I've just gotten a pillar & splat by Orrin Hart of Bristol Ct. It has a wooden movement that I think is a Boardman 30 hour groaner. It ran briefly when I hooked up the time side weight, then the original cord broke (it already has two splices in it).

The cord goes into a hole in the arbor by the ratchet wheel, but doesn't seem to come out anywhere. Can I replace this without taking the movement apart? Is it possible the cord is wedged & glued into a blind hole, or would it go through to the other side of the ratchet between the ratchet & gear?

Thanks,

Norman

Could you send a picture of the location where the cord and arbor meet Norman? May be that might spark some ideas.... Vernon

Norman, it is most likely as you guessed-between the ratchet and gear. You will have to remove the retainer that is holding the gear to the ratchet to access the hole.
Mike C.
ps
you just found another reason they call it a 'groaner'.

Oops, sorry guys, didn't have this set for notifications, and I've replaced the weight cord. I thought this was nailed together, turned out the "nails" were easily removable pins, and I was able to get the arbor out. Now I have to do a full scale tear-down to clean the movement, and also will replace the strike-side cord which is also original, and never broke.

Here's a side view of the movement. I just removed the wood pins, and the two wire pins on the bridge, and was able to take the arbor out. Disassembly & replacement was easy then. This shows the original cord before it broke. Look carefully and you'll see one of three splices in this cord. Someone else didn't want to dismantle it either. Movement will run, but not for long, so I'll start trouble shooting with a cleaning. The metal bushings are filthy, but don't look too worn.

Norman

Front view of the movment. No broken teeth or other apparent damage on this, so cleaning should be straight forward. Strike side works fine.

Norman

And the clock itself--all original, except perhaps the weights. Glass looks original, and mirror definitely is. Weights are square, and the wear pattern on the label looks as if they were originally round.

Norman