Big Ben

We got an alarm clock when we married 48 years ago, . . . it's a Westclox Big Ben repeater alarm, . . they were made in Clydebank, . . it got me up to earn my daily bread for 43 years, the main spring broke 5 years ago and as it was a good timekeeper I phoned a clock maker near Stirling today to have it fixed.

The guy didn't want to know, I told him price wasn't a problem as it has sentimental value but to no avail, . . to cut a long story short I dismantled it myself, fixed the spring by drilling a new hole in the end that had broken and now it's back ticking away like before.

Westclox still make a similar model but they're made in the USA, . . . the one I have keeps perfect time and the alarm repeats several times 'till you bounce it off the wall.

Re: Big Ben

Glad you managed to fix it yourself, Nero

Re: Big Ben

Nice one Nero

Pic?

Re: Big Ben

Yeah, . . the camera was at hand but my hands were oily, . . I'll take the cover back off the clock tomorrow and post a pic.

Re: Big Ben

Here you go Azz, . . Big Ben, . . . I adjusted the screw which alters the escapement mechanism last night and was spot on, it's kept perfect time all night.



The main spring is housed in the large cogwheel drum in bottom of pic, . . the drum separates in two and the spring was a bleedin joy to re-insert.



Made in Scotland on Clydeside.

This is the new model, made in the USA, it's all plastic unlike the original ones which are steel, . . it's not a repeater either, and needs wound up every day unlike the original which ticks away for 6 days.



Another industry we lost up here thanks to dear old Maggie, . . . she hates us you know.

Re: Big Ben

The guy didn't want to know, I told him price wasn't a problem as it has sentimental value but to no avail, . .

Horolgists(sp?) are rarer than hen`s teeth these days. Another craft left to founder with the `throw away` society

Re: Big Ben

Having seen the picture Denis I know exactly what you mean bet you were wishing you had six hands with twenty fingers on each glad to see you didn't let it beat you.

Re: Big Ben

It's stopped, . . . it's just needs wound up like I've been for years, . . I didn't wind it up fully during the week to see if the spring would be OK.

It's keeping perfect time BTW but the alarm is switched off, . . I had enough of that for 40 odd years.

Re: Big Ben

Nice to win with something like that. 43 years eh! Tut ..they just don't make things to last do they?

Re: Big Ben

This is true Mart, . . we live in a throw away society now but they still keep harping on about conservation and recycling, . . with just a bit of effort and more quality during manufacture things like this clock could last a lifetime, . . the new model Westclox is plastic and will fit nicely in our new society.