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im mainly re-building a .....


ditchman
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................French clock..........i have been told by my agent...not to post anything that is nuthin to du wiv 

 

  1. guns
  2. explosives
  3. fire
  4. desiel
  5. engines
  6. alarm mines
  7. lawn mowers
  8. knives

 

but i thought it would make a change.......................shall i or sharnt oi ????

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4 minutes ago, Whitebridges said:

Ditchy, welcome back !

I've gort a bit o' news on that there gold leaf so i'll drop you a PM soonest. 

Sarah has gorn all sweet on me as she's now working at the sugar beet factory. I said you were just up the rud and.......i wunt put the rest up.    

im afraid we must be talking about the wrong sarah....................

FAT SARAH.......................is dead.........................she died by contracting covid-20.............(she was always ahead of the times)

40 minutes ago, Diver One said:

Welcome back

did you choose a Clock as you've 'done time"?

 

sorry 😂

better than the ones ive been hearing in the last month talking to myself...

13 minutes ago, Gordon R said:

I look forward to the new project. 

sorry gordon it aint got wheels or an engine....................

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11 hours ago, Gordon R said:

Doesn't matter. It's the craftsmanship I admire. My skills are limited to one area really - motorbikes and cars. I need to expand my projects.

there is a bit of a back story with this ...which should be intersting as it does confirm what im about to do needs to be done ..........

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42 minutes ago, Grandalf said:

Ditchy - Welcome home.   How is Sarah?

Careful how you answer that one.

DONT YOU TALK TO ME.........:mad:.........it was your fault that i got banned.......ive seen you lurking about

fat sarah is dead..she died of covid-20......(she was always ahead of the game)

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That’s better……oh no…something is starting to happen…....my eye is twitching and my finger is mysteriously being drawn toward the report button, best remove that avatar, it has strange effects on people……. only joking.:)

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well just to start the ball rolling as this will take some time.........

when these clocks were first made it was before electricity / electroplating.....they were made out of bronze....then with the advent of electrikery.and the development of spelter..they were plated....before that they were gold leafed using 24carat leaf...........when they started electroplating them they soon leant you had to plate onto copper...so the spelter castings were copper plated...trouble is the spelter reacted with the copper and after a few years thousands of small bubble/blisters started to raise up from the spelter......so then to cover it up folk went back to guilding.........trouble is 24carat leaf then was quite expensive so they used what was called "dutch leaf".........which ....when you compare one against the other ....its just not right

so people got fed up with it and then they painted the clocks with gold paint ...which is utter carp.............so what i have done is to break the clock down and started to strip the muck of ages off it and smooth off the damaged copper plating....before i go to the next stage..........

there are a couple of breaks to attend to.....and a missing scroll which you can see i have replaced ...making a mould out of play-dou and filling it with a hard set epoxy...then fettling it to the other side of the clock head piece......................

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It'll be stunning once you've fettled it Ditch, back to former glory.  Do you know how old it it? 

I spoke to ma about the gold leaf that father used to use. She reckons she hasn't come across it since we lost him six years ago. I know it's still in her house....somewhere but with the lockdown I really can't go and rummage in his bureau drawers myself. So i've asked her to hunt it down. Last time i saw it it was in sheets twixt fine see through paper.     

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15 minutes ago, Whitebridges said:

It'll be stunning once you've fettled it Ditch, back to former glory.  Do you know how old it it? 

I spoke to ma about the gold leaf that father used to use. She reckons she hasn't come across it since we lost him six years ago. I know it's still in her house....somewhere but with the lockdown I really can't go and rummage in his bureau drawers myself. So i've asked her to hunt it down. Last time i saw it it was in sheets twixt fine see through paper.     

i think it is about 1908-15 ish .....might be a bit earlier..........the bronze version goes back to the late 18th cent...........spelter became the metal for casting as it picks all the fine detail out of the cast.............good spelter examples are actually worth more than the bronze ones....mind you i would prefer the bronze metal..........

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The clocks tickin' again I'm pleased to say.  This little project is going to be very interesting and given time...no no no shouldn't mention that word....... but you know what I mean. I am certain this clock will be as good as new.  It would be nice to see you lay that gold leaf on. It needs a bit of practise but certain you can handle that bit.    Are you refurbing the innards as well?

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6 hours ago, ditchman said:

DONT YOU TALK TO ME..................it was your fault that i got banned.......ive seen you lurking about

fat sarah is dead..she died of covid-20......(she was always ahead of the game)

But didn't she have a twin sister fat Sue?

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You are right JDog and I certainly won't.   Well not while Ditchy has got another project like this on the go.

She's gone.   We paid our respects.   It's done and dusted.

Now for the clock.   Going to be a good project I feel.

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1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

The clocks tickin' again I'm pleased to say.  This little project is going to be very interesting and given time...no no no shouldn't mention that word....... but you know what I mean. I am certain this clock will be as good as new.  It would be nice to see you lay that gold leaf on. It needs a bit of practise but certain you can handle that bit.    Are you refurbing the innards as well?

the innards were done about 10 years ago...it was cleaned a couple of new bushes and the mainspring was reheat treated and tempered............what i will do is to soak it in clock cleaning fluid...dry it off and spot the moving bushes with a artists brush that has half a doz hairs on it.................it was supposed to have a fine fabric gauze on the back door but that has gone ..allowing dust to get in................i will polish the chimes tho.....they are lovely light chimes....chimes at the top of the hour and half hour...the dial/face is enamel and has no damage to it ..

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done a bit more now.........i have recast the missing bit out of epoxy and play-doe.......just have to smooth that down a bit and once the size goes on and is guilded you wont see it..........

started to clean the figures....before i start guilding i will rub then down with fine wire wool and degrease for the size ...which i will warm up and also warm up the castings.....the last pics are some of the castings i havnt done yet.....i have stripped the paint off and taken the dutch leaf off as well...and we are back to original now....you can see the poor state they are in...and you can see the blisters and the poor quality copper plating....which will all come off and be nice and smooth prior to laying the leaf on the size ................very similar to doing a car body repair.........the base has to be near perfect otherwise it will show thro on the final layer

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Edited by ditchman
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