# Dull Sounding Clock Gong



## Tony1951 (Dec 23, 2011)

Hi,

I wonder if anyone here can help me sort out a very dull sounding gong on a cheap 31 day mantle clock I am trying to refurbish. This is not a prized acquisition, really just for learning on.

The problem I am having is that when the hammers strike this two bar gong a horrible flat sounding note comes from it. One bar is worse than the other, but the best one sounds more like an anvil being hit rather than a chiming sound.

I have looked at the unit out of the clock and the worst bar does not seem as stiff as the better one. I have twanged other gongs out of their clocks and when held against a wooden sounding board, they certainly ring if tapped with a screwdriver - this one doesn't. It just makes a poor sort of 'clang' sound.

The bars are pressed into the iron base unit, and I have lightly hammered the button type ends to drive them hard into the iron holder, but this hasn't made any difference. I did't want to hit them hard. They look like they are made of brass or bronze.

Is there anything to be done, or do I need to look for a new one - hardly worthwhile as the clock only cost a tenner at a charity shop.

Many thanks for you thoughts

Tony.


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

You've done all the things I would have done, but I would also take a good loupe/glass and visually check the whole bar to see if there's any kind of fracture anywhere, this would be detrimental to a clear sound.

But I don't know of a reapir technique if you fins a crak or fra cture!


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## Tony1951 (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks Mel. I'll take it out and have another look at it.

One thing though, I had another hammer at the ends of the rods which are pressed into the iron mounting plate. I used a larger hammer and they do sound better. There is also an issue with a weak hammer spring though and now the darned thing has stopped running. There seems to be some kind of obstruction in the gearing. It is in beat, it is wound sufficiently, I have oiled the pivots. It runs for an hour fine, then it stops and if I swing the pendulum, the escape wheel doesn't want to go. The anchor just oscillates on the wheel with the wheel moving slightly back and forth. If I then apply gentle radial pressure on one of the wheels in the middle of the going train, as if my finger was the spring, the clock will work its way over the problem and free up again and after a minute or two of this, it will run again on its own. Until the next time.

I am going to go over it with a loup and see if there is something stuck in one of the wheels, or something out of true in the arbor department. I'm not really up for fully dismantling this clock (which I know is the answer) mainly because these 31 day Koreans have massive springs and no spring barrel. If I remove a plate, I will have an eleven foot long, razor sharp steel snake slashing me to bits...... Well, maybe exaggerated, but I've read that some repair men won't work on them for this reason. They can be managed by people with skill and tools, but not by me at this stage.

This means that if anything is going to be done, it will be limited.

I've already rinsed it in petrol and dried and oiled the pivots. It wouldn't run at all before that. I know this is horological sacrilege - but ... needs must when you're in my position.

PS - I don't think the stopping is down to the strike train, and it isn't about the hands. The stop can happen at random points on the minute hand's journey and it happens whether or not the hands are on the movement.


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## Tony1951 (Dec 23, 2011)

Scrub the last line in my last post. I think it was the hands. They certainly weren't touching at the tips, which I have seen before, but when I took them off and reset them again, it seems to have sorted itself out and has run for about two and a half hours and more strongly than before. Maybe they were fouling up near the centre. Sorry for the misinformation.

I've done away with the duff gong and fitted a small bell which rings out the hours and the half hour rather nicely. This isn't any kind of a valuable or interesting clock, just a rather ugly 1960s 1970s 31 day, so I haven't ruined anything good. The gong was hopeless anyway.


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