Hello all, I am a bit of an Elgin pocket watch fan but picked up this 8 day clock some time ago with a pocket watch as it looked interesting and helped defray the costs of shipping a single item to Australia.

Anyway, it has now had a clean and oil and is ticking away steadily to within a few seconds a day and zero beat error.

Here's a pic of the front:

and here is a pic of the rear:

I must say it was a nice clock (big watch really) to work on, with only seven jewels for a change, and lots of room.

The mainspring barrel contains two mainsprings but only one seemed to be lubricated with the grease/graphite combination.

I got a copy of the overhaul instructions with parts breakdown from the 'bay soon after I purchased this, but it came with an extra set of instructions for the A11/AN5734-1 series clocks with a cryptic post-it note saying

"Bonus item, probably what you need.
About 100,000 made
Other about 5000"

(could read 15000)

Anyway if anyone has any info I would love to read it.

BTW I did leave the patina on the outside purposely... (inside is clean as a whistle)

Regards

Peter in Oz

Nice, Got any pictures of the movement?

Well, the following is a series of pics I took when disassembling to help me get it back together...

They're not exactly in order (need to work on my Picasa skills) but more or less start bottom left.

Let me know if there are particular ones you are interested in and I can post a larger image.

Regards

Peter

Interesting, I've got a Baby Ben that I've had out of the case three times and can't get it to run. Might try one more time.

This one was running when I got it, just not very well - needed excessive regulation and was all over the place.

Running very nicely now.

Regards

Peter in Oz

Nice job Peter!

John

These A-11 aircraft clocks are great timepieces and even though they are low jewel they were built with quality to ensure they could keep accurate time while being constantly vibrated in their mounting in various parts of aircraft. I'm not sure I have ever seen how many were made, but these were the generic, one size fits all, aircraft clocks that were in the instrument panels, in the navigator's stations, in the radio operator's stations, etc. of almost every kind of U.S. aircraft. They were also provided by the U.S. under Lend/Lease to other allied governments as well.

They are quite common and there are always many for sale at modest prices on the big auction website and other places, but they make a great clock to keep on your desk. They also make a great collection since there are a number of different makers of them and there are variations as well. I am not sure how many clocks it would take to have a complete A-11 collection but I imagine you would have a lot of fun trying.

I am not sure I am seeing the crystal clearly on my monitor, but it almost looks like yours is slightly domed? If that is the case it is not the correct crystal, as it should be flat.

Congrats on bringing one back to life! These deserve their place in history.

Hi Jim, thanks for the info.

The crystal is indeed slightly domed - makes it a bugger to photograph...

Regards

Peter