Clockmaker
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A clockmaker is an
Originally, clockmakers were master craftsmen who designed and built clocks by hand. Since modern clockmakers are required to repair antique, handmade or one-of-a-kind clocks for which parts are not available, they must have some of the design and fabrication abilities of the original craftsmen. A qualified clockmaker can typically design and make a missing piece for a clock without access to the original component.
Clockmakers generally do not work on watches; the skills and tools required are different enough that watchmaking is a separate field, handled by another specialist, the watchmaker.
Origins and specialities
The earliest use of the term clokkemaker is said to date from 1390, about a century after the first mechanical clocks appeared..
Prior to 1800 clocks were entirely handmade, including all their parts, in a single shop under a master clockmaker. Examples of these complex movements can be seen in the many
In Germany,
Guilds
As the art of making clocks became more widespread and distinguished, guilds specifically for this trade emerged around the sixteenth century. One of the first
Quality control and standards were imposed on clockmakers by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, a guild which licensed clockmakers for doing business. By the rise of
Tools
Early clockmakers fashioned all the intricate parts and wheelwork of clocks by hand, using hand tools. They developed specialized tools to help them.[6]
- Balance Truing Caliper: This device was used in fashioning the wheels and gearwork of the clock, to make sure the wheel, particularly the balance wheel was balanced and circular. The pivots of the wheel were mounted in the caliper. An index arm was moved next to the edge and the wheel was spun to see if the edge was true.
- Die/Screw Plate: The die plate was used to cut threads on small screws. It had a number of threaded die holes of different sizes for making different threads. A piece of wire was inserted in a hole and turned to cut a thread on the end. Then a head would be formed on the other end of the wire to make a screw.
- File: Hardened steel files were used to shape the metal before it was used to make and fit wheels or plates. There were many variations of files.
- Rivet Extracting Pliers: Made of brass or steel, rivet extracting pliers were used to remove rivets from assorted clock parts.
- Jeweler’s thumbscrewadjacent to the handle. To start an interior cut, a hole was drilled and the blade was inserted and reattached to the saw. This device was popular among clockmakers to repair the ends of clock hands.
- Staking tool: An iron vertical plunger was used with an array of stakes for placing rollers and balanced wheels on staffs.
- Turns: The "turns" was a small bow-operated lathe used for furbishing parts and for working gear blanks to size. During use, the device was clamped in a vise 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 to spin the part.
- Cross Peen Riveting Hammer: The flat end of the tool was for general use, whereas the radiused peen end was used for flattening rivet heads. This tool was used for forging, riveting, striking steel, etc.
Other uses
Clockmaker is also the name of several movies.[7]
The Clock Maker Theory and the
During the 1800s and 1900s, clocks or watches were carried around 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, published by German publisher Image Publishing, that focuses on the life of a clockmaker.
Artist Tony Troy creates the Illustration titled "The Clockmaker" in 2003 for his Broadway musical "The Fluteplayer's Song".[8]
Historical clockmakers
- Aaron Lufkin Dennison, United Kingdom
- Abraham Louis Breguet, France and Switzerland
- Achille Brocot, France
- Adolf Scheibe , Germany
- Antide Janvier, France
- Antoine Cronier, Paris
- Benjamin Vulliamy, United Kingdom
- Christiaan Huygens, Netherlands
- David Hare, Scottish philanthropist and pioneer of modern European Education in India
- David Rittenhouse, United States
- Eli Terry, United States
- Eugène Farcot, France
- Ferdinand Berthoud, France and Switzerland
- Franz Ketterer, Germany
- G Bernard Ramsdale, United Kingdom
- George Graham, United Kingdom
- Giovanni de Dondi, Italy
- Hans Düringer, Germany
- Humbertus Gallet, Switzerland
- J. B. Joyce & Company, United Kingdom
- James Ivory, United Kingdom
- Jean-Antoine Lépine, Franc
- Jens Olsen, Denmark
- Johann Andreas Klindworth, Germany
- Johann Baptist Beha, Germany
- John Alker, United Kingdom
- John Arnold, United Kingdom
- John Ellicott, United Kingdom
- John Harrison, United Kingdom
- John Tolson, United Kingdom
- John Whitehurst, United Kingdom
- Joost Bürgi, Switzerland
- Joseph Knibb, United Kingdom
- Konstantin Chaykin, Russia
- Lazar the Hilandarian, late 14th- and early 15th-century Serbiaand Russia
- Martin Burgess, United Kingdom
- Michelangelo Sapiano, Malta
- Mikulas of Kadan
- Peter Henlein, Germany
- Peter Hill (1767-1820), African-American clockmaker.[9]
- Pierre Le Roy, France
- Rasmus Sørnes, Norway
- Richard Donisthorp, United Kingdom
- Richard of Wallingford, United Kingdom
- Salomon Coster, Netherlands
- Sigmund Riefler, Germany
- Simon Willard, United States
- Smith of Derby Group, United Kingdom
- Su Song, China
- Thomas Tompion, United Kingdom
- Thwaites & Reed, United Kingdom
- Tim Hunkin (made the London Zoo Clock and the Southwold Water Clock) United Kingdom[10]
- Timothy Mason, United Kingdom
- William Potts & Sons, United Kingdom
Clockmaking organizations
- AWCI
- British Horological Institute
- Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
- Petrodvorets watch factory
- Worshipful Company of Clockmakers
See also
- Chronometer watch
- Clockkeeper
- Horology
- List of clock manufacturers
- Marine chronometer
- National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
- Timepiece
- Watchmaker
References
- ^ "Clock". Encyclopedia of Antiques. Old and Sold Antique Marketplace. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
- ^ Shull 1963, p. 65.
- ^ Mones, Richard Ann; George White (2012). "Worshipful Company of Clockmakers". Antiques and Fine Art magazine. antiquesandfineart.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
- ^ "England: Where watchmaking all began". Watchpro. 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Davies 1996, p. 435.
- ^ Carla, Ojha (2002). "Tools of the Clockmaker". Highlights of Past Exhibits. Museum of Early Trades and Crafts website. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
- ^ "Clockmaker". 18 August 1998. Archived from the original on 12 June 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2018 – via IMDb.
- ^ "Greeting cards and posters by illustrator Tony Troy". www.tonytroyillustrations.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- OCLC 51060259– via Internet Archive.
- ^ "tim hunkin home page". timhunkin.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
Sources
- Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-01982-0-171-7.
- Shull, Thelma (1963). Victorian Antiques. Rutland, Vermont: C. E. Tuttle Co. OCLC 1079787454.
External links
Media related to Clockmakers at Wikimedia Commons