February 12 2012

Program #1 11:15

Three Short Demonstrations on Clock Repair and Restoration

Presented by Richard S. Robinson

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member Rick Robinson will briefly demonstrate these elements of clock repair and restoration:

Program #2 After Lunch

AUCTION

Auctioneer – Richard S. Robinson

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Have items you want to dispose of?

This is the perfect opportunity.

Please let Rick know what items you will be bringing.

His contact information is: Work (757) 238-3755

Home (757) 365-4692 before 8:00 p.m.

Or just bring your ‘for sale’ items to the meeting.

December 11, 2011

Program #1

Theory of the Verge Escapement

Presented by Lowell A. Fast and L. A. “Tuck” Tompkins

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Members Lowell Fast and Tuck Tompkins will present a program and demonstration on the theory of the verge escapement.

Program #2 After Lunch

Henry J. Davies and The Mystery Under Glass

Presented by Michael W. Tyler

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member Michael Tyler of Mechanicsville is the presenter. The program is a brief overview of Henry J. Davies with the main focus on the Crystal Palace Clocks and the patents utilized in the design and movements as well as a speculation of the difference inferred by the term “Extra” in the model line. Additionally, some related clock models will be discussed as to how they are related to the Crystal Palace line.

Michael developed an interest in things mechanical at an early age. He began collecting clocks at age 15, and his first clock purchased was a Crystal Palace #4, although no one he knew could specifically identify the clock at that time. He enlisted the services of former NAWCC member and family friend David Lipscombe to help determine the maker. From there, the hunt was on after Mr. Lipscombe found information written by Brooks Palmer referring to the Crystal Palace clock and showing ten different models in a price list.

An NAWCC Fellow, Michael is a past president of the Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 and has served as Chair for several Mid-Eastern Regional meetings. He recently retired as a firefighter/haz-mat technician/EMT with 31 years of service with Henrico County, Virginia. His interests beyond Horology include genealogy, researching Confederate veterans from Hanover County, aviation and space exploration.

October 9, 2011

Program #1

Model 21 Chronometer:

Hamilton Watch Company’s Last Production ?

James H. Adams, Jr. Richmond, Virginia

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member Jim Adams will provide a brief history of the Hamilton Watch Company and production of their ship’s chronometers. There were over 13,000 made, mostly for the military in World War II. Several years ago, Jim wrote a paper on the end of the Hamilton Watch Company. Being a New Orleans native, he found it especially interesting that Hamilton’s last production run (circa 1970) was twenty ship’s chronometers for a ship’s chandler in New Orleans. These were to be used on a New Orleans based shipping line.

Program #2

Randolph W. Nabor

Smithfield, Virginia

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member Randy Nabor of Smithfield will demonstrate the steps involved in refinishing a black mantel clock case, resulting in the high gloss finish enjoyed today by many collectors. Randy will provide tips on what to do, and what not to do. Randy has displayed his finished clocks frequently at Chapter meetings.

This is a continuation of the program presented at the August meeting. Randy ran out of time in explaining the entire process of ‘glassing’ the black mantel clock cases.

August 14, 2011

Program #1

Randolph W. Nabor

Smithfield, Virginia

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member Randy Nabor of Smithfield will demonstrate the steps involved in refinishing a black mantel clock case, resulting in the high gloss finish enjoyed today by many collectors. Randy will provide tips on what to do, and what not to do. Randy has displayed his finished clocks frequently at Chapter meetings.

Program #2

Richard S. Robinson

Smithfield, Virginia

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member and Vice President Rick Robinson will discuss glass cutting and will demonstrate how to cut many shapes, such as tall case clocks, round glasses, square glasses, etc. He will provide helpful hints and also focus on what to do, and what not to do. Rick will also show how to tint glazing putty.

June 5 2011

Speakers

Eric Nordgren

The Mariners’ Museum • Newport News, Virginia

Eric Nordgren is Senior Conservator with the USS Monitor project at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News where he focuses on the conservation of metal artifacts from marine archaeological sites. Eric studied Archaeological Conservation at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, United Kingdom, and has worked as a conservator for a wide variety of museums and archaeological projects in the United States and overseas including the National Museum of Beirut, Lebanon, Institute of Nautical Archaeology-Egypt, and the Queen Anne’s Revenge project in the U.S. Working with NAWCC members Roger Conner and Jim Dyson, Eric completed the conservation of the 1862 Victor Giroud clock from the USS Monitor in 2009.

Roger Conner

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Roger is retired from the U.S. Navy and has had a clock repair business in the Tidewater area for a number of years. A member of the Old Dominion Chapter No. 34, Roger is a long-time collector of nautical clocks. The program was presented at the NAWCC 2010 Ward Francillon Time Symposium in October in Williamsburg.

Program 11:15 a.m.

Conservation of the USS Monitor’s Engine Room Clock

The Union Ironclad USS Monitor (1862) included many innovations like the first rotating gun turret on a naval vessel. The Monitor fought against the CSS Virginia in the pivotal Battle of Hampton Roads onMarch 9, 1862, just thirty miles from Historic Williamsburg.

The presentation describes the conservation of the Victor Giroud clock from the engine room of the USS Monitor, which was lost off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in 1862 and of which large portions have recently been recovered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). After being submerged in the Atlantic Ocean for 140 years, the Monitor’s clock was truly an archaeological object, and required desalination and stabilization at The Mariners’ Museum’s Batten Conservation Labs. Through collaboration with Hampton Roads area clock collector Jim Dyson and restorer/collector Roger Conner, Mariners’ Museum Senior Conservator Eric Nordgren was able to reintegrate the extant portions of the clock movement with replica parts made by Mr. Conner. The preservation challenges and the solutions employed will be discussed.

Tour 2:30 p.m.

The Mariners’ Museum

Newport News, Virginia

Following lunch and the business meeting, members will travel (in their own vehicles) to The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News for a tour of the USS Monitor exhibit there.

Eric has advised that several of their early chronometers will be available for viewing.

The Mariners’ Museum is located off I-64 in Newport News, Virginia. The distance is 20 miles, and travel should take 25-30 minutes. Driving directions will be available at the meeting.

The group discount admission is $9.00 per person.

April 10, 2011

Keith Clayton-Kastenholz

Williamsburg, Virginia

Owner and chief repairman for Williamsburg clocks, Keith trained as an apprentice clockmaker for seven years working in a busy clock repair business in California. There, he also learned to repair and restore all types of music boxes, player pianos, and organs. After completing his training, Keith and his wife moved to Williamsburg in 1993 and started Williamsburg Clocks in 1996.

Keith has a great passion for clock restoration, and his philosophy is simple: clocks are meant to run and tell time. He believes historically important clocks can be sensitively restored and kept in working condition, just as the great clock builders of the past would have intended. Keith’s range of skills has brought him some interesting opportunities. He has worked on some exceptional pieces of horological history. Many of these pieces date from the early years of the development of American Clocks, and many have unique designs and innovations. Keith has also repaired or restored clocks for Colonial Williamsburg, the Virginia State Capitol, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond’s Agecroft Hall, Fort Monroe and the U.S. Senate. He has worked with John Watson in the Musical Instruments Conservation Department at Colonial Williamsburg. Program #1

Program #1

Striking a Careful Balance between Conservation and Restoration

The talk focuses on movements and mechanisms. Keith will discuss the subject of approaching conservation and restoration philosophies, which often seem to be in conflict, but actually aren’t. He will discuss various case studies of mechanisms and how to make them functional operating pieces, yet at the same conserving them. He invites the attendees to bring actual movements that have been or are in need of conservation/restoration. He would like to lead an open discussion in how to best approach a particular challenge of blending two different philosophies.

Keith states his philosophy on conservation: “Clockmaking performed at the highest level of quality can and should conform to the ethics and principles of the Conservation profession. However, the assumption of the return of an historic clock to faithful and safe functionality requires a careful balance between the desire to improve the condition of various components and a need to protect these components from any further alteration, either intentional or environmental. The final decisions as to how far to go either way are the responsibility of the client or curator. I will always advise to “leave well enough alone” unless functionality will be impossible without treatment. In some cases the clock should be taken out of service rather than risk alterations. Obvious alterations that impair the appearance or distort the original form should be carefully removed only if such removal will not simple replace one alteration with another.

“Restoration” is widely understood to be the return of an object as nearly as possible to its original form at all costs. This should be constantly avoided. First, “originality” in this sense can never be truly achieved as it is based in layers of supposition and assumption. Second, restoration inherently is a forced replacement of interpretation of an object with the irretrievable erasure of any others built up over many years and experiences. Any new material or components required should blend in appearance at normal viewing distances, but be detectable at close range. At the end of treatment, an historic clock should be in the most original, best preserved, and most stable, safe and reliably operating condition possible.”

Program #2

Music Boxes – the Do’s and Don’ts when Purchasing

Keith will provide advice on things to look for when purchasing a music box. Note: Members are requested to bring music boxes in your collection to examine during the program.

February 13, 2011

Program #1

Herschede Clock Company

By Randy Thatcher

Randy Thatcher, owner and president of the Herschede Clock Company since 1992, gives an informative lecture on the past, present and future of the company.

Part II – presented following lunch and the Business Meeting

The French Morbier –

the Most Unique Clock Ever, ca. 1680-1900

By Steve Z. Nemrava

The program is a detailed story of the origin, invention and development of the French Morbier and its influence on horology. Mr. Nemrava also discusses the technical features of the Morbier and gives pointers on repairing the movements.

December 12, 2010

Program #1

The Joys and Disappointments of Clock and Watch Collecting

Presented by L. A. “Tuck” Tompkins

The video presentation, presented by Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 member L. A. “Tuck” Tompkins of Ashland, provides pointers on what to look for in purchasing a clock or watch for your collection. Often, collectors are unable to fully examine a piece prior to purchase. The program gives helpful hints as to determining the condition of the movement and what repairs and/or restorations must be done to put the item in operating order.

Members are encouraged to bring their clocks and watches that they may need advice on.

After Lunch program

The Not So Silent Auction

Auctioneer – Richard S. Robinson

The Auction is limited to 50 items/lots. No fee for entering items/lots in the Auction.

Please call Rick Robinson at 757-365-4692 (evenings) to enter your items/lots.

Last minute items will be accepted.

Turn dust collectors into $$$ cash $$$ and pick up some bargains.

October 10, 2010

Program #1

Guest Speaker

William R. ‘Bill’ Bryan

Kingsport, Tennessee

The guest speaker for the October meeting is William R. ‘Bill’ Bryan of Kingsport, Tennessee. An NAWCC Fellow, Bill is serving as an NAWCC Director, with his term expiring in 2011. He has served as president of his home chapter, Watauga Valley Chapter No. 162, in eastern Tennessee. He is a member of several chapters, including the Cog Counters. Bill has been a frequent speaker at chapter and regional meetings, has helped organize horological exhibits in Tennessee and Virginia museums, and has restored and helps maintain public tower clocks. Bill served as Exhibit Chair for the 2007 National Convention in Chattanooga. He grew up in the Houston area, studied at North Carolina State University and New York University, and is retired from a marketing career in the chemical industry.

Bill has been a member of NAWCC for over 35 years and has a special interest in early American clocks, especially those with Southern provenance.

We welcome Bill and his wife, Pat, to the October meeting. 

Southern Label Clocks

The program covers a number of clocks in the Exhibit at the NAWCC 2007 National Convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee, including several by Jerome with a Richmond label. Other most recently documented examples will be included in the presentation. The talk includes a discussion of the reasons southern label businesses were created and some of the principals involved.

Part II – presented following lunch and the Business Meeting

Tall Case Clocks of the Southern Back Country

Many of the clocks shown were exhibited at the NAWCC 2007 National Convention in Chattanooga. In addition, other recent additions will be covered.

August 8, 2010

Program #1

Old Dominion Craft Show and Exhibit

There are a lot of very talented craftsmen in the Old Dominion Chapter No. 34. You are invited to bring one of your prized projects: a restoration, a made-from-scratch clock case andlor movement, a custommade watch or any horological item such as a tool or repair device. Be sure to include your item in the Exhibit.

Then, during the program you will have an opportunity to describe your 'labor of love'.

Part II – presented following lunch and the Business Meeting

The Construction of a Replica of the South Glastonbury

Congregational Church Tower Clock Movement

Speaker: Hayward GJaspell

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member Hayward Glaspell of Seaford is the speaker. Hayward built a replica of a wooden tower clock movement that was once in the South Glastonbury Congregational Church in Connecticut.

The original old movement was removed from the church in 1916 and is now on display in the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. Through photographs, Hayward documented in detail how he machined the replica tower clock in his home workshop. The photographs have been put into a Powerpoint presentation, which Hayward will narrate. After the presentation, Hayward will be available to answer your questions and provide tips to other woodworking craftsmen.

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June 13, 2010

Eugene R. “Gene” Volk

NAWCC Director

Lake Toxaway, North Carolina

The guest speaker is Gene Volk, currently serving as a Director on the NAWCC Board of Directors. He is a member of the NAWCC Finance Committee and the NAWCC Chapter Relations Committee. An NAWCC Silver Star Fellow, Gene previously served as a Director from 1995 to 1999. Gene was General Chairman of the 2003 NAWCC National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A past Chairman of the NAWCC Program Committee, Gene initiated the Speakers Bureau and chaired a sub-committee which developed the Regional Registration program. He continues to provide support for the walk-in registration function by working at almost every national convention and many regional meetings.

Gene has served as President of Carolina Chapter No. 17 and Western Carolina Chapter No. 126. He has authored several Bulletin articles and served as speaker at local, regional and national meetings. His horological interests include the restoration and maintenance of tower clocks. Gene also teaches clock repair at a local community college.

The Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 is pleased to welcome Gene and his wife, Barbara, to the June meeting.to present:

Restoration of a McClintock Clock

The program describes the activities performed in the restoration of a McClintock Clock located in Seneca, South Carolina. It includes the adding of stained glass panels, the rewinding of the strike coils, making of new hammer rods, and restoration of other parts. 

Program 2

Restoration of the Clemson University Seth Thomas 16B Tower Clock

The program shows pictures and describes the restoration of the Clemson University Seth Thomas 16B tower clock, located on the campus in Clemson, South Carolina.

Background: The clock was purchased for Clemson University in December 1905 by Clemson President Dr. P. H. Bell. It was installed in Tillman Hall in 1906. The cost of the clock was $635 and the cost of the McShane bell was $600. The clock ran four dials each with a diameter of 8 feet 2 inches. It was electrified, thought to have occurred sometime in the 1960s or 1970s. No records of the electrification have been found. In October of 1985, the clock was removed from Tillman Hall and put in storage. It was replaced by an electric clock mechanism.

Restoration: Members of Western Carolina Chapter No. 126 became aware of the existence of the clock in the summer of 2005 while working on another project for the University. After several meetings with members of the School of Engineering, it was agreed in December of 2005 that the clock should be restored to its original mechanical state. This program covers the restoration of the clock including: removal from storage, identification of missing parts, cleaning and restoring the original movement, making and/or obtaining missing parts and the reassembly and testing of the completed restoration. The clock is now running and on display in the Fluor Daniel Building on the Clemson University campus.  

April 11. 2010

Railroad Time Service, Southern Style

By Kent Singer and Ed Ueberall

The DVD presentation by Kent Singer and Ed Ueberall was first presented at the 2007 NAWCC National Convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Although Webb C. Ball gets a lot of the credit for standardized railroad time service, the fact is that Webb was actually just another player in the standardization and regulation of timekeepers and was not the first. The telegraph was really what was needed to synchronize clocks and watches across the country. In the 1830s, a small railroad in South Carolina that began in Charleston and later merged into the Southern Railroad (now Norfolk & southern), came up with solutions to the problem much earlier. Local time and standardized time zones are discussed. Also, standards for railroad watches used for railroad service in the South as recently as the 1990s are discussed.

The Great Clock at Monticello

Presented by David Todd

Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 Member David Todd of Kilmarnock will speak on The Great Clock, Thomas Jefferson’s clock mounted in the Entrance Hall at Monticello. No doubt many of you have visited Jefferson’s home Monticello near Charlottesville and marveled at this clock.

The clock is powered by two sets of cannon-ball-like weights (18 pounds each), which drive its ticking and the striking of a gong on the roof. The weights are strung on ropes and descend in the corners of the room on either side of the clock, through holes in the floor to the cellar below. Jefferson placed labels next to the path of the running weights to indicate the days of the week.

David comments, “The clock has had an interesting history right from its conception and the fact that it still runs today is fairly remarkable, given its design flaws.”

David has been taking care of this clock, together with all of the other clocks at the house, since the early 1980s through a reciprocal agreement between the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, where David was a Museum Specialist and Conservator of the Timekeeping Collection until his retirement five years ago. He is still on call to Monticello from time to time. 

February 14, 2010

Program American Clocks in the South 1790 – 1860

Narrated by NAWCC Director Bill Bryan

Part I – presented at 11:15 a.m.

The DVD presentation was made at the NAWCC 2007 National Convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where a special exhibit was assembled on early southern clocks (tall case) and on mass-produced Yankee clocks with southern labels – “so-called Yankee clocks with a southern accent”. Bill shows with maps and diagrams the routes that peddlers used to bring clocks to the south from the north. They used land routes, railroads and ships to get the clocks to the southern market. One land route was down what is now Interstate 81 through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Since some southern merchants did not like Yankees getting all this business (“foreign trade”), the legislatures passed laws that taxed the peddlers and their clocks. To get around this, some clockmakers such as Chauncey Jerome began some assembly in the south and started pasting southern labels on clocks. Sometimes the southern towns on the label did not even exist! Several clocks by Jerome with Richmond, Virginia, labels are shown. Members are encouraged to bring clocks with southern labels for the exhibit.

Part II – presented following lunch and the Business Meeting

The second part of the program covers other Yankee clocks with southern labels, such as locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, etc. Also featured in the latter part of the program are some of the interesting clocks entered in the 2007 NAWCC Horological Crafts Competition.

December 13, 2009

50th Anniversary Celebration

The organizational meeting of the NAWCC Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 was held on November 22, 1959. The December 2009 Chapter Meeting has been designated an Anniversary Meeting to recognize and honor the charter members, past presidents and members who have contributed toward the success and longevity of the chapter.

GUEST SPEAKER

John S. Hubby

Chair, NAWCC Board of Directors

The Old Dominion Chapter No. 34 is pleased to welcome John Hubby, Chair of the NAWCC Board of Directors, and his wife Beth to the Chapter's Anniversary Celebration. John was elected to the position of NAWCC Second Vice President in 2001. He served as Chair of the Merger Task Force joining the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. with the NAWCC Museum. John was elected to the Board of Directors in 2005 and 2007, served as Vice-Chair for the 2007 - 2009 term. He was elected Chair by the Board in June 2009.

John's collecting interests are varied, but perhaps he is best known throughout the Association as an authority on torsion clocks. He chaired and presented at the Time Symposium on torsion pendulum clocks (held in St. Louis in 2003). Much of the exceptional exhibit supporting the topic was from his personal collection. Items from his collection have also been featured at the NA WCC Museum.

John is active in numerous chapters, including his first chapter - First Australian No. 72, his home chapter - San Jacinto No. 139, and the International 400-Day Clock Chapter No. 168, where he serves as Secretary and Newsletter Editor. He also holds memberships in Southwestern Chapter No. 15, Electrical Horology Society No. 78, Lone Star Chapter No. 124, Western Electrics Chapter No. 133, Friends of the West Coast Clock and Watch Museum No. 180, and Australian Capital Canberra No. 182. John and Beth live in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb of Houston.

Program – 11:15 AM

Collecting Anniversary Clocks

(It's not all about glass domes!)

This presentation covers the history of torsion clocks (generically, "Anniversary" clocks) development and production, while pointing out the myths and misconceptions about them. The incredible variety of these timepieces is generally not well known, so many examples will be shown to illustrate that point. Actual clocks made between 1841 and 1991 (150 years!) will be viewed and comments made about availability and value. Indications will be given to collectors from the beginning hobbyist to the more sophisticated about where to find them and where to get information about their history.

Anniversary Program - After Lunch

· Recognition of charter members

· Recognition of past presidents

· Remarks by past presidents and long-time members

· Congratulatory remarks from the NA WCC, Inc. - Mr. Hubby

· Update on NAWCC activities and actions of the Board of Directors - Mr. Hubby

· Refreshments featuring an anniversary cake

October 11, 2009

Noel Poirier

Director, NAWCC Museum

Noel Poirier, Director of the NAWCC Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania is the guest speaker. Noel holds a BA in History and MA in Military History. Noel was employed with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for 14 years and was involved with the William & Mary Elderhostel program for six years. He has written for several national history publications.

Noel has been Director of the NAWCC Museum since May of 2007. He and his wife Jen have two children, Claire (age 9) and Luc (age 1).

Noel will bring several items from the collection at the NAWCC Museum to discuss and examine. He will discuss the future of the Museum, the efforts toward achieving Museum Accreditation with the American Association of Museums, and the ways that are being implemented to make the Museum more accessible to NAWCC Members.

August 9, 2009

The Repeater Watch and its Mechanism

The repeater watch, especially the minute repeater with complications, represents the pinnacle of watchmaker achievement. Repeaters are watches that strike the time on demand by pushing a lever or button. A clockwatch strikes like a clock without requiring human interface. Repeater watches were made so that on demand would strike the hour (hour repeater), half-quarter hour, quarter-hour, five minutes, sand minutes. During the late 1880s through the 1920s, repeater pocket watches were quite popular among watch enthusiasts and those with the money to afford such luxuries. If you think it is difficult to put the time train of a clock back in sync, you will find the minute repeater to be an order of magnitude more difficult. During the workshop, the first part of a VHS presentation Exploring the Repeater will be shown, highlighting the disassembly of a modern highgrade minute repeater. Many good tips on general practices for the modern watch restorer are discussed in this video. Chapter member Ed Fasanella, who enjoyed restoring repeater mechanisms in his younger days when his eyesight was sharp and his hands were more steady, will being in several different styles of repeater movements, pieces and parts for Chapter Members to examine first hand.

Exploring the Repeater –Reassembly

The final portion of the video will be shown and should be of interest to the watch restorer and collector alike. If you have a repeater and want it cleaned and overhauled, this video will give you a good indication of how much work in required to do the job the right way. Note that hand cleaning is much preferred to ultrasonic cleaning for such a delicate and precise mechanism. If you want to understand and practice the principles of fine workmanship, then you won’t want to miss this program.