I picked up a very lovely Rockford 2-tone movement today, 15 jewels.

Is there any danger of the gilding coming off in my L&R ultrasonic cleaning maching?

For a sharp 2-tone, I think most will agree that a very gentle and cautious cleaning by hand is the way to go. It really doesn't take much to loose some of that 2-tone finish.

Fred

p.s. Congrats on the pick-up Bryan, and what grade is the Rockford.

Thanks... I will proceed cautiously.

I don't know the movment grade, it is not marked. Serial number is 330,454.

Also, it has a screw on the barrel bridge set in a pie-shaped engraving with "L" and "P" in it. What is that for?

Bryan,

I beleive that would be a Grade 87, Model 7.

The L-P screw is a mechanism that switches the setting mechanism from Lever Set to Pendant Set. there is a picture of it on P 344 of the 2004 edition of the Shugart Price Guide.

I'm in the process of trying to restore one of these switches on a model 7 Grade 89. I will plan to post a photo album of the workings of this mechanism in the "Time on My Hands" if I can get all of the parts.

I agree with Fred, that hand cleaning is best for the 2-Tone movements. Their guilding can wash out if cleaned to agressively.

Post a picture if you can. We love seeing those 2-Tone movements!

According to the serial # and my Ehrhardt Rockford book, this is a grade 87 and one of 5500 of this grade made.

This grade is also shown in a cut from an 1896 A.C. Becken catalog with a list price of $25. The other 18 size full-plate movements shown in this ad range from a 17 jewel grade 80 at $50 down to a 9 jewel grade 93 at $9.50.

And I believe your L/P screw is a feature found on some Rockfords of this time-frame that allowed conversion between Lever and Pendent setting.

Fred

p.s. Looks like Mike beat me to it here!

Wow.. thanks for all the great information. Attached is a picture of the movement.

Unfortunately, as you can see, some impatient nit-wit has replaced the balance cock screw with a much larger screw... ugh! Some people can't leave well enough alone.

Does the L-P screw present any difficulties during disassembly and reassembly?

Bryan,

The switch mechanism shouldn't cause a problem in movement teardown. But since the mechanism on my Model 7 is totally missing, and I haven't come across another one before, I might not be the best one to answer.

Nice movement! You might have to seek out a new balance cock screw. Hopefully the one used hasn't stripped out the original threads.

I just thought of something that might interest you... We had a discussion a while back about the interesting balance jewels of this model Rockford. Follow the link:

Rockford balance jewel topic