barrywatch

Hi I am thinking about the purchase of a second hand watchmakers lathe, not new but a good s/h machine. It is a relatively expensive bit of kit with ongoing expenses of collets and accessories. Good old Ebay has a few base machines but accessories can be expensive so the price goes up. I have found a boxed Pultra 10 with a few collects and other bits from a dealer of machines but at €675 I am wondering if I would find it difficult to pick up being able to be productive. Primarily my interest is pocket watches and clocks so would use it for staffs and pivots. I am struggling to justify in my mind that kind of expense although I would love to be able to fix some of the many broken watches that I have. Anybody been through the same dilemma and come out the other side. I already have and use a full size lathe for general jobbing work mostly on my other hobby classic cars. Barry

Hi What is the point of a tachymetre and who ever uses it to measure speed. Barry

Hurry before brexit Barry

Hi That may be a Supadrive head, which is a modified posidrive. Barry

Hi Did you notice crossed arrows on th movement? It looks very much like HAC ( Hamburg America Clock) from Germany. I think they were bought out by Junghans Barry

Hi Steve That's very nice, good find. Is it working? Barry

Hi Could be a cylinder escapement. Barry

Hi I use Flickr it seems ok, but there are many out there for free. Barry

Hi Mike It's well worth a practice first before tackling that rare clock dial. Start with a less expensive dial and as Tourbillon says take time and keep it clean. Barry

Hi That is outstanding, Couaillet Freres were a top carriage clock maker well sought after. No the round one is not a fusee. Your clock puts mine to shame, here's a couple. Barry

Hi Yes it is amazing how accurate they are, once regulated they perform within seconds per week. Here are some of my clocks. Brocantes here are great for picking up clocks for restoration. I am also interested in brass carriage clocks which I also collect. Barry

Hi That is lovely, I guess it would have been new in 1892. Have you taken it apart or is that as found. Many small clockmakers made clocks in the country and I guess many of them never signed their work not knowing that 125 years later someone might be interested. I do like painted moonface dials. Way back at the end of the 18th century in France a lot of rich nobility would furnish their chateaux with items that were intended to impress their friends so that might have been how it arrived from London. I found it languishing in a brocante near Bordeaux. The French tend to go for the balloon type highly decorated Comtois clock rather than the straight lace British grandfather so I was able to negotiate a reasonable price together with the fact it was not in working order. I am lucky that both the dial and the movement are signed. Are you a clock collector? Barry

Hi Many thanks for the compliment. I do not know about the pediment, but there is nothing to indicate that it is not original. The movement is engraved J.W.Benson, Ludgate Hill, London. Serial number is 10277. It is great working on these old movement such care taken in the manufacture, it still keeps perfect time after all these years. After strip, clean and oil the only thing I needed to replace were the gut weight lines, I think it was neccessary, the strike weight is 11Kgs The dials were re-waxed and silvered. Here are a couple of pictures of the movement. Barry Hi Oh yes I forgot, I had to make a new pendulum suspension as well. Barry

Hi Just finished restoring a J. W.Benson of London grandfather clock. The movement was in bad condition when I bought it and the case was in need of TLC. I am now very happy and it gives a nice satifying tic/toc with a chime on the hour. I guess it is late 19C although it is difficult to date as Benson did not make too may grandfathers concentrating on watches and mantle clocks. Barry

Hi Looks very much like an old Jappy Freres movement. Barry