The next time you’re at a flea market, think twice You should now be able to pull the movement out before passing up that oversized gymnasium clock of the clock. Remove any unnecessary standoffs with a mysterious bundle of wires sticking out the or mounting bosses that could interfere with the back, or that cool $5 starburst clock just because installation of the new movement. Cut and remove it has a broken key-wind movement. The fact is you the power cord, if the clock has one. can easily convert these clocks to run with battery-powered quartz movements, which can be found 2. Install the quartz movement. at just about any craft or woodworking supplier, or Craft and hobby movements come with a variety of salvaged from ugly clocks. shaft lengths to accommodate different dial thick-
How you do this, and the necessary steps you nesses. Get one that matches your clock dial; other-must take, vary slightly from clock to clock, but the wise, the shaft may protrude too far, which could be a procedure is essentially the same. problem when it’s time to refasten the crystal.
Insert the shaft of the new movement into the dial’s center hole and install the washer and retaining nut.
The design of a clock’s hands is an important part of the clock’s overall look and feel, and is something
» Vintage clock you may want to retain. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely
that the old hands will fit the new movement. To
» Battery-powered quartz movement solve this, you essentially use the new hands to
make a set of “adapters” for the old hands. How you
» Epoxy cement do this depends on the shape of both sets of hands.
I adapted the hour hand by first enlarging the
» Tweezers, small pliers, screwdriver hole slightly to fit over the new shaft. I then cut the
center hub from the new (donor) hour hand and epoxied it to the back of the original hour hand.
1. Remove the old clockworks. To adapt the minute hand, I enlarged the center Typically, you must remove the clock’s back cover- hole to fit the flat-sided shaft of the quartz movement. ing along with its bezel or crystal assembly before As with the hour hand, I adapted the second hand you can remove the old movement. On my clock, by cutting the center hub from the new hand and the casing of the chassis on the back was fastened gluing it to the back of the vintage hand. by two screws. After removing the chassis, I just had For certain designs, you may find that it makes to pry up a few metal tabs to release the assembly. more sense to cut a small, decorative element from
Once the assembly is removed, you can take off the the old hand and glue it to the new hand. Again, this hands. Second hands are usually friction-fit and can depends on the shape of the hands. be pulled off with tweezers or fingers; minute hands Apply a coat of spray paint to the hands to hide are normally retained by a small knurled nut; and the surgical scars, and install them on the shaft. hour hands are usually friction-fit to the outside of Reassemble the clock and hang it wherever you the shaft. Remove the nut and washer from the shaft. wish — no extension cord required.
Turn over the clock and remove the screws that hold the clockworks to the chassis or dial plate. Steve Lodefink makes web pages and knickknacks in Seattle.
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