Albert Schwab 30-hour Cuckoo
- "M1217" in pencil on inside of cabinet
- Movement is by REGULA with markings:
- Synt-oil / Clock 859
- G.M. 1884288 / 1692176
- 25-H
- NO (0) JEWELS / unadjusted
- Made in Germany
- ALBERT SCHWAB KARLSRUHE
Deseret Industries; $15; 2016-09-28
- Woodcutter's chopping arm/axe missing
- Goat's edible missing
- Chimneysweep figure loose; chimney rim detached
2016-10-03
Cleanup and Identification
The exterior was cleaned with Lysol wipes removing accumulated dust. Otherwise the clock was clean. It appears to have been stored in a closet or garage uncovered for some time, but other than the dust, it is in good cosmetic shape.
I vacuumed the interior and the movement.
I noted that the chimneysweep and woodcutter are made of plastic, so this clock is probably fairly modern. Also, given that the marking on the movement is "Made in Germany" rather than "Made in West Germany" suggests that it was made after the reunification in 1991.
According information on the web, with the "25-H" mark on the movement suggests that the clock was made in either 1976 or 1996, and I would guess that it is 1996, after the reunification of Germany.
Disassembly
The clock has a large panel on the rear that is easily removed by moving the dog and levering a screwdriver in the upper slot. This exposes the entire cabinet.
A quick review shows that in order to remove the movement, besides disconnecting the various animation levers and pushrods, the two 'pipes' that produce the cuckoo's voice must be removed. They are each held to the left and right sidewalls with a woodscrew and a pinning nail. I removed the screw then wiggled the pipe on the pinning nail until I was able to reveal a small gap between the pipe and the sidewall, then I slipped a flat screwdriver in between and work the pipe off the nail. I then grasped the nail with needlenose pliers and rotated it to work the nail out enough to remove each pipe. As each pipe came out, I was able to ease the pushrod for the bellows from the movement eyelet and it came free. The left-side pipe is a bit tricky with the extra chimney pushrod.
Then I removed the minute and hour hands from the face of the clock. As is typical of clocks, the minute hand is held in place with knurled screw, which I removed, and the hand slipped off. Also typically, the hour hand is simply pressed into place on the outer sleeve, but the hour hand proved very difficult to remove. I could rotate it well enough, but it would not slide forward on the sleeve without very heavy pulling. Fortunately, it did come off, but putting it back on might be tough.
With the pipes out, I opened the eyelets the work the bellows' pushrods, easing off the linkage to the goat and the woodcutter, then removed the four screws holding the movement to the cabinet.
Lastly, I loosened the retaining screw on the heavy rod the holds the cuckoo bird and slipped the bird subassembly off the large rod. This was more difficult than it would seem; the geometry of the various elements made it possible with only by slightly raising the entire movement and rotating it a bit to allow the bird to be slipped off of the have rod.
Movement Cleaning and Re-lubrication
The movement, once removed from the cabinet, has exposed pivots on the front and back plates and with the mechanism being more complex than I felt comfortable with, I chose not to disassemble the movement; instead choosing simply to clean it as best as I could and re-lubricate it. This I did, using the same light clock oil that I have used with my 400-day anniversary clocks. Each pivot was given a little oil, along with the animating pushrod levers. I also applied a very light amount of oil to the escapement wheel teeth and the animating lever wheel teeth.
Reassembly
Returning the movement to the cabinet was indeed tricky. Getting the bird subassembly back on it's actuating rod was hard, and required several tries to get right. Even so, I will need to make further adjustments to make sure the bird's tail is lifted with each 'call' which dips it's head and opens its mouth.
The pipes went back in well enough, but I didn't re-drive the pinning nails until after testing was complete. The left-side pipe requires extra care in order to get the chimney pushrod in place at the same time as getting the bellows rod re-attached to the clock movement.
With the pipes back in the clock was ready for a test.
Testing and regulating
I hung the clock without the back panel, or minute and hour hands, and let it run. In order to get the 'beat' set, I have to tilt the clock a few degrees to the left. If I hang it perfectly level, instead of a solid Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock, it get tick,TOCK,tick,TOCK. I believe I can adjust the beat by bending the anchor pin rod a bit, left or right.
The clock ran fine once the beat was set, yet the cuckoo bird does not dip its head when calling. I have to check that part of the animating rod geometry.
I corrected the tail-lifting rod geometry and it works great now. I also re-attached the chimneysweep to the lift rod in the chimney. I still have to re-glue the chimney rim. That should do it for repair and reassembly.