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6.13.2011

DeKalb High School Tower Clock - Running Strong!

Right now we are running the clock using very little weight. We can do this now because the clock isn't really doing any work...yet. We won't know how much it's going to take until the final installation and the clock is under the actual working load. We are expecting to use two to three times more weight for the installation.


This clock was built to run with a second and a half swing. It is keeping pretty good time now but again until the clock is working under the planned load I'm sure we will have to do some adjustments to get it to keep good time.






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6.05.2011

DeKalb Tower Clock- Final Assembly

After nearly nine months of restoration the clock is back in one piece.




Bolted down atop its new stand. It's so tall we needed to remove some of the wood plank to make room for it up in the rafters. There is room enough for the pendulum to swing freely and weights to fall within the frame work. The ornament on the frame work are elements of prairie style design which were also evident in the architecture of the new high school.






6.02.2011

DeKalb High School Tower Clock - Minnesota Clock Makers Guild


(06.02.11) The Minnesota Clockmakers Guild made a visit. About a dozen of their members held one of their scheduled meeting at the shop to see the progress that had been made. The guild was instrumental in helping to determine the proper procedure in restoring this clock. Special thanks to the Minnesota Clockmaker Guild for their expertise and advise.



Refinishing - The DeKalb Tower Clock



This video shows a few of the steps that were used to refinish one of the larger brass wheels on the clock. After some experimenting with some different techniques, we found the way shown to create a very nice consistent finish. We built a turntable to work with our lathe, this would come in handy when it came to painting the inside faces of the wheel.






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