15909 PNW Garage Workshop

[OldDood]

In researching online for old school clocks to figure out how to wire the one I came into possession of, I came across this forum site and I'm impressed on its look and the variety of topics related to 'garage workshops'... Kudos to the owners/webtechs for creating this site...!

I have an extensive mechanical background from my Navy and Merchant Seaman days of time in the engine room of the ships I was assigned to, plus all the tinkering I did as a kid figuring out how mechanical things worked... I guess I would fall under the title of: 'jack of all trades, master of none'... I find the process of figuring out how to fix something or envisioning how to improve something relaxing and challenging... I like crossword puzzles but turning a wrench or banging a few nails in on a project are more interesting to me...

I've been retired since 2014 and do my best to spend time in my (uninsulated) garage workshop - mostly during warmer weather... One of the more recent 'projects' I have had for a while is figuring out how to wire up to use an old (1959) 'secondary clock'... I'm hoping to get it to work so I can hang it up in the shop soon...!

 

[Jayman17]

Welcome from just down the road from you in Seattle. Good luck with your shop clock. I've been on the lookout for an interesting shop clock myself.

 

[OldDood]

Welcome from just down the road from you in Seattle. Good luck with your shop clock. I've been on the lookout for an interesting shop clock myself.

hello, jayman17 - thanks for the welcome; appreciate it... yep, up here in 'north lynnwood' (aka: unincorporated edmonds)... i used to work for the seattle school district (ssd) and i think that's where i got this clock... the ssd has a habit of throwing out items that can be repurposed... anyway, if i can't get this clock to work i will let you know and pass it on to you... at the moment, i am just trying rig a system to power it up... i think the two brown wires were connected into the master clock system along with the synchron motor... will update my progress later with the results: success or failure... good luck to you as well...!

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to the Forum from Southwestern California. I am a former resident of Anchorage, San Francisco, Seattle, Bremerton and Honolulu.
A career in the US Navy moves you around.

 

[OldDood]

Welcome to the Forum from Southwestern California. I am a former resident of Anchorage, San Francisco, Seattle, Bremerton and Honolulu.
A career in the US Navy moves you around.

Thank you...! Ah, yes... How I know about the moving around bit; my dad was in the USAF and we moved about every two to three years... One of those moves was to Japan where he was posted for about three years... By birth, I am a San Francisco native even though we lived in government housing in Vallejo - housing that is long gone now according to an internet search... My sister and other maternal family relatives live in California, one of which up and moved to Australia... Thanks again for the welcome; appreciate it...!

 

[drivesitfar]

I also want to welcome you to GJ and i'm also a fellow PNW member. I inherited my great great grandparent's clock that is about a foot wide and 2 foot tall with clock and separate date dials on it that are about 6 inches in diameter. it also needs some work, but not sure I want a clock dinging at me every hour.

I retired about 2008 and started collecting or buying old tools and this site seemed to be one that GOOGLE always sent me to when I wanted to research a 50 or 100 year old tool so i decided to join in 2013 and it's been a fun ride. as with all things that have their good there are always the bad so navigate your way around and you'll find the good here and hopefully avoid the idiots that tend to want to be heard now and again.

cheers

 

[OldDood]

I also want to welcome you to GJ and i'm also a fellow PNW member. I inherited my great great grandparent's clock that is about a foot wide and 2 foot tall with clock and separate date dials on it that are about 6 inches in diameter. it also needs some work, but not sure I want a clock dinging at me every hour.

I retired about 2008 and started collecting or buying old tools and this site seemed to be one that GOOGLE always sent me to when I wanted to research a 50 or 100 year old tool so i decided to join in 2013 and it's been a fun ride. as with all things that have their good there are always the bad so navigate your way around and you'll find the good here and hopefully avoid the idiots that tend to want to be heard now and again.

cheers

Thank you, drivesitfar; appreciate the welcome... a friend of mine just had two of his grandparents clocks fixed at a shop in a Ballard clock repair shop (Ballard Time Shop), a pretty amazing place with a big grandfather clock in the lobby showing a price tag of $2k(!)...Yikes...!

I finally got around to hooking up my old school clock to power yesterday (it is an AC motor) - the second hand started moving and no smoke came out of the motor so, whew...! It didn't run long so I'm still figuring out what is causing that issue... All the gears seem to move okay but I'm wondering if it has something to do with the synchro motor (the red 'n white wires)...? More research ahead...!

I've checked out some of the topics on here and I think you are correct - bad 'n good... Even some nuggets of info can be gleaned from the 'bad'...

Again, thanks for the welcome... I best get off my **** and mosey on out the the garage workshop and work on the clock...! take care...

 

[nadogail]

Procrastination has been a frequent problem for many of us.
Those who suffer from it include many of us.