Cleaning and Restoration

Let me start out by noting that I only work on clocks that I sell to you or have sold to you in the past. My reason is pretty simple: My clocks run when people receive them. That is what they pay for. There are a lot of folk selling clocks, and hey, some of them sell great clocks. But, in my experience, most of them do not know how to repair a Vienna Regulator mechanism. So they sell the clock and a month, or 6 months, or a year later it won't run. And their customers come to me. If I make a business of repairing clocks sold by others I am helping out my competitors. While I do all that I can to provide my techniques free of charge (check out the Technical section of this site) I do not want to support folk who sell clocks that are in poor or worse condition. If people want clocks that will run they probably should consider buying from a dealer who has personally worked on 300 or 400 Vienna Regulators - many of them long duration pieces. Someone who publishes articles on the techniques appropriate for these wonderful clocks. The other reason I do not want to work on clocks sold by others is because all to often someone has tried to repair them - which is truly bad news for these clocks. Check out this gallery to better understand the mess that results from an incompetent repair person working on a month runner: A Classic Bodge Job Below you will find a description of the convervation and restoration work that I perform on the clocks that I sell. CLEANING, RESTORATION & CONSERVATION “Restorers today should view themselves as paleontologists, wielding their brushes of discovery delicately as they decide how to sympathetically freshen a clock with a light cosmetic and mechanical visitation.” Finial Restorations. Follow this link to more information about finial restorations: Finials Restorations Dial Restoration. Follow this link to more information about dial restorations: Dial Restorations Many of the clocks on this site are in "as found" condition. This is the best of all worlds for some buyers--it gives them total control in the cleaning and restoration of the piece. For others, the thought of spending a significant amount of money only to receive a clock that still needs to be cleaned and polished is a bit daunting. SNClocks is unique in that we provide whatever level of conservation and restoration you feel is appropriate for the clock you choose to buy. This can range from simply cleaning the mechanism to cleaning and polishing the case, or, if needed, repair and/or replacement of missing (or damaged) case parts, such as finials, trim, or headpieces. Given a choice, we opt for a minimalist’s refurbishment rather than an invasive restoration. A preserved clock offers an insight into horological history: This historical perspective is often no longer available after a piece has been restored. A quest for perfection can lead to a sanitizing effect that destroys any sense of history. Needless to say, making replacement case parts is not something that we offer lightly - and is not a trivial undertaking. None the less, the reality of pieces that have already seen 100 to 200 years of life often includes damaged or missing pieces. Making a replacement piece of trim involves quite a number of steps, all focused on making the replacement part match the original case in style, color, patina, finish, in short, to make it truly indistinguishable from an original part. Often this is a ten, fifteen, or more step process, involving carving, lathe work, shaping, staining, sanding (lots of sanding) graining, glazing, finishing (at least 5, often more coats), rubbing out the finish, and finally waxing with an appropriate wax. The result of this work has often quite surprised my customers. One gentleman’s comment on a replacement finial: “Received the finial yesterday, and it was worth the wait. You did a beautiful job! What is your secret to such a perfect color match and fine finish?? Many thanks”. Others, when receiving pieces I have restored, have arranged to come to Washingtonto spend time in my shop, learning the techniques necessary to accurately reproduce the necessary parts for their clocks. MECHANISMS Mechanism restoration includes a complete disassembly of the mechanism, followed by a detailed review of all parts. Mechanisms that I restore are returned to as good or better mechanical condition than when they were first made. My restorations includes stoning and burnishing pivots, polishing the plates, restoring pallet faces, and replacing the suspension cord with a synthetic woven cord. At one time I offered to replace weight chords with gut, but the materials today do not meet my standards. In as much as the weight line is an expendable part of the mechanism, replacing it with a chord that will not fail is by far preferred to using an authentic chord that may well fail, thereby doing structural damage to the case. Follow the link to "Mechanisms" at the top of this page to see detailed examples of the work I do on Vienna Regulator mechanisms. CASES Every clock sold on the SNClocks website has had any loose case-joints or trim reglued in such a way that there is no sign of previous chalenges. We offer to do additional case work including cleaning, polishing with a soft polishing compound, and finally a waxing with an English-made wax from the Liberon company. Finials, Head and Tail Pieces - When necessary we can make replacement bits that are appropriate in shape, coloration and patina. We can discuss charges for these services as appropriate - though, as with cleaning mechanisms, we do not offer this service for clocks we did not sell. Sometimes it is quite amazing how a clock “comes to life” when the layers of grime are carefully stripped away. We must all realize that many of these clocks lived their early lives in homes heated with coal. In fact, upper-class homes often had lovely porcelain-tiled heaters in several rooms of the house. Did I mention these were coal fired? The good news is that the resultant grime is apparently an excellent preservative. In fact, areas coated with coal tars and dust are often the nicest sections of a case. Recently I had an inquiry on a clock, looked at the web page to see what it looked like, and looked for it in my inventory. When I didn’t find one that looked like the shot on the web I had to go figure out if I had already sold the clock. Turns out I had managed to clean the case, but not update the pictures on the web. I didn’t recognize the piece – the colors were that changed. This is why I decided it was important to include a before and after shot of the headpiece of this particular clock. The clock was originally quite attractive, with a subdued, walnut hue. After cleaning, not only removing a layer of grime reveal the beauty of the wood, it also exposed a fantastically preserved finish. That is one of the advantages of the products we use to clean cases – the products we use will not harm the original shellac. In fact, the cleaning compound can best be thought of as a continuation or the French Polishing technique used to originally apply finish. No, we do not apply additional shellac, but we do gently clean and polish with the same materials used originally to smooth out the finishes. WALL STABILIZERS Some of the clocks on my website have replacement wall stabilizers. These are British made and of rather good quality. I will put these on any clock missing same at the buyers request at no charge. These stabilizers are also available for purchase New Wall Stabilizers SERVICES If you are interested in any of these services or other restortion and conservation work for clocks on this site, please give me a call (360-210-7295)) and discuss your thoughts before you purchased a clock. And please realize--quality work takes time. If I commit to working on a piece you receive my personal assurance that the work is done right.