Old English Longcase Clock

[Bob Tascione]

You're welcome Paul!
Good luck on that auction. Looking forward to more pics...gonna be a beautiful clock!
Enjoy
Bob

[Arutha]

Lost out on the pendulum so bought this one as it was a buy it now

I can play with the bob later once the mech is done, hopefuly its not too big but then I suppose I can always turn the brass cover down.
I have enough lead to be able to cast my own weights once I know what size they need to be, not sure how I am going to make the mould yet but I will worry about that later.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Paul,
Great. Looks like it may work well for you. I don't thing the bob diameter is too large. If you do decide that you would like to buy lead or cast iron weights Cousins has both as well as a lot of other tall case material. Here's a couple of links to the weights.
http://www.cousinsuk.com/catalog/8/2328/1184.aspx

Enjoy,
Bob

[Arutha]

Hi Bob,
having looked at the prices I think I will have a go at casting my own. I have cast my own lead fishing weights in the past so it shouldnt be too difficult. I just need to come up with something to use as a mould, I am not sure what to use yet but it will come to me if I dont think about it. I find that when I dont think about stuff it just comes to me, but then I have always been a bit weird like that

[Bob Tascione]

Wow, you're sure right about that Paul. I thought those prices were per pair not just one weigh and that still sounds a bit high.
Seems like pretty steep prices for a chunk of lead and then shipping on top of that. I don't know what lead is selling for though so maybe the price is warranted. Either way the project would be fun and my guess is you'll save quite a bit too.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Bob

[willofiam]

Hey Paul, I would just be guessing but what if you cut a steel pipe in half the long way and use hose clamps to hold it back together, if you had a threaded end you can use a cap for the bottom. Just thinking. William

[Arutha]

Hi Bob, the pendulum turned up today, the postal company had managed to bend the rod almost 90 degrees but I have strightened it out. I have also ordered the gut line and have almost finished cleaning the mechanism. Will get some pictures posted up of the cleaned mech as soon as it is finished. The dial is going to my artist friend next week, once I have the mech back together I can then start looking for a bell and also what style of hands to make, I have the second hand which I will also post up a picture of for you to have a look at.
I have managed to get some oak veneer and a few lengths of oak to try and make the missing bits of trim. Not looking forward to that part as I have no idea how to form the shape, but I will do it
Paul.

[Bob Tascione]

That's great Paul!
Looking forward to seeing more pics.
Hey you may have missed Williams post which is up the page a couple of posts from this one. Looks like he was posting at about the same time you were putting your last post up.
Enjoy for now,
Bob

[Arutha]

I did miss Williams post!
William, thanks for that idea, I have been talking to a friend of mine who has made weights before using aluminium pipe, he said if I grease the inside of the pipe the lead wont stick to it and will just slide out when it cools as it will contract. I just need to find the right size aluminium tube and figure out how to cap one end, or another thought I had was popping down the auto garage where I used to work and seeing if they had an old piece of exhaust pipe of the right diameter, they could then weld a cap on one end which I could then cut or grind off again once the lead has cooled. A piece of wire coat hanger to make the loop, job done

[willofiam]

Hey Paul, one more idea on the weight, how about doing some research on how it was done around the time your clock was originally made, probably something easy and you may teach us all something. William

[Arutha]

I think back then it was done with cast iron, most longcase clocks have cast iron weights or lead filled tubes like regulator clocks. I am not too worried about the style or look of the weights as this clock is staying in the house once it is done and not many people are going to want to see the weights. I will however swap them for a real pair if I ever come accross some cheap enough

[willofiam]

well Paul if thats the case then just fill a can or a capped pipe with lead shot like Bob used in his video

[Arutha]

I am looking for the cheap / time expenditure happy medium, dont want it to look terrible if someone does want to look into the case, lead painted weights painted black will look just fine for now

[Bob Tascione]

Hi guys,
Sandcasting was used a great deal by past clockmakers. If you want just straight sided weights then you can make a cavity by pushing a bar or piece of sealed pvc pipe into a bucket of simi damp sand (there are special sands used in casting but regular sand should work fine for this) This would leave you with a mold to pour the lead into. Would probably need to remove sand as you work the bar down for something this big or maybe just work sand around a bar that's placed vertically in the bucket and then remove the bar. You could then suspend the wire over the mold and pour the lead around it or make a channel to pour into that would guide the lead into the mold. People even cast solid slugs like this by digging holes in the backyard!
If you wanted something with curves or different shapes then you would need to use a split mold and special sand and possibly a core if you needed empty spaces in the piece. You can probably find some good tutorials on sand casting up on youtube. It's fun to do and good for clocksmiths to know.
Not trying to talk you into doing it this way I just wanted to mention this as learning sand casting can be very helpful when working with old clocks. Also for making tools!
Also a warning and disclaimer here: To anyone who may read this and want to give sand casting a try...hot metals can splash and in some cases molten plumes of metal can shoot out of the crucible and cause severe burns so approach with extreme caution and do some research to learn the hazards of working with molten metals and of course the danger of inhailing the dangerous fumes (especially with lead) these molten metals emit!

Enjoy and please be careful,

Bob

[Arutha]

I remember watching a guy in school doing sand casting, something I will look into in the future I think. Thanks for taking the time to post that up Bob