Pendulum Chime Rod Interference in Grandfather Clock
Daniel Sternberg
the pendulum can't swing without hitting the front chime rod. I can reduce
the original chime block spacer with a thinner one but the chime rods are
already so far back compared to the strike hammers I don't think I could
bend the hammers (8) without getting their banging into one another. The
chime rod block is also new and when I took the old one off the support on
the back board I expected I would only find the four holes from the old
mounting screws. Although the clock was new when I bought it in 1983 I
found so many holes I realized I wasn't sure which holes to use. I have
found I can reduce the pendulum problem by "rotating" the rod block using
different holes but I don't know how the strike and chime rods are supposed
to be angled. I would like to move the pendulum forward to clear the rods
but don't know if I can bend the Pendulum Leader to do this. The set screws
including the Suspension Spring screws don't seem to allow moving the
pendulum leader forward. I am baffled and don't want to bend and twist the
hammers and mess up the leaf springs.
Thanks in advance,
Dan Sternberg dpste...@comcast.net
Frank Adam
Do not try to move the pendulum forward by bending the crutch rod. It
will not work as if you took a closer look, the pendulum is free
hanging on a suspension spring and merely travels through the crutch,
but it is not supposed to rub against it. Bending the suspension
hanger itself is asking for trouble. They are not made to be bent and
you'll run the risk of snapping it.
As a matter of fact, some movements do come with 2 or 3 predrilled
holes for this purpose. Do have a look ,if you're lucky you may be
able to just shift the suspension spring over to another notch.
If that is not an option, then move the chime rods instead. It doesn't
really matter if they are on an angle as long as you can bend the
hammers to reach the rods. This is done by bending each hammer rod to
meet it's chime rod. A bit of stuffing about, but it's quite common,
that after a service the refitting process involves bending the
hammers, so this is not an evil thing to do. :-)
When you say worried about the leafs..you will not be bending anywhere
near them. You bend the upright portion of the hammer rod.
Before you do any of that though, make sure the movement is as far
forward as possible. Obviously the door nedds to be closable.
Your primary aim is not to make the hammers strike the right chime
rods, but for the pendulum to clear those rods. Once that is done, you
can just bend the hammers back towards the chimes, until they reach.
ps: Do not ever bend the chime rods !
--
Regards, Frank