The alarm

The Comtoise / Morbier alarm.

The alarm on these clocks is a simple affair and easy to retro fit which is a bonus as many over the years have had parts go astray often leaving clocks with just a few parts of the system that no longer work.
Be aware if looking for parts of the height of your clock as the two most common case sizes are 25.5 cm and 31.5 cm.

The alarm works by turning a round brass disc that sits behind the hour hand. Typically the hour hand is of a pattern that has a hole that allows you to view through and line it up with and engraved number (1 to 12) set as a clock face on the disc. When you choose your number and line it up behind the hour hand this is your alarm time. Be aware though that like the hands of a Comtoise clock you must only turn this disc clockwise, to do other can result in damage. It only works if turned clockwise.
More accurate alarm setting is down to guesswork between the hours. Even set at your preferred time the alarm may well go off any time 15 to 20 minutes either side! These are old clocks and tolerances are not at modern levels. I suspect also that in the early 19th century an alarm roughly at 10 to remind you of a visit was good enough.
Another aspect to the accuracy is that once set these alarms rely on friction between the disc and hour hand and should the two slip a little between when set and when activated accuracy further suffers.
This friction then holds the disc in place behind the hour hand, the two then travel round the dial together until the hour hand reaches the set time and the alarm goes off.

However, do not be disheartened with a little patience and observation of when your own clock 'goes off' and very minor adjustments you can, (at least i have!) manage to get the accuracy into a ten minute window.

The photo shows the alarm disc set for 11 oclock.





More to follow......

'Manthey' twisted frame.

Another to sort out.  A clock with a sad look to it. The hands are mismatched and the case has been dropped at some point on the front right corner locking up the movement. This has resulted in a few parts being slightly bent out of true. So along with that the dial also needs a little attention.

'Lavaur' Finished

well, no real dramas here with this one. All finished and placed in a long caseas it was prettier than what sat in there.
I have an alarm system on the way with a couple of weights to fit so that will be the next installment on this clock.

'Lavaur'. Repair to Verge link.

The movement has all been stripped down and treated as the 'Marciac', namely cleaned with fine emery paper and steel wool. I have not detailed this as it is a simple process, just time consuming. With this in mind the next clock I do I will steep the steel in vinegar overnight and treat the brass to an ammonia / water mix and see how that does.

While stripping this one though I found that the dogs bone verge / pendulum hanger link was made of steel. As such this was cutting through the point where it contacted the verge link. I presume this piece was a previous replacement.
So solve the issue I cut a new dogs bone link out of some scrap brass and replaced it. The piece I used had some test engraving on the reverse so I fitted this facing out as I like the look.

'Lavaur'. Repoussé.

Now the front parts are separated i got on with cleaning the repoussé.
First off i shaped the end of a wooden stick so i could push out the dents in the pattern, that and hand pressure and patience got it as close to new again.

Placed in the cat litter tray and with a toothbrush i liberally applied a baking soda and vinegar mix and let it sit for the afternoon. All the bits of old green polish lifted out of the valleys in the mold and it cleaned up a treat. I just washed it off with tap water and buffed with a cloth.
The back plate i lightly sanded and painted with a thinned mix of hammerite to keep the character and the dial just needed a light wash in soapy water as it was not stained.

'Lavaur'. Dial parts.

Splitting the three parts of the dial is not hard. I filed the screws off that hold the repoussé to the back plate and gently peeled back the brass that wraps round the plate enabling the two pieces to be separated.
The dial itself was just held to the back plate with one screw and this also had to be filed off.
The dial is near pristine apart from at the screw point where the enamel has come off but as this sits under the repoussé when fitted it is not an issue.
Initially i assumed these repoussé fronts were riveted on with tiny brass rivets but it appears the screws just get polished flat over time.

'Lavaur'

Following on from my successful first blog on a comtoise clock 'Marciac' i find myself on possession of another.
This one is basically the same time/chime setup and all parts look the same so i forsee no issues renovating it.
I will need to source a key and balancier though as these are missing, but all works and it came with a nice simple full size long case.
The dial is nice and unblemished showing the clock being sold from a dealer (?) Paul Ancely of Lavaur in the Tarn.