Seth Thomas Larkin No. 35

This is a Seth Thomas Clock sold by the Larkin Soap Co. it was referred to as model No. 35 in their catalog.  

I've had this clock since 2008, notice when I got it that the front feet are missing and replaced by what should be the rear feet.  There were a lot of white paint specks all over the top of the clock where someone didn't bother coving it up.   "Who does that?"   The person I bought it from said that it had been down his father's basement for as long as he can remember and his father had planned on restoring it but never got around to it.   Who knows how long its been since it ran.  

Doesn't look like anyone has serviced it in eon's   Not too many inside coils on the springs so no need to replace them.   It needs a bath... 

After a trip though the cleaner, now that's looking better...

Polished the pivots, and installed a couple of bushing to line things up again.

Ran it for a week to make sure there were no hidden problems after reassembly.

Time to start the case work.

Disassembly

Have some delamination problems that will need to be corrected, probably from sitting down that gentleman's basement for who knows how long.  Must have been damp?

This isn't going to be fun.

So far I've gotten rid of all the white paint specs and a bunch of scratches.

 Now its starting to look more like it did back in 1907

That's were I am right now, more to come on this restoration.   Correcting all the issues with the front piece is taking a lot of time. 

 The repair to the split and separating Adamantane turned out good I'd say  

Next to redo the gold in the incising designs.  

  Here are all the pieces minus the feet and columns, ready to go back together.

I worked on the metal ornaments this weekend.   I've noticed that a lot of people on ebay that restore clocks will paint everything metal on a Seth Thomas gold no matter what color they were originally from the factory.  These were copper plated and then sprayed with a coat of orange shellac originally.  I cleaned them up and only retouched the bad area's.   Then I coated them lightly with lacquer to give them that factory shine.   

Below is the main front piece.  I cleaned out all the wax form the incising in the process of redoing the gold.  I noticed the more wax and dirt I pulled from the grooves, the more of the original gold was appearing.  Kept on cleaning and was able to get 90% of the original gold from the factory, looked almost new.... so I decided to leave it alone than risk my paint not matching the original stuff. 

This weekend I put the case back together.   Now I have to concentrate on getting the dial, bezel, and hands into shape, but so far so good.   

Future Projects

Here are a few future project clocks that I will be restoring as time permits

This is a gingerbread or kitchen style clock made by

The Ingraham Clock Co. of Bristol CT.

It is named "Micha" and is one of their Lake series of clocks.  

According to the date on the works... it was made in 1910 and has a factory installed alarm/timer

I believe the same model of clock is in the upper right of this photo...

In 1915 stores could buy a case of six of these clocks for $21.00

 Below is a mantle clock made by Seth Thomas, the model is "Imperial" dated on the bottom with a 9981G which translates to being produced in August of 1899

 Below is a Seth Thomas Mantle clock,  it was a mail order clock produced for the Larkin Soap Co. and could be had for free with the purchase of just 10 dollars of their products.   Someone has put rear feet on the front.  The stamp on the bottom indicates that it was made in 1907 

This model was featured in the 1910 catalog below as No. 35.  

Below is the same clock as with the horse topper

 Below is another Seth Thomas clock also made for the Larkin Soap Co.
Listed as No. 25 in the catalog below with the horse topper

Below is a OGEE style clock made by the New Haven Clock Co.   Most of these were 30 day weight driven clocks, but this one is a 8 day spring driven with the Alarm feature.   It must have been made some time during the transition from weight driven clocks to spring driven clocks.  I can find no evidence that the works were not original to the clock via there are no other screw holes in the backboard other than those holding the movment.   The back paper also is New Haven.

Here is an OG clock salesman that traveled the back roads.  Even had it printed on the side of his buggy.

Below is a Store Regulator made by the Sessions Clock Co.  It is a 8 day time only clock.  This is the Eclipse or "E" model.   It was made between 1903-28.  Someone has painted the boarder on the door with gold paint, scraped the decals from the lower glass and painted the center of the dial bright white.

Seven dollars back in 1922 and that included the calendar option which was 45 cents extra. 

Davis Calendar Clock

This is my current project.   Its a Davis Calendar Clock.  All original c. 1880 - 1906

Original works were made by the Gilbert Clock Company. 

I have not started on the case, what you see is un-touched.

Here is what I could find out about the Davis Clock Co. 
In 1880, Davis Clock Company was formed by N. L. Davis on "Factory Hill" west of present Troter Civic Center. The company manufactured clock cases.  Movements were purchased from various Connecticut manufacturers.

In 1887, N. L. Davis contracted with William L. Gilbert to be supplied with 8000 OG #2 movements with weights.

The Columbus Index newspaper reported that a collector for the firm was robbed November 13, 1891 at Greenwood, MS.

The firm ceased operations in 1906.  The firm also reportedly made fire arms and had a branch in Texarkana.

Somebody thought that the strike governor fly was not suppose to spin freely... looks like they used some string to try and control it...   The are supposed to be able to spin.. removed that string. 

Had to replace the strike count lever, as you can see the shovel head had been broken off at some time.   See how its fitting way too deep in the count wheel cog.  

This is what happens to clocks when they are not cleaned for decades.... Green Goopy Mess.

Gilbert put some quality into these works... all metal screws, rivets, and springs were heat blued. 

Now that's better.....   After a trip though the ultrasonic, bushings replaced, and pivots polished. 

"running like a top" ready to be fitted back into the case and back into service.

Seth Thomas Larkin Model #722 Mantle Clock

This was my first clock that I totally restored.  I gave it to my parents for Christmas and still is probably the one I'm most proud of.  

Its a pre 1900 Seth Thomas mantle clock with a hip movement.  I believe the Larkin Soap Company gave these away if you bought so much of their product or you could save up Larkin Bond Coupons
 proving how much you could order items from their catalogue.  This clock was listed as #722 in their catalogue. 

I don't have any before photos of the clock case.  Back then I wasn't thinking about documenting my progress.   I know that I won it off ebay for $89.00 and add another 19 for shipping.   The finish was cloudy and dull, the incising could not been seen and the ornaments were very dull.   The dial was stained badly.

The works were actually in fairly good shape, some dried up oil and a few bad pivot holes that needed bushing.

 Styrofoam makes a great tool for keeping gears in place and in order during disassembly.   

Below is the finished product.  I added a side by side comparison of a like condition works so you could see the difference.   

Replaced the leather in the striker

Below is the finished clock.   I replaced the dial paper with a coated one, polished the brass bezel and ornaments.  Sprayed the dial with some brass shellac to keep it from tarnishing. Polished the case, highlighted the incising,  and cleaned up the ornaments.   Ready for another 100 plus years. 

Here is a comparison of what it started out like when I first got it....

Here is an old timey photo of this same model in the background on the wall with a clock topper

They must have used Larkin Soap... :)   

Also found it in the 1896 catalog which includes the stamped brass dial option.