Check out repair and restoration news on the old Castle Rushen clock on the clock blog: http://castlerushenclockconservation.blogspot.com/
It’s by
- Christopher Weeks ACR:
- the Manx National Heritage Objects Conservator. I superintend the care of MNH collections including such diverse items as Viking swords, historic costumes, fine art, social history objects, boats and motor vehicles.
And here is a glossary of some of the terms Chris uses.
Arbor – an axle
Bush – a mounted bearing for an arbor
Case – here refers to the pine box enclosing the whole movement
Count wheel – controls the number of chimes
Crutch – the arbor for the pallets
Drum – the wooden drums around which the ropes are wound
Escapement – device consisting of a pendulum, escapement wheel and pallets, designed to release one tooth of the escapement wheel at a time and to impulse the pendulum.
Fly – the set of paddles that slow the speed of the striking train
Frame – in this instance, a timber structure upon which the movement is mounted
Going train – the primary timekeeping mechanism which also drives the clock face (referred to as the “watch” by E.L. Edwardes)
Great wheel – the large gear mounted on the barrel of the going train
Lantern pinion – in place of cog teeth, a set of rods set into the rims of a pair of disks, looking rather like a little lantern
Main wheel – the large gear mounted on the barrel of the striking train
Movement – the clock mechanism
Pallets – the lugs at the end of a rocking arm, controlled by the pendulum, that check the rotation of the escapement wheel
Pinion – a small driving gear
Spring – the metal strip at the neck of the pendulum
Striking train – controls and drives the chime
Striking arm – the iron rod that pulls the bell rope
Third wheel – the principal gear in the going train
Train – sets of wheels (gears). The Castle Rushen clock has two, referred to as thegoing train and the striking train
Verge & foliot – an early form of escapement employing a horizontal, weighted bar
Wheel – a gear wheel
