![]() ![]() Like your car, antique clocks require periodic maintenance. This team effort resulted in a beautiful clock the family will enjoy for years to come. Lee cut a new dial and glued it to the dial pan. The paper dial had yellowed from the kerosene and needed to be replaced. Restoring this clock required Lindy, John, and Lee’s help. The wood was dry and thirsty, so it took three applications. I was holding my breath!Īfter I was finished with paint remover, I went over the entire case with a fine steel wool. Then he cut the angles at the top of the door. John DeBenedetti, using his wall mounted glasscutter, first cut the glass to size. ![]() I took the doorframe and tablet to the Framery of Vermont to see if they would cut it. Neither Lee nor I felt competent to cut the glass. The design you see is etched right into the glass. I selected a beautiful new old stock tablet. Lindy had several tablets out for me to choose from. Lee Decatur and I drove down to Lindy’s in Lee’s 1953 MG. Lindy is a nationally known clock dealer. I called Lindy Larson down in Westminster to see if he had a gingerbread tablet with silver stencil. I went through my collection of clock parts and found the exact pendulum in mint condition. The pendulum was heavily corroded from the kerosene. In some places, I was able to hide the paint in the end grain with a colored pen. In the end grain the paint was very stubborn. Using paint remover and hours of scrubbing and picking, I removed the paint as best I could. ![]() When the clock was brought to me, it had been painted over twice, each time a different color. It ran fine, with just minor tweaking needed. Then I dried and oiled the movement, greased the springs, and set it up in the test stand. The first thing I did was give the movement a good bath in clock cleaner. Over many years and refillings, the kerosene attracted the dust that gummed up the movement. As the kerosene evaporated, it collected on the dial, movement, and pendulum. He placed the cover in the bottom of the clock case, containing kerosene, and closed the door. He used a tin, screw top cover from a tin can. Years ago, I met an old timer, who told me about using kerosene as an evaporative lubricant. ![]() It is also possible it was a special order. I think Ansonia made this oak case clock during their transition from walnut case to less expensive oak case clocks, using up their remaining supply of nickel-plated parts on a few oak gingerbreads. Walnut case gingerbreads had a nickel-plated dial pan, silver stencil on the door tablet, and a nickel-plated pendulum. Usually, oak case gingerbreads have a brass dial pan, with gold stencil on the reverse side of the door tablet, and a brass pendulum. The silver stencil on the tablet had been erased by years of aggressive cleaning. Of interest to me, this clock is an oak case with a nickel-plated dial pan and nickel pendulum. Today in the trade, they are known as gingerbread clocks, and are often made of oak. This Ansonia clock was manufactured circa 1890 to 1900, and referred to as a “Kitchen clock,” at that time. It had resided in a closet for 30 years, awaiting resurrection. The clock had been Michelle’s grandparent’s clock, Carroll and Edna Wade of Plymouth. Steve Green asked if I would look at his wife’s family clock. ![]()
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