Korean stikong mechanism

Last Edited By Krjb Donovan
Last Updated: Mar 11, 2014 07:38 PM GMT

Question

Hello Mr Guthrie .. Just retired from an engineering background and hoping to eventually fulfill a life long ambition to 'make a clock' I'm a long way off at present though -- Just getting together the essentials. lathe / tools and knowledge etc' So to get myself up to speed regarding the general mechanisms, I am cleaning and adjusting our old korean wall clock # 30 years old # .. Although its worn somewhat, with quite a bit of end shake on the strike side particularly, it still functions fairly well and keeps good time .. I guess in a few years it will need bushing .. I know its not worth much but has sentimental value to my wife and I .. So ! I have proceeded to dismantle and clean / oil etc' and probably due to my clumsy handling, the strike side is not functioning correctly now.. It is not striking the full 12 beats at noon. During the adjustment phase, having got the clock set up on a stand I noticed that at the end of the sequence when it had gathered up the rack hook it overun and struck one extra time? # I didnt count the strikes # and on reflection I think this was probably my mistake, perhaps mistaking a correct function for an incorrect one? ... because having adjusted # bent # the lifting piece to 'correct' the fault and being pleased with my effort, even though I bent it out of its original alignment, I proceeded to check the function through all the hours and it now only strikes eleven when it should strike twelve !! .. Pride always comes before a fall and things seem to have gone from bad to worse since trying to re-correct it ..Please can you help with guidance on the theory of this type of clock striking mechanism, and if you can guide me to a website that will help in a graphical way I would be very much obliged .. I have tried the 'trial and error' route and made somewhat of a hash of it through my lack of knowledge. So I guess I need to 'swot up' on the theory before making a total mess of it ! .. Pictures would help... I have several books but all deal with the better type of mechanism's ..Kind regards .. Warren Buhlig Maclean

Answer

As you've already discovered, bending levers, etc. is never the answer to a malfunction. If the clock operated correctly before, changing original alignment is treating a symptom, not the cause. Usually when an incorrect count occurs, it is the result of the snail being positioned incorrectly. While allowing the rack tail to drop on each step, at 12 it drops to the 11 step a second time. When the snail is properly divisioned during manufacture this shouldn't be possible. This is were I would direct my attention first. Sorry, I don't know of any websites that have explanations for adjustment of rack & snail striking but the books you have should suffice whether it's a higher quality mechanism or not. The theory & execution will be the same.

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