POUVILLON RESTORATION PROJECT - August 2011

Disassembly. Time and strike great wheel and barrels. Finish disassembly of frames.

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Pouvillon-11-034.mp3. Photo 11 035 is the taper pin fixed in the boss. Photo 11 036 is the universal drive to the center seconds hand. This whole assembly is just over 1/8 of an inch in diameter. We also have a missing screw which I have not, unfortunately been able to locate anywhere else in the clock, as we found the previous screw.

Photo 11 037 again is the center seconds arbor and its universal. This is a common match stick just over an inch long to give you some idea of the daintiness of this unit. Photo 11 038. This is the back or the rear of the time great wheel barrel assembly showing the pivot with a center still in it as opposed to the normal domed end one would expect on a normal pivot. Also shown is the hexagonal nut which clamps the great wheel and also the maintaining power ratchet to the barrel. Photo 11 039 is a bevel gear fixed with a square head taper pin. This would be again what I would call first stage construction.

Photo 11 040. A better picture of the same bevel. Also to be noted is the two identification center punch marks, one on the arbor and one on the bevel. This is not present in the later power take off bevels to the complications. Photo 11 041 is the maintaining power ratchet and the great wheel parted. And we can see the double recess or recess in each rim to house the substantial spring for the maintaining power. It is one of the maintaining power assemblies that has the nicest action that I have come across. Often one finds in clocks where maintaining power is fitted, that there is insufficient movement in the maintaining power spring to give one reliable action. Whereas in this clock the action is nice; one can preload it by two or three ticks (teeth) to get a relatively long duration run for a maintaining power. Photo 11 042 is the attachment point for the click spring on the time barrel. We can see three identification punch marks. Interesting to notice is that there is no positive location here to prevent this spring from rotating. It is purely relying on the clamping force of the screw to keep it in its correct position and prevent it from rotating away from the actual ratchet click. Also to be noticed is the construction of the actual click spring itself. Made from one solid piece and the boss machined away. Quite a nice detail.

Photo 11 043 is the barrel arbor assembly. We can see that the ratchet has a substantial notch in the center and there is a matching pin fixed in the arbor which provides a positive drive between the key arbor and barrel assembly. This whole unit is clamped together by a standard, for this clock, hexagonal nut which gives one a very nice assembly, easy to dismantle; very positively retained. You can also see the flange at the rear end of the arbor between which the great wheel and maintaining power ratchet is held; loose to revolve. Photo 11 044. Typical construction of a gear/arbor assembly in the main clock where we have a flange with a drive pin machined integral to the arbor. And the gear fits over this, of course, and clamped again with a flanged hexagonal nut. We see as later addition drive bevel fitted lower down on this arbor. Photo 11 045. A slightly better photograph of the same assembly.

Pouvillon-11-045.mp3. Photo 11 046 is the bell hammer arbor and its click spring. Photo 11 047 is the hammer removed from its tapered arbor. We see the return spring on its taper pin fixing. Also I noticed the inserted brass bushes in the frames. A nice feature which is in the bell hammer itself, its form of a sphere apparently a unit construction although I have not had a detailed examination of the ball. But the oval section connecting it to the actual sleeve arbor appears to be a one piece construction. Photo 11 048 is the attachment of the ratchet click spring on the strike great wheel. As opposed to the previous click spring discussed, we have a very positive, square fitting to prevent rotation. This is one of many interesting variations one finds in this clock. We also see the unused pins in the rim of the wheel. One appears to be broken the other somewhat bent. At just past the full vertical we have one extended pin, actually, off the end of the photograph. But this is the pin that operates the feed lever to the Easter calculator. We now know that this pin has nothing to do with the Easter calculator. These pins were originally used to control the number of blows as in a count wheel in connection with the strike train. It is a bit unusual to use pins instead of a conventional count wheel ring with slots, but it has been seen in other examples. In the case of pins the train is stopped when the detent is prevented from descending by being stopped by a pin; where the opposite is the case in a conventional slotted count wheel. The reason these pins are unused is that Pouvillon later converted the pin count wheel to a conventional slotted count wheel which he attached to the opposite side of the same wheel as the pins are attached. We know this is a later addition and not a part of the original design since Pouvillon had to cut away part of the frame foot to fit this in. It is curious why he did not decide to clean up the main wheel by removing the redundant pins.

Photo 11 049 is the roller and its screw that attaches it to the lifting lever for the strike latch mechanism. Photo 11 050 is a picture, obviously, of all the steel frame components and loose arbors, not shown. Photo 11 051. Another picture of most of the steel components in the main movement.

Photo 11 052 shows a number punch and also two center punch identification marks on one of the main frame members. Photo 11 053. Another ‘7’ punch mark in the opposite end of the same frame member. Photo 11 054. Another attempt at the same photograph of the same part showing the number ‘7’ punch mark.

Photo 11 055. Yet another photograph of the same component. One can actually see the metal had been raised around the ‘7’ showing it had been punched, not engraved. We can also see a vertical scribe mark, marking out for the actual drilling of the frame hole. Photo 11 056 is a frame pillar. We have very nice machining here with a curved flange. When polished they reflect the light beautifully. We also have a hole, a cross hole in the pillar. In this instance we have a broken tap remaining in this hole. I’m not quite sure at this moment what this hole was intended for but we will comment on that later. (the tap was later removed). This brings us to the end of the eleven series photographs.