Brian Rodriguez asked me how bad a clock case has to be before it is past repair or restoration.
In my opinion as far as clocks go there is no such thing. Every clock can be repaired and restored whatever the state it is in, given enough time and money.

With longcase clocks becoming more in demand and with their ever increasing scarcity we have seen an increase in jobs with a need for extensive repairs over the last ten years as people are hanging on to everything they can find and get their hands on. This is one such job that turned up at our door one day.

One autumn afternoon Matt and I were working away in the workshop and the door opened and there stood a man with a clock case under his right arm and in his left hand was holding a tillage bag (plastic fertilizer bag) full of what you would say was fire wood.
“Are you the people that restore clocks” he said in a broad north Yorkshire accent.
“Well yes” I said taking a quick look at our Matt.
“Good, can you do owt with this then” smiling from ear to ear as he placed his load on the workshop floor.

On taking a close inspection I could see what he had was a mahogany longcase made in the latter half of the eighteen hundreds possibly in the early nineteen hundreds. It was in such a state it was unbelievable. It was a mass of water stains and was suffering from many years of deterioration through neglect.
The bag was full of all the pieces that had fallen off, from turnings to the smallest of veneers and splinters of timber.

Matt looked in the bag, took a quick glance at me, looked at the case and then looked at this man who was standing before us with a smile that only a person that had struck gold would wear, and Matt said sarcastically “Is it a kit?”. The man laughed and said “I’ll go and get the hood”.

I have always thought the main purpose of antique clock restoration is to maintain the value and worth of the piece.
As such, the usual main basis for the antique clock’s worth is its age or its functionality. In restoring antique clocks, it is often necessary to first examine whether the age or the functionality of the item should be emphasized or prioritized.

Taking these two factors into consideration, age was immaterial and for functionality it was zero. This was not a restoration job it was a total rebuild, maybe Matt was right, it was a kit.
The gentleman informed me the clock had belonged to his grandfather and had spent many years in his father’s garage “No kidding”
The gentleman’s father had given it to him and he had decided to have it restored so he could have it in its full glory in his own home.
Apparently he had taken the dial and eight day rack strike movement to a clock repairer in Leeds and the clock repairer sent him to us to restore the case, which I would like to thank him for from the bottom of my heart and Matthews bottom too.

I informed the new found customer that it would take many hours work at an extremely high cost and could exceed the market value of the clock. This did not deter him, he smiled and said “doesn’t matter what it costs just give me a ring when it’s done and I’ll come and pick it up”

So there we have it, we methodically worked our way through the pieces, cleaning everything down and putting everything back in place, replacing the veneers and making the bits that were missing.

Finally after many hours of restoration and a finishing coat of polish on the case, we had completed our most extensive restoration job ever.

This majestic longcase once again stood in all its glory as it must have done when it was first made.
I rang the customer on completion as requested and true to his word he came the following day. I’m pleased to tell you he was more than satisfied with the result, paid me without question and took the case away.
It’s sad for us when this happens as we don’t get to see the clock in situ with the movement and dial in place

So I asked the customer if he would send us some photos when it was all finished and he did.
This is the clock erected in his home. Nice eh!