Out of poise Second Hand

 

I used the finer adjustment knob nearer to

 

 

the bottom of the leader to finish the

 

 

adjustment. After setting the beat, I set

 

 

the rate, or the quickness of the tick-tocks.

 

 

This was done using the nut at the bottom

 

 

of the pendulum. I used the same timing

 

 

machine to measure how many beats the

 

Fine Beat Adjuster

clock made per hour, which I found above

Rate Adjuster

 

to be 3600. I tweaked the nut until the

 

 

measurement was just that or very close to 3600. Now, the clock was

adjusted to keep time and our job was to watch it and record how well it performed!

Refitting the Second Hand – Found in the Case

To put the second hand back on, it was first necessary to “poise” it, or balance it so that it would not hinder the clock in any way. When we

received it, it was too heavy on one side. To poise it, I pounded a piece of lead flat and super-glued it to the back and bottom of the second hand to offset the heavier “long” side. I then put it on a smooth broach and checked its balance. Obviously, it was imbalanced at this point, so I carefully shaved off

bits of lead first around the edges so it wouldn’t be seen, then carefully evened it on either side until it was perfectly balanced and static on the broach. After it was poised, I colored the lead with a magic marker to disguise its

presence. Such methods as super-glue and markers can be used on the second hand because they work well, will not interfere with the inner workings of the movement, won’t be seen, and are removable. Having poised the second

hand, we now had to re-affix it to the movement. To do that, it was necessary to close the hole in the second hand slightly with a round-head punch so that it would stay on. Then, it was reamed open slightly with a cutting broach until it just fit. After the hole was sized to the escape pivot, the second hand was attached solidly

to it and works fine now. Remember that the clock has a beat rate of 3600 beats per hour, or 60 beats per minute. For this reason, the second hand is directly affixed to the escape wheel since each tooth represents one second exactly. One of the unusual features of this clock is the fact that the escape

wheel front pivot, which has the second hand attached, comes out in the middle of the dial, through the center of the hands. This characteristic makes the Waterbury Regulator No 61 a “center seconds” clock.

Perfectly Poised and Static

12

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Image 15
Timex 61 instruction manual Refitting the Second Hand Found in the Case