on my clocks I would post a picture but they make it so difficult on this forum to post pictures that I do not bother any more.

Roy has answered your second question perfectly

Hi Russell,

I like lantern pinions they are just as good as solid pinions and they are much easier to make, I use them in all my clocks with normal horological tooth form.

Steve

I am a Mechanical Engineer and now a Clockmaker making my first clock I used my Downham Jig Borer, Cowells Lathe and made everything to very close tolerances so my clock had no chance of running properly or in fact at all.

When asked I always say never get a engineer to repair your clock as they will be horrified by the fit of pinions in the holes etc etc and they will want to "improve it" you have to repair a lot of clocks before you get a feel for what is important but there is a saying in the Clock trade if it rattles it will run.

Best of luck with your improved clock I am sure you will learn a lot..

Edited By Stephen Benson on 29/07/2013 13:39:10

Hi Russel, your mods sound OK I would only add that I would guess that you would want your clock to be running long after you are gone so please think of future repairers. I often get to repair Longcase clocks that are 200- 300 years old and they can be kept running indefinitely, will a repairer be able to find the right ball bearings in 300 years?

There is a lot more skill involved using traditional methods but there will always be people able to repair your clock.

Steve

Well it all depends on depth of cut if you take fine cuts it requires very little effort, you could also extend the lever but I doubt you would need to certianly a rather small 9 year old boy had no problem using the adept, I had the Cowells and Perfecto shapers these are larger hand powered shapers but no more difficult use in fact I would say the larger hand powered shapers are easier as they have auto feed.

See the www.lathes.co.uk for more details on shapers

Edited By Stephen Benson on 17/06/2013 22:45:21

I like shaping machines when you get the swarf peeling off just so they are a joy to use, I have only tried the hand operated ones as they are great for introducing youngsters to engineering projects I normally start them off with toolmakers clamp.

We foster children so I have introduced many young people to the shaper this

Lad using my small Adept no 1 is only 9 so I was very interested the new series in ME but was a bit bemused to have to wade through lot of stuff about the new editor and then a whole section making spinning chuck which needed a few more pictures I felt as I could not visualise it myself.

But I am looking forward to the Drummond restoration and to see what else he has to say.

Edited By Stephen Benson on 17/06/2013 20:36:43

Edited By Stephen Benson on 17/06/2013 20:37:44

Edited By John Stevenson on 19/07/2013 00:08:09

I am a clock repairer and I have worn varifocals for a while and they work great with a optivisor for close work

I would also recommend building a clock then you can leave behind something that is also useful and beautiful, but I would avoid weight driven clocks unless you have a talent for woodwork. A spring driven clock can be placed anywhere and can be covered by a easily bought glass dome.

For a first clock before you build a family heirloom I would suggest the following

"Building an American Clock Movement by Steven G. Conover"

It was written quite recently so does not expect you build everything on lathe and includes a clock wheel making jig as a bonus.