Clockmakers generally don't work on watches; the skills and tools required are different enough that watchmaking is a separate field, handled by another specialist, the watchmaker.
A steel device was constructed by E.F.B. & Company. This device was called the Balance Truing Caliper and aided clock makers in stabilizing a balance wheel. During the utilization of this tool, the pivots of the wheel were positioned into small impressions in the arms of the caliper. The index was then shifted toward the edge of the balance wheel; after this process, the wheel was spun to see if it was sturdy enough to be manufactured.
Shortly after, the die or screw plate was constructed. The die plate was used to cut threads on small screws. Then, threads are split on a piece of wire as it is alternated through the holes that form the screw.
Another tool that was formed during this time was a file. This steel mechanism was used to shape and varnish the metal before it was used to make and fit wheels or plates. There were many variations of files.Rivet Extracting Pliers were made of brass or steel and used to remove attachments from assorted clock parts.
Although steel was the primary resource in the construction of most of the tools made during this time, wood and iron also began being utilized. An example of this was the Jeweler’s Piercing Saw. The blade of this contraption was isolated by releasing the thumbscrew adjacent to the handle. After isolation, a hole was drilled and the blade was replaced for the cut to be made. This device was popular among clock makers to repair the ends of clock hands.
Another example of an iron tool used was presented in the form of the staking tool. The vertical plunger was used with an array of stakes for placing rollers and balanced wheels on staffs.
The next instrument used was turns. Turns were used for furbishing parts and for lacerating gear blanks to size. During the process of utilization, turns were clamped in a vice and the worker held a cutting or polishing tool on a tee shaped tool rest with one hand, and shifted the bow back and forth with the other to pivot the work.
The final tool used was the Cross Peen Riveting Hammer. The flat end of this tool was for general use, whereas the carved peen end was used for dispersing rivet heads. This tool was used for forging, riveting, striking steel, etc.
• Australia, VIC, Australian Watchmaking School, Ringwood
• Belgium, Technicum Noord-Antwerpen, Antwerp
• Canada, Ecole National D'Horlogerie, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec
• Finland, The Finnish School of Watchmaking, Espoo
• Germany, Flüthe Uhrseminaren, Telgte
• Germany, Hessische Uhrmacherschule, Hessenpark
• Germany, Mecanicus, Ohmden, seminars for collectors and enthusiasts
• Ireland, Irish/Swiss Institute of Horology, Dublin email morissetm@csduroy.qc.ca
• Netherlands, De Vakschool, Schoonhoven
• Spain, Institut Politecnic de Formació Professional Mare de Déu de la Mercè, Barcelona 093 223 25 66
• Switzerland, CFPT - Ecole d'horlogerie
• Switzerland, CIFOM - Centre intercommunal de formation des Montagnes neuchâteloises
• Switzerland, Ecole Technique de la Vallee de Joux, Le Sentier
• Switzerland, Watchmakers of Switzerland Tech. & Ed. Program (WOSTEP), Neuchatel
• UK, Birmingham City University, BHI Certificates and HND in Horology
• UK, British Horological Institute Seminars & Distance Learning Course
• UK, Quality Time Clock Courses, Near Pulborough, West Sussex
• UK, West Dean College, Chichester, West Sussex, Antique Clock Conservation & Restoration
• USA, AWCI Bench Courses
• USA, AWCI Continuing Education
• USA, Bishop State Community College, Mobile, AL
• USA, Career Preparation Center Horology Department, Sterling Heights, MI
• USA, Gem City College School of Horology , Quincy, IL
• USA, Jones County Jr. College Horology Department, Ellisville, MS
• USA, Lititz Watch Technicum, Lititz, PA
• USA, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee, WI
• USA, NAWCC Field Suitcase Workshops
• USA, NAWCC School of Horology, Columbia, PA
• USA, NorWest Voc’Tec, Seattle, WA, a school teaching both watch and clock repair for students at all levels
• USA, Oklahoma St. University Watchmaking & Microtechnology, Okmulgee, OK
• USA, Paris Junior College Horology Department, Paris, TX
• USA, Saint Paul College Micro Mechanical Technology/Watchmaking, St. Paul, MN
• USA, York Time Institute, York, PA
Becoming a clockmaker involves attending a clock making or watchmaking school and some countries, like Denmark, require doing an apprenticeship with a master clock or watch maker which can last up to four years. After attending a clock or watch making school and obtaining an apprenticeship you may have to take a written test as well as a bench exam to gain certification. There are many skills you must have in order to be a clockmaker. Some abilities you need to become a clockmaker include reading blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to be able to fix and make clocks or watches. Also, it is important to have steady hands and a good focus since clock makers have to handle anywhere from small gears to fine machinery. Another key attribute of a clock maker is being able to make good decisions since there are often many ways to repair a clock or watch.
As a clock maker there are many duties you have to perform. Some of these tasks are observing time pieces to see why they are not working, repairing clocks, performing tests on clocks and watches to see if they are working correctly, and being able to change a clock or watch face.
There are many places where clock makers work. Jewelry stores are a common place where clock makers work repairing time pieces. Clock makers also work at antique shops and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches.
Prior to 1800 clocks were entirely handmade, including all their parts, in a single shop under a master clockmaker. By the 19th century, clock parts were beginning to be made in small factories, but the skilled work of designing, assembling, and adjusting the clock was still done by clockmaking shops. By the 20th century, interchangeable parts and standardized designs allowed the entire clock to be assembled in factories, and clockmakers specialized in repair.
Galileo Galilei drew the first designs for a grandfather clock after making the discovery that time could be told using a pendulum. Galileo based this design off of the verge-and-foliot control mechanism first invented around 1285.
Galileo is credited for the first formal construction of a clock; in 1602, he began investigating the idea of the time it takes a pendulum to swing back and forth in relation to the isochronism or arc of the swing. Twenty one years earlier, Galileo began studying at the University of Pisa. As legend goes, his fascination with the pendulum and the concept of time began after encountering a suspended lamp swing back and forth in the Cathedral of Pisa. Galileo went on to detail the effect of isochronism in a letter to a friend. Soon after, friend and Venetian physician, Santorio Santorio began using a pulsilogium, or short pendulum, to measure the pulse of his patients. After the utilization of various pendulums, the process of clock making became generalized.
Deists often call God the "Clockmaker". The Temple of the Great Clockmaker, in the novel The Case Of The Dead Certainty by Kel Richards, is a temple which represents deism. There is a religious theory called the Clock Maker Theory.
During the 1800s and 1900s, one would carry around clocks or watches as a form of flaunting social status. They were also a way of instilling a sense of time regulation for work in the budding industrial market.
In 2004, Jim Krueger wrote a comic book entitled The Clock Maker. The Clock Maker is a German comic book published by Image Publishing that focuses on the life of a clock maker.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
