Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

I’ve decided to change my bedside clock to a more attractive one, I’ve found a suitable one (see picture) It works well but the hour and minute hands don’t line up very well.
I’ve attempted to move them manually but I quickly realised I was actually bending the hand, so I stopped pretty sharply.
So it looks like the hands need removing and placing back in the correct place.
The question is, how do I remove them?
There is a “cap” on top and I don’t know if it’s threaded or just a friction fit, I really don’t want to force anything and damage something.
Thanks

Re: Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

I think the cap on top of the hands is threaded and should unscrew, allowing you to pull off the hands.

If this is an alarm clock and the small red hand is the alarm hand, replace this first. Turn the alarm set knob on the back of the clock until you hear the mechanism click - the alarm is activated. Now replace the hour and minute hands so that they correspond with the alarm time.

Be careful - your clock could have radioactive luminous paint on the hands and dial. It may not glow anymore but could still have some radioactivity. Try to avoid touching the paint and wash your hands afterwards.

Re: Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

The luminous paint is made up of two parts; the radioactive base, and a fluorescent part which glows under the stimulus. This is the part which wears out.
You could try a modern fluorescent paint; it could well be sensitive to radiation. There will doubtless be more than half the original radiation available, even in a few thousand years' time.

Re: Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

Hi Clive,

The easiest way to resolve the alignment issue is to leave the hands in place and re-position the hour hand only. It should be possible to grasp the base of the hand using your fingertips and rotate it slightly on the shaft. I'd offer to pop round and help, but for obvious reasons I can't at present!

Re: Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

Do be careful though: some of those Smiths hands are very fragile and brittle. They tend to break at narrow points and it's not the easiest job to solder or stick them together again.

Martin

Re: Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

Thanks for your offer to help Ian, sadly not an option at this time.
I've managed to sort it out, after some time doing searches It brought me back to this site.
The minute hand isn't threaded and the clever solution is to use a small fork.
Hook the prongs under the hand and pull it up, this worked a treat and came off quite easily
I set the hour hand spot on to 12 and simply pushed on the minute hand to line up with the 12........job done!

Re: Some advice on a Smiths electric clock please
 

Well done, Clive!

I've just restored two examples of the alarm version of this movement. Aligning the 24-hour alarm time with the clock hands is quite an involved job.

I once bought a Smiths movement cheaply as a donor of a motor to repair another clock. When it arrived I found that the hour and minute hands had been glued together with Araldite!