Friesan Clock restoration

[Lappa]

The backboard with the borer eaten tongue and groove has been repaired and twenty coats of shellac applied to the decorative sections. Its gone into storage while I complete the hood and false back/front restorations which are partly done.
Also, the leather for the top of the clock arrived Friday. Really nice, flexible sheep skin in a burgundy colour which is shade or two darker in colour to the rotten leather taken off, but is the closest I could find and suits the clock.

Before:

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After:

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The top clock mechanism mounting board, which pulls the tongue and groove sections tight together, has not been attached as yet.
Progress will be slower now as it’s back to work after two weeks off

[Lappa]

deleted

[yvan]

Auscab,

Is your cleaning mix of Linseed oil and mineral turps a general cleaning mix or is it specifically for old dry raw wood?

Boiled LO?

Thanks Yvan

[auscab]

It’s a soloution used by professional restorers Yvan and has a few uses. It’s used a lot as a soloutinn when rubbing Back a finish with a fine paper . You have to have a soloution to keep the paper from clogging . It’s used when rubbing back with steel wool to wash it clean . It leaves the work ready to go on and polish straight away when buffed dry first . It’s also used as a good way of reviving a dusty piece that’s been polished but has gathered dust in the cracks and corners . We used to go over the furniture at an Antique fair after it was delivered and before the doors opened . It’s used on the showroom floor or in the house like this . This is not done on waxed furniture . It would be dissolving the wax off . Hard polished finishes only . It’s good on old dry raw stuff as well . One of my favourite ways of giving something a lovely feel , like inside new drawers , is to rub back the wood with fine paper and o&t . Buff it dry and give it a very quick rubber with thin polish . About 30 seconds worth . You can use Raw or Boiled in the mix .
Don’t use it in metal moving parts like locks unless you really make sure it’s cleaned off . If you leave anything to wet with it , woodwork included , the turps evaporates and the oil dries slowly . It’ll go all sticky .

[Lappa]

Then
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Now

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[Lappa]

The lenticle is a thin pressed brass sheet with a classic design that covers a window in the lower tail section of the clock. You can see the pendulum swinging through it.


608065E4-F561-4303-B9A5-55F97B62670B.jpeg This is not my clock - just an example of a lenticle placement.


The one on my clock was badly damaged as they are so thin they are easily torn.
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I cleaned the old one using a clock makers brass cleaning solution and, while it came up a treat, the damage really stood out.


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So I went on a hunt on the WEB and I found a source of second hand ones but they too had some damage. Then I found a place in Holland that makes them from new in the old design. Got an almost exact copy of mine.

This just arrived from Holland Not cheap but worth it.

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Slow but steady and its all coming together.

[Lappa]

Slow work at the moment - paid work keeps getting in the way

The back arch and brace has now been attached. I was waiting on parts for my new Makita pin nailer. Shot heaps of pins when testing then hit a nail under the surface on the first real go - broke the driver
Makita had the wrong parts in the parts packet with the right part number so it took a couple of goes to get the right part.
The top and lower side trims have now been attached as well.

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All the cover needs now is the leather top

I did a quick assembly just to get a quick picture.

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Still need to finish the tail cover which is going to be a challenge as the shaped timbers are a little warped and one is broken due to that stress. They were all either loose or detached when I got the clock.

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I’ll look at it tomorrow

[auscab]

Its looking Nice . Im amazed how good a replica that Lenticle is you found . Never heard of a Lenticle before .
Does the company do other brass stuff as well . Do you have a link ? wouldn't mind having a look .

Just something you may want to consider with the leather , you got a pre coloured piece ? It'll work and could well be perfect for the job but You could have gone Vegetable tanned . Which is an older way of tanning . It has a nice yellow / brown more natural look. Same as what was on your clock . Its very absorbent and has to be stained /sealed by you . The softer coulred stuff is from what I know as chrome tanned, the tanning leaves it soft but a grey sort of colour . They have to basically spray paint it and seal it which is why it looks like it does and not like 18th century stuff.
With Veg tanned you can wet it , stretch it out and form it . Tack it on . When it dries it pulls tight . Then you stain and polish same as woodwork . It comes up right looking for the period . When it gets wet it changes from a stiff feel to like a wet flannel . Quite an amazing transformation and very workable. I don't think the sealed Chrome tanned leather will do the same if wet . Sealed veg tanned doesn't work when wet .

[Lappa]

I’ve been in touch with a guy in Holland that restores these clocks and has parts made. He’s the guy I bought the lenticle from. His name is Henri and he’s very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions.
The early clocks used a burlap cover while some of the later ones used leather but most used burlap.
The clockmaker whose repairing my mechanism said he’s seen them restored with tin or aluminium covers (yuk!).

The vegetable tanned hides I looked at were too thick and expensive. I’ll ring my leather supplier next week and have a chat as i’m not happy with the colour now I have the top almost finished.

The original leather on this clock appeared to have no coating/finish - it’s just straight leather, same colour all the way through - no signs of flecks of colour/finish.

As it was tack nailed every 50mm I’m not sure it would have been shrunk tight but I may be wrong - there is no sign of stretch/tear marks at the nail holes and the intact sections where not that tight.

Its all a learning curve for me so thanks for the information.

[Lappa]

Moved on to restoring the lower section of the tail cover. The cover itself has been cleaned, the old lenticle and glass removed and about 40 coats of shellac. The final wet sanding and finishing will be done when the tail cover is complete.

The lower section was in a bad way with the “wings” detached and the inner “frame” had pieces that were warped and had broken. It had been dropped on the tail end a number of times by the look of it but it adds to the patina so will be left as is.

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I decided not not to join the broken section as joining it then trying to straighten it would have broken it again. I would assemble it on the tail cover and adjust as required. Worked out well. The break is in the very corner and you can see the damage the end has received.

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Assembled the frame work then started fitting the “wings”. Interestingly there was no sign of glue between the “wing” and the cover and you would almost thing they were never attached but I was assured by a restorer in Holland that they would have been attached and logic said so as well.

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Next to be attached are the rebated sections that help hold the tail piece to the back cover.

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These will be done next weekend to give the glue plenty of time to dry.

The Makita pin nailer has been invaluable for this section as the pins located all the bits while you get the clamps in place. There are so many shapes on the bottom section that you Need perfect alignment and, as the old nails holes (filled) are still there and visible, I didn’t want any more.

[Lappa]

All the repairs, apart from surface finishing and adding the lenticle and leather hood, are now complete and the unit can be assembled

After letting the "wings" and their counterparts dry for a week, I assembled the cover to the back unit and attached the tapered stop at the bottom of the cover (far right in the picture).

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With the three attachments in place, the cover can be connected to the backboard. The two "wing" attachments slide over rebates in the back board then the tapered cap fits into an opposing taper on the backboard to alignh and hold all in place.

Back view

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Front view

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When the clock is installed on the wall, there are two brass "keys" that lock the cover to the backboard assembly. One side had been drilled too close to the font of the cover and had actually broken through. I repaired the cover, filled and stained the holes, then re drilled.

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All fits nice and snug

The clock has three "chimneys" that hold gilded figurines. Only one was present and badly damaged so I have remade all three.

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So I now have all the three major sections repairs complete so its now down to some touching up, wet sanding all and applying the final surface finishing. It will not be high gloss but will have a sheen.

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Once all that is done then the glass plate and lenticle will be attached, the leather hood added and brass ornaments attached.

[Lappa]

All three pieces were assembled and minor alignment issues straightened out so it all slides together beautifully.
All touching up was then completed as was the finishing coats of shellac.
I'll let everything sit for about three weeks than fit the lenticle glass and brass lenticle, then the column brass trims.
After that's done it just waiting for the mechanism to be completed.

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[Lappa]

Final touches on the back cover.

Glass puttied in and lenticle fitted.
The puttying was a bit tricky as the glass has to sit very close to the front edge so only a thin putty layer at the front
I chose to use 1 gauge screws rather than brass nails so the lenticle could be removed without damage.

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[Lappa]

Getting close now. The leather top is on and the “chimneys” in place.

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The leather is glued in place, as it was before. Originally it also had cut tacks. I could only salvage two. The ones on the arches are different to the commonly available ones in that they have a larger head - 6mm vs 3.5/4mm - but on both the shanks are the same, 1.4 to 2mm x 9/10mm long).

I finally found some after days of searching so they should be here this week. Like many things these days, the freight was dearer then the items.

All that’s left to do then is drill the chimneys for the figurines (I need to go to work to use a drill press as I don’t have one and accuracy is essential.

Below is the central figurine in relation to the chimney
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Due due to its height, if it’s not dead vertical you will really notice it.

[Potts]

Lovely craftsmanship, absolutely beautiful.