The Woodshop Shed

1904 Seth Thomas Clock Reconstruction

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


This may not qualify as a legitimate project but I'll post it for the sake of clock lovers like me. I bought this 1904 Seth Thomas School/Store clock locally for a mere $65, with the understanding that it was a 50/50 shot at rebuilding a working clock. (You can check them out on-site to a satisfactory degree if you know what to look for) As my second attempt at bringing a clock back to both cosmetic and mechanical life, the thrill is in the chase.On this one, though, a complete deconstruction was undertaken to both repair and reconstruct the case and clean/lube the movement. To keep it period accurate, I even bought some hide glue at Woodcraft to honor this respected name brand. Thankfully, there was only a small amount of damage that could not be reconditioned, and it was located on the bottom which is not normally visible. I saved all the original nails to reuse in the buildup.As a veneered clock, no sanding is advised, so I relied on Mineral Spirits to clean off the surfaces, which turned out to be in very good shape. All the 'joints' required sanding off the old hide glue to get them to fit together well. I won't give myself high marks for craftsmanship on this since you have little chance of achieving perfection at this point. The little 'drop' door was literally in pieces and other gaps moved me to pull it all apart and do a reconstruct, fixing anything else that needed attention.The movement was cleaned in ultrasonic solution, minus the machine, and brought it back into working condition. The metal face plate had been warped from rough handling and responded to manual rebending to a flat enough shape to mount well into its bezel. The glass door was in excellent shape and needed nothing.'Finish' was nothing more than Dark Walnut Restor-A-Finish, which adds little color but fills in wherever scratches and bare wood areas are exposed. It adds enough of a varnish finish to provide a completed appearance, and when rubbed down a bit looks rather original if you don't put on too many coats. A generous application of Howards citrus/beeswax polish finished it off.I managed to finish it in two weeks with intermittent attention waiting on glue to dry, etc. Listening to it tick-tock each day is a grand reward when you succeed.

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