How do I straighten a bent Pendulum ?

[macabethiel]

Don't ask how but when moving our Grandfather Clock I managed to bend the Pendulum shaft.

I straightened it out a bit as best I could but it is bent and the Clock will not run as it has upset the dynamics.

The pendulum shaft is made of steel with brass bits at each end. I will take it to a clock maker when I can find a reliable one locally but not sure where to go as the last one I used in Derby has closed.

Anyone got ant tips as to how I could do it myself or know any goof repairers of old clocks within 20 miles of Derby ?

[jims-terrano]

Daft as it sounds have you tried looking on YouTube?

[Monaro Pete]

How bent is it?

Have you a vice & some flat pieces of wood. If it's quite bent, straighten it as best you can with the vice & wood. Then place it between the wood on a flat solid surface & gently tap along its length with a hammer.

Without actually seeing it, it's difficult.

[solarman216]

As with any bent metal, place it on some thing hard for the whole length of the straight part, bent bit up (so it is sitting on the two ends so to speak) and hit it with a hammer, two or three hits will normally be enough depending how large the item is, now with something like a pendulum I would sit it on a piece of hard wood and on the now upstanding bend place another bit of wood and hit that with the hammer this way it will not mark the shaft, size of hammer and wood of course to suite the job in hand, Rick

[Banshee]

Ahhh clock talk!!! Just managed to get a grandmother I brought recently going today, hasn't missed a minute all day and has a lovely Westminster chime, it's an Enfield and I'd date it around the 1940/1950 era

You wouldn't believe I was 25 :doh

https://image.ibb.co/mz4Qsv/20160501_210737.jpg

[Terrano Steve]

I would assume the pendulum is a precision part of the clock and needs to be accurate for the clock to perform correctly.

I bought a clock that was in pretty rough order & it sat on the project shelf in the shed for months, I got asked to do some sandblasting on green oak for a barn conversion & wasn't sure how it would go or even which media to use so I practiced on the clock which I blasted with crushed glass it came out really well.




http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x62/ferks_photos/100_2202.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/user/ferks_photos/media/100_2202.jpg.html)

[macabethiel]

A couple of good suggestions so I might try a lump of hardwood and a bit of hammer work or even better if I can find a pulley wheel or a roller if the steel is pliable enough rather than having to hit it and risk flattening the round profile.

In the meantime a local clock restorer who works from home said he will have a look at it when he is our side of town.