4th Generation Grandfather Clock Chimes Again | The Repair Shop

Would you like to tell me a bit about it? Yes, I inherited it from my mother and she inherited it from her father. Right. I inherited it from his father. Right, that's great to know. So, let's just pop the hood off and have a look at the mechanism. Right, can you tell me what sort of age you think it might be? Well, the deer on the front there is 1712 and we've done some internet research and we can't find William Robb in 1712. We can find him in the 1800s, but not 17. Okay. That date has been added afterwards. Ah. Right. I would put it much later, around about 1750, that sort of age period. As old as that? Yes, this is definitely 18th century. Yes. So, have you known it working? Oh, yes. Yeah, I've known it working, definitely. But it possibly hasn't worked right for over 20 years now. Right, okay. So, we have just the basic time mechanism, which looks as if it's all there. It's absolutely black in there. Yeah. You can't see that there's any brass at all there. It's completely black. So, that's quite a challenge getting all that cleaned up, but an enjoyable one. If we could just get it ticking, we'd be happy. There's an awful lot to do in this clock because it's about 240 years old. It has ticked about seven and a half billion times in its life if it's been working every day. So, it's incredible. All those ticks have taken a toll on the clock's moving parts and have left Steve a massive job to try and wind back time. So, this pinion here has got quite a lot of wear to it. But it's quite fortunate that this pinion is quite soft as well. So, what I'm going to do, I can actually scrape it with a scalpel. I'm going to just shape it to get rid of the little groove that's worn in it because that, when it engages with the teeth, can actually stop the clock. Meanwhile, Will is working on the case and discovering there might be a little more to do than at first sight. Steve? Oh my goodness. This is what happens to grandfather clocks quite a lot, is that actually the glue blocks that hold it all together, they dry out and fall out. Yeah. And they fall onto the ground, smash, and obviously it's a lot bigger a job. Yeah. The back leg was so bad, it was rocking all over the place. So, I think that along, and that was flapping off the side. So, that along with the fact that everything's flapping everywhere else, it's only a matter of time, do you think, before that just... No, absolutely, it would have fallen over. So, in a nick of time, I think. In a nick of time. Yeah, absolutely. I'm just putting the silver powder on, rubbing it in. As you rub it on, it releases a very, very thin layer of silver over the surface of the brass. Big areas are the most difficult ones to get a nice, even finish. Sometimes you end up doing it again and again until you get it right. Steve's also decided to add an extra special touch for owners Ian and Linda. I've found a hammer. That's a hammer? Yeah, that's a hammer. And basically, every hour, the hammer will go back like that and strike. Ooh, that's nice. 250 miles away in Hull, the clock has been returned to owners Ian and Linda, who have no idea that Steve has added an extra little surprise. Well, look at that. Fantastic, isn't it? The cabinet as well. Doesn't look like a certain clock or so, does it? That's fantastic. We don't really keep a lot of stuff in the family, but this is the big heirloom, if you like. It's a lovely sound, very calming, homely. I can fall asleep to that. You probably will. Oh, are you joking? How's it done there? Oh, God. Oh, that's great, isn't it? Oh, dear me. I don't know what to say. Well, that's fantastic. That's the icing on the cake. Well, fantastic, isn't it? I know, it makes you feel quite emotional to think that all those years, it hasn't changed. No. Oh, it's lovely. It's a good surprise, is that one? Yeah, it is. It's a lovely surprise.