Troubleshooting
Sometimes a mechanism just doesn't want to run or strike correctly - despite pretty much everything looking like it should want to run. On those occasions I set up the mechanism, with its pendulum, on a bench next to my main bench and hook up both a beat amplifier (Time Trax), as well as a beat monitor (Bryan Mumford's Microset) that allows me to plot the beat and/or strikes on my computer monitor, which sits above my main bench. This gallery gives you an idea of how I set all this up.
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Mechanism Holder, including pendulum support
While it is pretty easy to hang a mechanism by itself, including the pendulum makes it a bit tricky. I use old lab glassware holders to hang the pendulum right where it should be, relative to the mechanism.
This set-up allows me to look down into the mechanism with a microscope to get a better idea of how wheels and pinions are meshing and how the escapement is working
