November’s Program will be presented by Craig White on the topic of “Ferguson Astronomical Clock.”
Show and Tell: Bring your astronomical clock.
President’s Message
The Knights of Columbus on 92nd Street has cancelled our meeting contract, as they are selling the building in April 2019. We will be able to meet at the 92nd Street location for our November 2018, and January and March 2019 meetings. I have found a new location at a different Knights of Columbus for the remaining 2019 meetings (and hopefully beyond). The facility is very similar to our current setup. Rent is the same and they will make the coffee and handle setup and take down. The New Meeting Location will be: Knights of Columbus, 732 Badger Avenue, South Milwaukee, WI 53172. Check the updated list of meeting dates.
I will be giving a talk at the November meeting on the history of James Ferguson’s research in making an astronomical clock in the mid- to late 1700’s. A detailed description with photos of how his clock could tell time of day, strike hours, calendar with months and signs of elliptic. The clock demonstrates the rise and setting of the sun and moon. Stars are seen with respect to time as seen in the sky. The phases of the moon are shown waxing and waning. Also the positions of the moon and sun are shown and their influence on tides.
We still need presenters for 2019. The current list of presentations is:
Jan – No presenter yet
Mar – No presenter yet
May – Strasbourg Astronomical Clock – Craig
September – English Watch and Clock Making Tools – Danno
November – Beyer Clock Museum – Craig
We received 2 requests for educational talks. 1) Veneering clock cases and 2) How to repair of 400 day clocks. Contact Harry if you would be willing to work on presenting either of these topics or any other subject.
We have some Chapter 47 pins made many years ago. We will be selling them for $1 to anyone interested in them starting with the November meeting. Proceeds will go to the club. They can be worn at regionals or national events. They will also be given to anyone who buys a gold card for 2019.
The September meeting had record sales at the 3 silent auction tables. Bring more items for the November meeting.
Mike Dempsey presented the first part of his Tips & Tricks in clock repairing. He discussed the importance of the spring barrels as being the heart of the movement. The barrel must be properly maintained to power the movement with enough power and consistency as possible.
A method was shown to make a set of adapters to bush the barrel and barrel covers on a bushing machine. The proper removal and reassembly of a barrel using an arbor press along with an easily made closing pipe. A fixture and method was shown which can be used to re-place teeth in a barrel on a Sherline lathe. The use of parallel pliers in forming mainspring ends was also shown.
There will be some demos presented during the November Mart showing how to make and use the barrel restoring items.
The November meeting is our election for all officers, which occurs every 2 years. Please contact Mike Dempsey our election committee if you would like to volunteer for a position.
Thank you,
Craig White
He also brought what might the oldest American watch paper along so we could see it directly. Very interesting talk and excellent close-up photography of watch papers and watches.
