here is a Seth Thomas movement i am working on ,there is wear on the center wheel hole and on the mainspring arbor..
The Question i have i know will be hard to answer without seeing the movement in person..But how much play or wear can there be in the bushings and the clock still work okay.
Samie, You are right, it is hard to tell from the pictures. If you can tell the hole is egg shaped, or if, (with power off train)when you move the train back and forth with your finger you can see lateral movement of the pinion in the hole, I would bush it.
Tom
Posts: 2537 | Location: Mount Angel, Oregon in the U.S.A. | Registered: November 19, 2002
It's a funny thing about American clock movements,they always seem to be very pivot friendly.Even with the pivot holes obviously worn they seem to hang in there and keep on ticking.Probably because of the overpowered mainsprings.At any rate the higher up you go on the gear train the more vulnerable your clock is to stoppage.When you have a worn escape wheel pivot hole or worn pallet pivot hole this starts effecting the ability of your escapement to function properly i.e. inconsistant drops.inconsistant locks,and tooth skipping.To sum my very humble opinion up,if the pivot holes in the escapement area look worn don't hesitate for a minute,rebush.If they look a little enlarged on the lower end don't loose any sleep over it.I think some folks get carried away with rebushing.If that pivot hole needs a rebushing it will certainly let you know by giving you the usual tell tale slurry and grime thing around the suspect pivot hole warning sign.That,s usually an obvious sign of excessive wear. Respectfully,Bob Fullerton
Posts: 181 | Location: New Castle, Delaware U.S.A. | Registered: December 15, 2004
Thanks everone for the advice being new at clock repair this was something i was not sure about..overall the movement looks good there is about a 1/16 movement in both directions on the center wheel..