My antique clock restoration went sideways when I snapped the mainspring

I was working on this old German wall clock from the 1920s last Saturday, trying to clean and re-oil the movement. Everything was going smooth until I wound the mainspring a bit too tight and it just snapped with a loud TWANG... scared me half to death. The spring flew out and landed under my workbench, and I spent 20 minutes just staring at the broken pieces. Turns out the spring was already brittle from age, like 90 years of wear I couldn't see. Has anyone else had a project completely fail because of old, hidden damage like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_gavin15d ago

Saw this happen to a buddy with an old grandfather clock movement, and honestly I used to think he just messed up the winding. I figured springs were pretty indestructible, you know? Then I got into restoring a 1920s Ansonia and cracked the mainspring barrel just from the tension of an old dry spring. Completely changed my whole view on these old mechanisms. Now I always inspect every single spring with a magnifier before I touch them, and I keep spares on hand for any project over 50 years old. It's wild how brittle they get after decades of sitting there, and you can't see the fatigue until it's too late. That sinking feeling when you hear it let go is the worst part of this hobby.

simonl868d ago

C'mon, is it really that fragile? I've never had a spring let go on me.