Don't do it! -1-

	Here is a selection of clock parts showing that kind of work we don't do but we must fight against every day.
	Here a "clockmaker", who had not the right tooling to make new wheels, tried to insert a certain amount of teeth (we could say not a few) to repair a wheel damaged by mainspring breaking. Guess if the repair could be successful.
	As you can see, also the inserted teeth are bent. This is because once the wheel has been remounted the mainspring (once again) detached from the barrel hook, which was too low to give safe locking. In that moment, the barrel wheel was damaged too. Usually on common wheels it's better not to insert new teeth. On the other side, on barrel wheels two or three teeth can be safely inserted, avoiding the cost for a new part making. This time somebody overcame to this limit, using an entire sector of a "similar" wheel, with no regard to module, roundness or stiffness: may be all too technical questions! To end, also these teeth have been hand finished with a file to make them (badly) mesh with their pinion.

A particular case: the man who cut these spokes felt an artist but couldn't express himself with the necessary skill! Teeth are cut well, anyway, and this matters most.

The largest O-ring gasket ever seen in our workshop. It is commonly used on wristwatches screw backs but comparing its diameter to a common Swatch it's easy to understand that it has been differently employed. It may sound incredible, but it was placed between the bezel and the case of a French pendulum clock made in the first half of nineteenth century. Did they want to make it water resistant?

Usually a mainspring is replaced when its permanent coils (visible with spring out of barrel) are in number of three or four. Can you count these coils without getting an headache? The clock owner said: "The mainspring is all right".

On movement plates there are some holes used as seats for arbor pivots. Many years of running and lack of lubrication cause wear: holes enlarge and become oval. The remedy consists of a bushing applied to the hole in order to obtain the circular shape again. Here a different remedy has been adopted: using a punch and a heavy hammer, strong blows have been given to the plate. This was intended to deform the metal and let the hole return to the natural round shape. Not a neat job! Furthermore, the plate finish is definitively damaged near the pivot hole.

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