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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details. |
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1st Jul 2021, 3:03 pm | #21 | |
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
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1st Jul 2021, 3:15 pm | #22 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
There may not be a large enough mating surface for contact adhesive to produce a strong joint. A very thin smear of epoxy glue might work.
Good idea to use Blu-tak to stabilise the joint. |
1st Jul 2021, 3:56 pm | #23 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Wye, Kent, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
One possibility:
Leave the original GE hands intact, instead of chopping them off at the shaft end. Cut the donor hands down so that they just consist of a plastic "washer" at the shaft end. Glue these plastic "washers" onto the intact original hands, centering them over the original hands' shaft holes. Then use emery paper to sand the glued-on plastic part down to 0.3mm, for an overall thickness of (0.3mm + 0.4mm) which is exactly the 0.7mm thickness of the original donor hands. Finally, fill the shaft hole with a temporary shaft (a nail would do the trick) and pour some kind of filler into the gap so that you end up with a shaft-hole, of the right diameter, and a full 0.7mm thickness. I've never done anything like this but I have used filler materials on carpentry projects. (I bought two donor clocks, in case the first attempt does not work. If it does work I will use the spare as a bedroom alarm, which is much more restful that constantly reaching for one's mobile phone to get the time.)
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1st Jul 2021, 4:01 pm | #24 |
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
I think you will find that the tolerances aren't as tight as you expect. Obviously you should check before doing anything irreversible.
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1st Jul 2021, 4:01 pm | #25 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Wye, Kent, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Another idea, similar to the above but easier. Find some very thin metal or plastic washers with the same inside diameter as the donor clock shaft. (Thickness needs to be about 0.15mm.) Glue these onto the original hands, one on the top side, one on the bottom side, paying very close attention to alignment.
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3rd Jul 2021, 6:34 pm | #26 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Wye, Kent, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Quote:
Just want to make sure before I experiment with gluing the old hands onto the stumps of the new ones. I will endeavour to make sure that I don't do anything irreversible. If I mess up, I may damage the donor hands irreversibly (which doesn't matter), but will try to make sure that the original GE hands can be rescued if the transplant does not work.
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3rd Jul 2021, 6:50 pm | #27 |
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
I don't know how much leeway there is, but electric clocks aren't precision instruments, and you may well find there is plenty of room to just glue things together without matching the precise dimensions. As I said, you should obviously confirm this before hacking things about.
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3rd Jul 2021, 6:55 pm | #28 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Wye, Kent, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Quote:
I think I will have a go.
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11th Jul 2021, 4:11 pm | #29 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Wye, Kent, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Success!! The modern Seiko quartz movement has been installed.
I glued the old hands on top of the new ones with Superglue, see photos. The exception was the seconds "sweep hand" from the new clock which was chopped down so that only its center bevel remained, and then glued *on top* of the old seconds hand, because this was how the Seiko shaft was configured. The new bevel is silver, the old hand is gold, so I will need to paint the new bevel gold eventually. The entire movement was glued onto the back a custom-cut thin sheet of aluminium, with a hole pierced in the middle for the shaft. The old clock face was glued onto the front. I am thrilled with the result. This was my ham radio "shack" clock (set to GMT) in America before moving to the UK three years ago and it is now resuming its rightful place in the shack, minus the RFI. It should last many more years yet! Paul: Thank you, your advice helped give me the courage to undertake this, my first very modest clock restoration ... or rather, modern butchery, but very few people will know....
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11th Jul 2021, 4:26 pm | #30 |
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Nice job, congratulations.
I'm no horologist, there are members here who know vastly more than I do about clocks, but you're very welcome to any advice I can offer. |
11th Jul 2021, 7:01 pm | #31 | |
Tetrode
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Wye, Kent, UK.
Posts: 93
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Quote:
The Seiko movement is also an alarm clock, but setting things up so that the old GE button actuated the modern movement's alarm on/off was just too much bother. (I also deliberately did not try to install the "alarm set" hand from the old GE clock.)
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11th Jul 2021, 10:56 pm | #32 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, USA.
Posts: 823
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Re: US GE Clock 60Hz
Quote:
A fellow collector uses one to power a CRT tester when buying a set at an outdoor swapmeet where AC power is not readily available. Dave, USradcoll1 |
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