Dear Readers, It is that spooky time of the year again – when fear follows our steps, haunts us during our waking hours, and nightmares plague us. That’s right, I’m talking about midterm season. Cue the spooky music. Thankfully most … Continue reading Amelia Cuckoo 4 and Other Projects
Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap. It feels like eons ago that I was researching the differences between two seemingly identical miniature clock movements, Minxie and Narco, both from West Germany. There’s still a bit of mystery surrounding those two … Continue reading If it ain’t broke, don’t break it: Calamity falls upon Minxie
This post is a dive into the stories of the clocks described in the book Longitude by Dava Sobel. I previously posted a book review of that book, so to skip the fun information on the clocks and go straight to the book review, go here. The book chronicles the various approaches of clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) and his eventual handmade solutions to the problem of determining one’s longitude at sea. In this post I’ll be talking about his clocks and what made them unique. John Harrison was not a prolific clockmaker. He is famous only for his five clocks that … Continue reading John Harrison, Clockmaker Extraordinaire
Tonight was the crucially important first U.S. Presidential debate of for the 2016 election and you know what that means! Yup indeed, Ignoring the sad state of humanity and playing with clocks. I’ve gotten her quite spruced up since that first day I took her out of the box, and I’m happy to say that none of the mechanical parts seem to be broken. The hands, dial, and decorative wood are broken but those aren’t really what I’m here for anyway. It took a while to figure out how all the pieces fit back together (see last week’s picture) but … Continue reading Amelia Cuckoo 3: United we Stand
“Any alert schoolchild nowadays knows that cancer cries for a cure,” writes Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, the eye-opening and turbulent history of the search for a solution to tracking sea travel. Sobel argues that the race for a solution to … Continue reading Book Review: Longitude by Dava Sobel
Shall I compare Brasso to a summer’s day? Thou art more shiny and much more fragrant. Rough hands do shake the bottle ’til empty, And Eight ounces’ lease hath all too short a rent. I’m beginning to puzzle out the mysteries of my … Continue reading Shall I compare Brasso to a Summer’s Day?: Amelia Cuckoo 2
I’ve been needing a naming convention for the clocks I work on, and I’ve finally settled on the storm method. I danced around using the Greek Alphabet (alpha, beta, gamma, …) or the NATO phonetic alphabet (alpha, bravo, charlie, …) … Continue reading Amelia Cuckoo
Very little is known about Irenus Atkins, but what we do know is that he had vision. Plenty of vision, in fact. He had so much vision that after declaring personal bankruptcy and going out of business multiple times, he … Continue reading Date Night: Irenus Atkins
The night is young and so is my creation. Dare I, though? I have come into the ownership of (most of) a 1980 Hermle 341-020 clock movement and it’s so shiny and pretty and wonderful and there’s just one tiny … Continue reading Young Frankenclock
It may have predated Top 40, but it was still a hit. In 1876 Henry Clay Work would have topped any chart (if they existed) with “My Grandfather’s Clock“, a moving song about a clock that ticks faithfully until the … Continue reading My Grandfather’s (or Grandmother’s) Clock
For weeks I’ve been tracing this Ansonia clock over message boards and under private collections, through hoops of silver, brass, pewter, gold, and steel. I’m happy to report that I caught that wascally wabbit and will soon be cooking him … Continue reading Knight in Kind-of Shining, Possibly Gilt, Armor
Have you taken the time to thank your great-great-grandparents today? Perhaps you should. My wonderful Aunt Julie volunteered her clock to this week’s date night, inherited from her mother (my grandmother), and to my grandmother presumably from her grandparents in … Continue reading Date Night Week 2: Thank you Great-Great-Grandparents!
She Talks About Clocks 