Vintage Clock for the Laboratory

Hello Minions. Man, let me tell you that these past few days have not been the best of times. First, someone hit my car and took off, then Sequel got shots and the subsequent grumpy face that goes along with that. Then Bride got sick, then the computer crashed, then Spawn and I got sick. Then it was Monday again. So, how was your week?

I did manage to get one good project done this week and am all the more happy I can share it with you. You see, a few months ago I acquired a vintage Stromberg school clock for free from a guy who was cleaning out his garage. It was a very old electric model.

It worked when I got it and I hung it proudly in the lab over the resurrection bench. It kept time well and I used to gleefully imagine all the poor children who watched that second hand go around so very slowly in endless days of monotony.

Well, then it broke. I’m not sure why, but it stopped working one day. The scary part was that it kept humming and sucking electricity without actually doing anything so I feared it was plotting a fiery something or other for me. I looked into getting it fixed but the one guy who fixes electric clocks in my city lives about an hour away from here in a rather ungood area of town. So I decided to take matter into my own hands.

Before anyone gets upset at the destruction of this piece, I assure you I looked into every avenue to ensure there was no collector or other value before I began my modifications. Three different clock places told me to just throw it away and buy one that was battery-operated.

I did one better…

There are three spring clips holding the clock works to the outer metal frame. Believe it or not, in order to set the clock you had to release all 3 clips and remove the entire back piece. Basically, I had to take the entire thing apart and put it together again every time the power went out.
I went down to Hobby Lobby and got a simple clock movement. I then removed the clockworks from the unit. I got all kinds of neat wheels and gears for some future steampunk project! I had to grind and cut the hands to get them to fit onto the movement, and I was not able to get my beloved second-hand to reattach.  Once I got the hands attached, I let it sit overnight to ensure the clock kept time correctly. Satisfied that it worked, I cleaned the face glass. Yes, that face is actually a thick and heavy piece of glass. Pretty cool, huh?The finished clock works were a bit less impressive than the monstrosity that was there before, but at least now I don’t have to disassemble it entirely just to move the minute hand a couple minutes forward or back. Daylight Savings time just got a lot easier.
And now we have a functional vintage timepiece to let me know I’ve been out here too long and I probably oughtta go inside and help with the kids.

If you liked this post please consider joining our email list, liking us on Facebook, or following us on Twitter and Pinterest using the various buttons scattered about the site. Also, please let us know how we’re doing by leaving a message in the comments section below.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2014