Hi Paul. Thank you. I'm trying to be more considerate when making these videos. Repositioning the camera and editing takes longer than the actual job in hand. I was pretty please with the result of this video
The thing I would of done different is give the spring a good coat of clock spring grease. Best not to handle with bare fingers as it can hasten corrosion. Use gloves on all cleaned clock parts to prevent the moisture from your fingers getting onto the metal. Sometimes you see corrosion on the minute hands were people touch the hand to adjust the time. Good old butler's and house keepers who were responsible for winding and setting clocks wore cloth gloves.
I'm glad it was of help. I know what you mean. I often find myself trawling through RUclips to find something basic and I'm always so happy when someone has taken the time to make and upload a short film. Johnny
Hi, Thank you for your comment. Being that I am self taught, I think some of my methods arent quite the way things should be done. But, I get there in the end 😄 Johnny
Thank you for the message. I uploaded this because there didn't seem to be anything with enough detail on RUclips showing the whole process. I am glad you found it helpful
Great video thanks. I have been watching the Open Clock Club weekly videos and their comments and observations are very useful. What they say about springs particularly the big powerful ones in English Chiming Clock is to wear leather gloves as you mentioned and eye protection. If the old spring breaks which has happened to me it can blind you if you are really unlucky. And too they emphase cleaning off the factory anti-rust white spirit dry off clean and lubricate with chosen lubricant. I use dead modern MultiLube (spelling?) which contains Polly somethings non-stick, I did a video: Striking Clock 92 pt 3 inspecting, cleaning, new mainspring: which is not as clear as yours but a cross reference for info. But great to see your main spring winder. Genius design and great to use - very quick change over and saves a packet of cash. Congratulations.
Hi Spencer, good to hear from you again. As you know, most of what I do is me using my own initiative and a little research. Hopefully people will gain something from the information here and may even develop their own better way of restoring. I think what you and I do is show people that anyone can restore these old clocks and whilst we are not professionals, we do arrive at a satisfactory result in the end. And if we can do it, so can everybody else :-)
Hello Johnny, Excellent video... lots of useful information there for the budding clockmaker. I think I worked it out but it would be great to have a tiny walkthrough your workshop made mainspring winder and its component parts. Thanks for this video... Take care. Paul,,
Hi Paul. Thank you I have got a video all about this winder (currently my most viewd upload ) I want to make another video of me making one of these along with a few modifications I have in mind
I inherited a Kundo electric 400 day clock from my late mother. She bought it in de early seventies. The clock has been idle for over 50 years. I took it apart and cleaned all the wheels, the pivots and both plates in the ultrasonic cleaner and put it back together. I did not oil the clock because I am not sure if that is necessary and I do not have the right oil for it anyway. Anyhow, now the clock runs for about two days, then it suddenly stops running for no obvious reason. This clock has a small electric motor that winds a tiny mainspring at regular intervals. The mainspring barrel is made of some type of plastic, like nylon. I suspect the main spring may have lost its power over the decades. I have been searching for a new main spring assembly, but I can't find one.
My first thought is that it will need a light oiling. otherwise you'll have metal to metal rubbing together. I'd do that before changing the spring. If you do need a spring, go to cousinsuk.com there you will find everything you need. Good luck
This video has really helped me. I'm restoring a French movement at the moment with a spring similar to the one you are using. I have two questions. I didn't see you oil the spring. Was that something you did off camera? The other thing is, I didn't see how you measured the length of the spring. Did you simply stretch it out over a table and put a ruler over it, or did you use Daniel's formula?
Hi, I did oil the spring off camera by simply wiping some oil along the length of the spring with a little leather offcut I keep. Although any lint free rag or tissue will do. To measure the length, I did stretch it out on my desk as thats the only way I am confident of. Johnny
Thanks for a great video. You are helping me learn about mainsprings which I appreciate. I like your mainspring winder. Did you come up with it yourself or find instructions online?
Hi Jim Thank you for your comment. I came up with the idea by seeing what others have made and then adding my own features. I have recently uploaded a video where I made an even better winder complete with all the instructions on how to build one yourself. Its a pretty easy one to build and you dont need any special tools. Johnny
Hi Johnny, Many thanks for the interesting and useful video. I need a mainspring with the dimensions of 17x0.3x38 mm, but the Cousins supplies 17 x 0.30 x 1250 x 30mm and 17 x 0.35 x 1400 x 35mm, which one would you think be better to choose? Thanks, Touraj
Hi James and thanks for watching. Unfortunately I am pretty much self taught and as yet I havent advanced to any form of gear work. Its way above my technical abilities at the moment
I have a clock with a broken mainspring on the strike side. Should i also replace the spring on the time side or if it looks fine put it back in and keep using it?
Hi, I don't always change my springs because I just enjoy taking the clocks apart and putting them back together in the same day. In reality, they are so cheap, I would say if you don't know how old the spring is, its best to change it as youve done most of the work getting up to that stage. Especially if you are going to keep the clock.
Awesome stuff!!! Question...I have an old Japanese movement that doesn't have barrels around the springs (one of which has "sproinged")!!?? Do you have any advice on how to deal with them?? Or...maybe I should just "blow it up" and get a better movement???🤣
A lot of the American clocks dont have barrels either. There is a cheap clock spring winder which I have bought. heres a link on Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/Jewellers-Tools-mainspring-winder-clockmakers/dp/B017MRBPIY/ref=sr_1_13?crid=2XRMABPYIMFDT&keywords=clock+spring+winder&qid=1656525159&sprefix=clock+spring+wi%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-13
Interesting video! I have a clock part that looks like that, but it doesn't have a cog - I was wondering if you might me able to have a guess as to what it might be called? I have no idea about clocks, I couldn't find anything on ebay etc which lead me to watching RUclips videos to see if I could ID the part myself, but had no luck here either.
Sounds to me like you have an open spring system. These were quite popular in Smiths and Ansonia clocks. Take a look at this video and see if this is the same thing as you have. Johnny
@@treetopspider Thanks for the reply - the barrel is very similiar to the one in this video but it doesn't have the teeth. The barrel is capped at both ends
@@treetopspider I have no idea, perhaps they're broken parts or the cog is missing from them (if such a thing is possible?!) . I have two that are exactly the same..
@@treetopspider I've found out that it is a mainspring barrel but with the addition of a fusee, which is perhaps why the teeth are not on the barrel its self. I'm glad the mystery has been solved! 😀
Nice job of changing the mainspring. I didn't notice if you cleaned the new mainspring, but do you normally clean the new mainspring and oil it before you install it in the barrel? Thanks
Hi, and thank you. Yhese particular spring come pre oiled and wrapped so there was no need for any additional cleaning. Having said that, some people still like to clean and oil these springs anyway
Thank you for creating and sharing this informative video, your concise explanations and excellent camera work.
Nicely done! Good explanation of how its done and good camera angles showing the inside of the barrel etc. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Paul. Thank you. I'm trying to be more considerate when making these videos. Repositioning the camera and editing takes longer than the actual job in hand. I was pretty please with the result of this video
Very good. I'm restoring an old music box and you helped me a lot with your video, thank you.
Great video. I am a first time clock tinkerer restoring a C1900 cuckoo clock. Your video will help me tackle the mainsprings. Much appreciated
many thanks for your video I gained some confidence from your instruction, its a marvelous spring winder
The thing I would of done different is give the spring a good coat of clock spring grease. Best not to handle with bare fingers as it can hasten corrosion. Use gloves on all cleaned clock parts to prevent the moisture from your fingers getting onto the metal. Sometimes you see corrosion on the minute hands were people touch the hand to adjust the time. Good old butler's and house keepers who were responsible for winding and setting clocks wore cloth gloves.
I totally agree with you, any clock or watch part shouldnt be touched with bare fingers. I do sometimes get lazy even though to do have finger gloves.
Thank you I really needed to see how to open a new spring. It may seem basic but most videos only show how to put old ones back on.
I'm glad it was of help. I know what you mean. I often find myself trawling through RUclips to find something basic and I'm always so happy when someone has taken the time to make and upload a short film.
Johnny
Really nice video, it's very interesting seeing how other clock repairers do things.
Hi,
Thank you for your comment.
Being that I am self taught, I think some of my methods arent quite the way things should be done. But, I get there in the end 😄
Johnny
This is great - thanks for sharing. One more bit of information that I've been missing has been missing is now complete 😁
My reason for making this video was because I couldn't find anything out there which offered this information.
I'm glad you found it helpful.
Johnny
Thank you, just what i needed, had a spring fail catastrophically 2 days ago. Havent dared to survey the damage yet.
Thank you for the message. I uploaded this because there didn't seem to be anything with enough detail on RUclips showing the whole process. I am glad you found it helpful
Thank you for taking the time posting this valuable information! 👍
I am happy you found it helpful
Thankyou for such a good demo of spring replacement.
Hi James
Thank you for taking the time to leave a nice comment. It makes me happy when I know someone has found my videos interesting.
Johnny
Great video thanks. I have been watching the Open Clock Club weekly videos and their comments and observations are very useful. What they say about springs particularly the big powerful ones in English Chiming Clock is to wear leather gloves as you mentioned and eye protection. If the old spring breaks which has happened to me it can blind you if you are really unlucky. And too they emphase cleaning off the factory anti-rust white spirit dry off clean and lubricate with chosen lubricant. I use dead modern MultiLube (spelling?) which contains Polly somethings non-stick, I did a video: Striking Clock 92 pt 3 inspecting, cleaning, new mainspring: which is not as clear as yours but a cross reference for info. But great to see your main spring winder. Genius design and great to use - very quick change over and saves a packet of cash. Congratulations.
Sorry its SuperLube not MultiLube as said
Hi Spencer, good to hear from you again. As you know, most of what I do is me using my own initiative and a little research. Hopefully people will gain something from the information here and may even develop their own better way of restoring. I think what you and I do is show people that anyone can restore these old clocks and whilst we are not professionals, we do arrive at a satisfactory result in the end. And if we can do it, so can everybody else :-)
@@treetopspider *
Hello Johnny,
Excellent video... lots of useful information there for the budding clockmaker. I think I worked it out but it would be great to have a tiny walkthrough your workshop made mainspring winder and its component parts. Thanks for this video...
Take care.
Paul,,
Hi Paul. Thank you I have got a video all about this winder (currently my most viewd upload ) I want to make another video of me making one of these along with a few modifications I have in mind
I inherited a Kundo electric 400 day clock from my late mother. She bought it in de early seventies. The clock has been idle for over 50 years. I took it apart and cleaned all the wheels, the pivots and both plates in the ultrasonic cleaner and put it back together. I did not oil the clock because I am not sure if that is necessary and I do not have the right oil for it anyway. Anyhow, now the clock runs for about two days, then it suddenly stops running for no obvious reason. This clock has a small electric motor that winds a tiny mainspring at regular intervals. The mainspring barrel is made of some type of plastic, like nylon. I suspect the main spring may have lost its power over the decades. I have been searching for a new main spring assembly, but I can't find one.
My first thought is that it will need a light oiling. otherwise you'll have metal to metal rubbing together. I'd do that before changing the spring.
If you do need a spring, go to cousinsuk.com
there you will find everything you need.
Good luck
You’re the best,!
Hahah thank you
thank you, I guess i'll have to build something like your machine... greetings from argentina.
Its really not that hard. Ive got a video on my channel detailing all the measurements and build method
Great video fastenateing thank you!!!
This video has really helped me. I'm restoring a French movement at the moment with a spring similar to the one you are using. I have two questions. I didn't see you oil the spring. Was that something you did off camera? The other thing is, I didn't see how you measured the length of the spring. Did you simply stretch it out over a table and put a ruler over it, or did you use Daniel's formula?
Hi, I did oil the spring off camera by simply wiping some oil along the length of the spring with a little leather offcut I keep. Although any lint free rag or tissue will do.
To measure the length, I did stretch it out on my desk as thats the only way I am confident of.
Johnny
muchas gracias por el video.
fantastico el invento para los muelles
Gracias por tu lindo comentario. Espero poder hacer un video de cómo hacer una bobinadora como esta pronto.
Thank you for that excellent video. How would I do the on a Sessions mantel clock, please?
Ooh I don't know, I've never worked on one of those
Thanks for a great video. You are helping me learn about mainsprings which I appreciate. I like your mainspring winder. Did you come up with it yourself or find instructions online?
Hi Jim
Thank you for your comment.
I came up with the idea by seeing what others have made and then adding my own features. I have recently uploaded a video where I made an even better winder complete with all the instructions on how to build one yourself. Its a pretty easy one to build and you dont need any special tools.
Johnny
Hi Johnny,
Many thanks for the interesting and useful video. I need a mainspring with the dimensions of 17x0.3x38 mm, but the Cousins supplies 17 x 0.30 x 1250 x 30mm and 17 x 0.35 x 1400 x 35mm, which one would you think be better to choose?
Thanks,
Touraj
Nice job But you definitely need to secure that spring winder to the table.
Good day
Im designing a new clock
Would you share a word how to measure gears
Id very much appreciate it
Thanks for the video
Hi James and thanks for watching.
Unfortunately I am pretty much self taught and as yet I havent advanced to any form of gear work. Its way above my technical abilities at the moment
Is the striking spring a different gauge on French clocks like this one?
I have a clock with a broken mainspring on the strike side. Should i also replace the spring on the time side or if it looks fine put it back in and keep using it?
Hi, I don't always change my springs because I just enjoy taking the clocks apart and putting them back together in the same day. In reality, they are so cheap, I would say if you don't know how old the spring is, its best to change it as youve done most of the work getting up to that stage. Especially if you are going to keep the clock.
Awesome stuff!!! Question...I have an old Japanese movement that doesn't have barrels around the springs (one of which has "sproinged")!!?? Do you have any advice on how to deal with them?? Or...maybe I should just "blow it up" and get a better movement???🤣
A lot of the American clocks dont have barrels either. There is a cheap clock spring winder which I have bought. heres a link on Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/Jewellers-Tools-mainspring-winder-clockmakers/dp/B017MRBPIY/ref=sr_1_13?crid=2XRMABPYIMFDT&keywords=clock+spring+winder&qid=1656525159&sprefix=clock+spring+wi%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-13
@@treetopspider yikes!! those are dangerous.
The spring seems a bit too long......is this an 8 day clock where the barrel makes one revolution per day? What is the diameter of the arbor?
I measured the old one and bought like for like. It could be that the old spring was the wrong one to begin with but yes, it is an 8 day clock.
Johnny
Interesting video! I have a clock part that looks like that, but it doesn't have a cog - I was wondering if you might me able to have a guess as to what it might be called? I have no idea about clocks, I couldn't find anything on ebay etc which lead me to watching RUclips videos to see if I could ID the part myself, but had no luck here either.
Sounds to me like you have an open spring system. These were quite popular in Smiths and Ansonia clocks. Take a look at this video and see if this is the same thing as you have.
Johnny
@@treetopspider Thanks for the reply - the barrel is very similiar to the one in this video but it doesn't have the teeth. The barrel is capped at both ends
@@hellooohowareudoing Oh! I havent come across that before. I wonder how it works?
@@treetopspider I have no idea, perhaps they're broken parts or the cog is missing from them (if such a thing is possible?!) . I have two that are exactly the same..
@@treetopspider I've found out that it is a mainspring barrel but with the addition of a fusee, which is perhaps why the teeth are not on the barrel its self. I'm glad the mystery has been solved! 😀
Do you lubricator the spring or does it come pre-lubricated?
These particular springs are a brand named Trifix which came pre lubricated
Nice job of changing the mainspring. I didn't notice if you cleaned the new mainspring, but do you normally clean the new mainspring and oil it before you install it in the barrel?
Thanks
Hi, and thank you. Yhese particular spring come pre oiled and wrapped so there was no need for any additional cleaning. Having said that, some people still like to clean and oil these springs anyway
I did not see how you measured the length of the old spring?
Sorry, I should have filmed myself doing that. I simply stretched out the spring over a meter ruler on the table and took my measurements from that