Morbier Clock, 'Marciac'. Wall Bracket.

The clock is now to be tested properly so i needed a wall bracket. Rooting round i found some old oak and built a simple bracket that is in keeping with the clocks age.
I have also now sourced a pendulum and key.
The pendulum i believe is from a later clock. Mine has a string suspension and i believe these generally had a simple bob on a tri fold bracket. ( i presume the later ones are too heavy with the risk of the string breaking).
The pendulum though is clearly of the right size as i am getting the clock more accurate by the hour. I let it run for an hour and then adjust the nut on the bottom. I started at 9am and have gone from 10 minutes fast to within the minute.  I will adjust now after longer period to see how it goes.

When all is adjusted and we are running well i will re-attach the clock face .

I have also attached a pull to the chime mechanism. It was there so i felt compelled. I just need to find a pull toggle more in keeping, or stain this one darker.

Morbier Clock, 'Marciac'. Face and repoussé.

A little time has now been spent on the face and repoussé.
I have been swaying between disassembling the three pieces that form the front of the clock, the face / repoussé / case front. As they all require differing attention.
In the end i decided to just take my time and keep all attached. They are riveted together with small brass pins and i like the idea of keeping this fixing original. The only downside i can see is that i will not be able to clean and repaint the reverse side of the case front. As there is only surface rust evident though and the clock will live in a relatively dry atmosphere i see no real need to split the bits.

The repoussé needed gentle hand bending to return to shape and then face down on a leather sandbag such as engravers use. I gently pushed the dented areas back into place with a few differing wooden sticks. No damage caused and suprisingly easy.

I washed the whole item in warm soapy water and then spent a bit of time on the dial face with window cleaner as a fair bit of the dirt on it was 'set' in place. Patience and gentle perseverance cleaned this up a treat though.
Second stage was to address the century plus accumulation of grease grime soot and staining on the repoussé. I only have household products available and did not fancy playing with ammonia here so out came the tomato ketchup and a total covering was applied to the brass and the whole thing was left overnight.
This was then agitated and scrubbed with a toothbrush and washed off. The front was then left by the log burner for a couple of days to ensure there was no moisture trapped beneath the steel plate.
Out then came the household brass cleaner, in the UK i would have used 'Brasso', here in France it is 'Miror'. This was applied with a vigourous toothbrush and left to dry. I then spent my time brushing it off with toothbrush and flannels and then polished with clean cloths. Where the green dry bits were in the low valleys i routed it out with toothpicks.
All in all i am bery happy. I did not want an as new look as that seems pointless on a clock this age. I did however want it to look good.
I painted the backplate as i did the other case parts.

Morbier Clock. 'Marciac'. Chime lever.

One thing i did notice while stripping and cleaning was a little lever with a hole in it for a pull cord and a corresponding hole directly below it in the frame.
I have read that this is to enable the owner, in the dead of night, to check the time. Pull the lever and the last hour chimed is repeated. Fantastic. I have visions of a series of pulleys and a long cord from the clock leading to the bedchamber!
I suspect that a high proportion of these clocks though were never cased and just sat on a suitable bracket on tne wall so a simple toggle under the clock would suffice.

Morbier Clock, 'Marciac'. Cleaned up.

Well, the clock has been stripped down to each part. All cleaned up and put back together.
It was impossible to tell the difference between parts that were brass or steel it was so filthy. It is possible the clock was in a kitchen by the grease i had to clean off.
I took photo's of each individual piece coming off so refitting was simply a matter of following tne photos back. Normally i get lazy and forget to do this but am glad i kept woth it this time.

I have jury rigged a test stand with the kitchen chairs and by using the pendulum from my other clock have checked the movement. 'Morbier Clocks', by Lawrence A Seymour , came in handy here or I would have been floundering about for a while! 

So it is ticking and chiming and telling time. Now to find some oil.

Morbier Clock, 'Marciac'. Cage.

Now all the bits are removed i can re-paint the cage and pendulum hanger (?). An easy job, a quick brush with a wire brush and sand paper and then once more on with a thinned down coat of hammerite. I prefer this as the character of the old piece shows through but is uniformly coated and protected. I have left the brass uncoated and the bushing in the central support still has tape over it that i will pull off when all is dry. The bushing itself i have just run through with a pice of string to clean.

Next job, this box of bits, funny how easy it is to take things apart!

Morbier Clock, 'Marciac'. Weights.

Hello, weights quickly addressed today.

Wire brush taken to both of them and then a quick coat of Hammerite. New hooks attached to the top of each for the rope.
One thing i noted was what appears to be the Roman numeral VIIII on the top on one of the weights. (My picture is not very good but it is clear on the weight). I presume this relates to lb and not kilos as the weight is not that heavy.
This helps date the clock, as best one can! To pre-1840 as that was when France re-introduced the metric system. So VIIII French pounds comes to 3.6 to 4.4 kilos depending on where they were cast in the country at the time!  I do not have a scale accurate enough to weigh them at this time.

Morbier Clock, 'Marciac'. Case panels.

These are in very good condition so not too much work.
One of the retaining screw holes in the back panel was enlarged as if some one had pulled the panel off the frame without taking out the screw first. Luckily all the metal was still there so a quick bash round the hole with a panel hammer sorted it and the hole is neat again.

I left the paint on these and just gave them a vigourous scrub with a wire brush to remove all the surface rust. I did not want to take the old look and aging away but in order to offer a little protection painted a very thin coat of smooth hammerite. I did this by using a brush to apply an area of 2" x4" or so of paint and i then immediately wiped this round the whole panel with a rag that i had thinners on. The texture and look of the original case is then retained.

Part of my reason here was to avoid painting over a clock makers mark on the inside of the back panel from 1906, i have yet to work out was the rest says. I think it is January and the clockmakers name. judging buy the dirt ingrained in this that was the first and last time it was serviced.