Archive for September, 2009
An 8 day clock requires winding once a week. Eight day cuckoo clocks are a precise timepiece and repairing one requires patience and skill. The 8 day clock has two winding holes, one for the weights and one for the clock movement. An 8 day clock should only be maintained by someone with experience and training. Here some suggestive steps to take to repair 8 day cuckoo clocks.
Step 1 -Disassemble the clock. Examine all contact areas for signs of unusual wear. If a gear is showing signs of friction, that could be the reason for the clock stopping. Friction causes metal fatigue and worn gears do not mesh properly.
Step 2 – Clean the 8 day clock’s clockwork with compressed air. This only needs to be done every 10 years. Dust can cause the gears to stick, and the dust should be removed at least once a decade. Place the compressed air nozzle at least one foot from the gears, as one of the smaller gears could become unbalanced by the force of the air.
Step 3 – Use a magnifying glass and small tweezers to remove stray hairs caught in the gears. Exercise caution when extracting the hairs as too much force could dislodge the gears. Use a soft bristle brush to gently sweep out the clock body.
Step 4 – Check the mainspring to see if it has become detached. A mainspring that is over wound will become detached. Examine the mainspring to see if it has been replaced, as some past repairman could have installed a mainspring that was too large for the clock.
Step 5 -Re-assemble the cuckoo clock. Gently wind the clock about half way. This simple step is regularly overlooked.
Look forward for another “How to” article next Wednesday.
Handcrafted from the Black Forest
The cuckoo clock known today is the most popular form of ornamental clock—one that is decorative as well as functional. When the tiny wood cuckoo emerges to call the hour, two small pipes attached to two miniature bellows make his call. The sets of pipe-and-bellows are mounted on either side of the clock with slots cut through the wood frame opposite the bellow vents to allow the sound to be heard. Inside the clock, a finely made set of brass clockworks controls the time-telling. Two weights shaped like pine cones that dangle from the ends of chains and a pendulum that is tipped with a leaf add to the traditional appearance, although these are only decorative on modern clocks that are spring-driven.
The cuckoo clock is a favorite souvenir of travelers, particularly handcrafted cuckoo clocks from the Black Forest region of Germany. The clock is prized for a number of its features. The outer worked wood case is usually made of beautiful dark wood that is intricately carved with folk and forest scenes. The clock itself is made in the premier clock-and watch-making area of the world. And, finally, there is the cuckoo and its fellows. On the hour (and often the half-and quarter-hour as well), the charming carved bird pops out of a door to sing the hour in a melodic “Coocoo!Coocoo!” call. He is often introduced or followed by a parade of townspeople, forest creatures, or other animals that circle through another door and seem to celebrate the passing of every hour and the timelessness of their carefully crafted clock home.
The cuckoo clock has an impressive parent in the Black Forest clock. The provinces of Baden and Wuirttemburg (now the province of Baden-Wiirttemburg) lie deep in the Black Forest region of Germany. Winters there are long, dark, cold, and characterized by deep snowfalls. With forestry and agriculture limited during this season, a cottage industry in the production of clocks grew in the Black Forest. Glass-making was a traditional craft, and clock-making sprang indirectly from this when, in about 1640, a traveler introduced a simple Bohemian clock operated by three wheels on a train (continuous drive), a verge escapement (the device that allows the train to advance a controlled amount by restraining it with weights), and a foliot (a balance bar). The clock was not ornamented.
The local citizens learned how to copy the clock and make the tools to craft it. They also worked together as a group with specialists in frame-making, manufacturing the clockworks, making and painting dials, brass founding, making chains and gongs, finishing metal parts, and performing many supporting tasks. The clockmaker made his own patterns and styles; parts for his clocks were unique and not interchangeable with other makers. By the late 1700s, the clocks were a profitable export for the region and were sold as far away as Russia.
Affordable Grandfather Clocks
Once upon a time ….. only the “rich and famous” could afford a Grandfather clock. Originally known as “Longcase Clocks”, or “tall-case clocks”, Grandfather Clocks were first produced in 1670. What used to be a popular fixture in the homes of only the upper classes.
Today Grandfather Clocks that are elegantly styled and finely detailed at incredibly low prices. Cherry and oak finish Grandfather clocks with dependable 31 day, key wind movements. Quality craftsmanship, dependable movements and excellent woodworking all combine to create a beautiful Grandfather Clock for you or your loved ones that will last a lifetime.
Eight Day cuckoo clocks
Did you know ?
A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum-driven, that strikes the hours using small bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the Common Cuckoo in addition to striking a wire gong. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call was installed in almost every kind of cuckoo clock since the middle of the eighteenth century and has remained almost without variation until the present.
The design of a cuckoo clock is now conventional. Most are made in the “traditional style” (also known as “carved”) or “chalet” to hang on a wall. There are two kinds of movements: one day cuckoo clocks and eight day cuckoo clocks. Some have musical movements, and play a tune on a Swiss music box after striking the hours and half-hours. The cuckoo clock as we know it today comes from this region located in southwest Germany whose tradition of clock making started in the late seventeenth century. The Black Forest people who created the cuckoo clock industry developed it, and still come up with new designs and technical improvements which have made the cuckoo clock a valued work of art all over the world. The cuckoo clock history is linked to the Black Forest.
Cuckoo Clocks from the Black Forest
How do you spell relief ?
Is it CUCKOO or COO COO or COO KOO or COOCOO ?
America’s love for the black forest cuckoo clock goes back a long way. People have hung Black Forest cuckoo clocks on their walls for years, often as a reminder of their family’s heritage or their travels to Germany, home of the fanciful clocks. Or maybe they just like the unique sound made by the little bird for which the clocks are named, as it pops out to announce the time of day. Whatever the reason, cuckoo clocks have been a popular item since the first one was built by Franz Anton Ketterer in the mid-1700s in Germany.
Cuckoo clocks are from the largest importer and distributor of German Cuckoo Clocks in North America since 1988. Each decorative wall clock is imported from the Black Forest of Germany, and displays outstanding quality, originality and attention to detail. Hand-crafted from Black Forest linden wood, the movements are authentic brass Regula German Movement, and the weights are iron.
Stately Elegance in a Stand-Up Clock
Grandfather clocks are distinguished from other timepieces with a pendulum mechanism in that the pendulum is encased. Antique clocks often featured a 30-hour movement, which required that they be wound once a day. It’s not uncommon for novice collectors to discover an old grandfather clock, wind it, and then believe that the clock is malfunctioning because it stops a day later.
Most new cherry grandfather clocks have been upgraded to an eight-day movement, requiring the owner to wind them once a week. Some have claimed that this type of movement decreases the longevity of the clock’s mechanism, but very little evidence has been presented to support it. In any case, grandfather clocks bring a sense of stately elegance to any room.
Cuckoo Clock Innovation
Beginning in the 17th century, German clockmakers began crafting cuckoo clocks in the Black Forest region. Over time, those clocks began to bear a distinctive resemblance to the exterior of Alpine homes. These chalet cuckoo clocks displayed more innovation as the years passed, but their inner mechanisms have remained stunningly consistent. While wooden gears have largely been replaced with metal and plastic, the design schemes are virtually identical.
If these pendulum clocks haven’t changed much on the inside, their exteriors are now hubs of activity. Some cuckoo clocks feature a tiny man chopping wood with an ax or a group of villagers dancing joyously in a circle. Perhaps most importantly, all of these happenings are timed impeccably to correspond with certain hours of the day. Many clocks feature a light sensor that silences the cuckoo at night.