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Old 28th Jan 2019, 4:10 pm   #1
milespd
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Default Smiths Bijou clock movement

Hi, I am stripping a Smiths wall clock with the "Bijou" movement as the clock minute hand was occassionally slipping a tooth. I have cleaned everything up and trial reassembled and I have 2 questions.
- The motor seems to only have a bearing holding the rotor at one end, an oilite bearing by the looks of it. The pinion end meshes with the fibre gear but there seems to be nothing to hold this end on the rotor shaft. Should there be?
- one of the output shafts and gear, to the minute hand I think, is a very sloppy fit where it passes through the front plate. The shaft seems to have a groove which, when assembled, sits in the plate hole, resulting in too much play. Is this the correct shaft or should there be a collar fitted in the shaft groove to take up the play?

If I can't resolve the 2nd issue I shall add a supplimentary plate on the hands side to hold the far end of the drive shaft.

Thanks for any help that you can give, an exploded view of the mechanism would be of great benefit, if available.
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Old 28th Jan 2019, 4:24 pm   #2
Nickthedentist
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Hello and welcome, Miles(?),

Quote:
The motor seems to only have a bearing holding the rotor at one end, an oilite bearing by the looks of it. The pinion end meshes with the fibre gear but there seems to be nothing to hold this end on the rotor shaft. Should there be?
No, this is a later one so hasn't got a "rotor bearing cock" screwed to the plate with a flat springy bit of metal underneath to control the axial movement of the rotor shaft.

Quote:
one of the output shafts and gear, to the minute hand I think, is a very sloppy fit where it passes through the front plate. The shaft seems to have a groove which, when assembled, sits in the plate hole, resulting in too much play. Is this the correct shaft or should there be a collar fitted in the shaft groove to take up the play?
Could you confirm exaclty which hand, and highlight the grooved shaft you're referring to, please.

Nick.
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Old 29th Jan 2019, 12:41 am   #3
milespd
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Hi Nick, thanks for your swift reply. The shaft I am referring to looks like the one fitted with the minute pinion and the minute wheel in the first exploded view that you have attached (page 8). My 4th photo shows this shaft to the left of the centre spindle. Photo 5 shows his shaft lowered slightly (because it is not supported by the bearing pin on the back plate) with the groove (machined, not worn) visible underneath the plate. When assembled this groove sits within the thickness of the front plate, causing the sloppy fit. I can't make out why there is this machined groove, should it have some sort of collet around it to ensure a closer fit into the plate? Otherwise it seems an totally unnecessary groove. At the moment I am sure that this sloppyness is causing the minute wheel to jump teeth occasionally.
Regards, Paul
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Old 15th Mar 2019, 3:30 pm   #4
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Hi Paul,

Sorry for the very late reply.

I'm afraid I think the cause is simply wear, so your choices appear to be to to repair the arbor/plate or replace the parts with those from a similar but less worn Bijou.

Why it's so worn is a mystery, though I suspect that this hole often gets missed when a clock is stripped, cleaned and re-lubricated.

Here are some pics I have on file of a similar clock I did a while ago... Definitely not the kind of sloppy fit you describe, though some slight scoring of the arbor visible.

Good luck with it,

Nick.
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Old 15th Mar 2019, 5:47 pm   #5
milespd
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Hi Nick, sent you a private reply (not used to posting method yet!). The shaft that you picture doesn't have the groove that I described, I guess mine could have come from another clock? Anyway everything is back together now with an extra plate which sits on spacers on top of the top plate and locates the shaft as it exits the pinion. Forgot to take a picture, hope my explanation suffices. No slop in the shaft now and works perfectly, keeping time as expected with no tooth jumping. Regards, Paul
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Old 23rd Mar 2019, 1:26 pm   #6
Cliff526
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Sorry to add onto this thread.
First post.
I have inherited my grandad smiths sectric clock. It has a bijou movement. Is it possible to buy spares for this?
The electric motor does not work.
The winding has 12.4 ohms resistance.
Not sure if this is correct or it has a short.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Cliff
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Old 23rd Mar 2019, 2:17 pm   #7
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

In this thread you say that the resistance is 12.4 kohms. can you clarify things please:-

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=155142
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Old 23rd Mar 2019, 3:39 pm   #8
Cliff526
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Sorry that should say 12.4 kohms. Typo
Cliff
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Old 23rd Mar 2019, 9:59 pm   #9
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

That is correct, I'd say, Cliff.

No spares available, except for zillions of secondhand clocks and movements on eBay etc.

Nick.
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Old 24th Mar 2019, 9:06 pm   #10
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Default Re: Smiths Bijou clock movement

Apologies if you already know this but these clocks do not self-start and will just hum quietly until they are given a 'kick start'. The 'kick-start' is usually achieved by pressing down the time adjust button and releasing quickly but it depends on the exact model. If the clock has been cleaned and oiled, they normally start after one or two attempts. A Deco style one I just restored measures 12.89 kohms.
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