As some may remember, we have a clock largely made from native wood.  Clearly it is not all wood, having glass, steel wire and brass for the mechanism parts.  I have to say that it’s not the easiest clock to read from a distance, but then it’s not so much a clock as a moving piece of artwork!  It was made for us some years ago by a master clockmaker near Melbourne, Will Matthysen.

Over the last few months it had become unreliable, stopping sometimes, although the pendulum mechanism meant that when going, it kept reasonable time.

So, on one of his trips to NSW, Will came to our house and services our clock. 

Fundamentally what that meant was to take the clock apart, clean all the moving parts of the dried-out lubrication and accumulated grime, then reassemble the mechanism.

Fascinating to watch.  The face, hands and mechanism can be removed from the case (in fact this could be done with the case still on the wall).

It is all then taken apart.  All the spindles run in tiny ball races, which have to be removed and cleaned (in “shellite”, whatever that is).

Then it is all reassembled.

It now runs beautifully of course.

(click for larger view)