McCormack Clock Repairs

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McCormack Clock Repairs As a qualified horologist from the Irish Swiss Institute of Ireland,we specialise in the repair and restoration of all antique clocks & watches.

18/10/2026

On to the chime movement on this Seth Thomas Sonora. Heavily rusted, hammer-armed, and other tricky components all need stripping back to shiny steel.

The hammer arms were too far gone; I ended up replacing them with brass. The cork pads from the hammers had become brittle and needed replacing. They were screwed, turned into a threaded hole, and secured with animal glue…all visible in the next reel.

17/10/2026

With a steady hand and a range of emery paper from 180 grit through to 7000, I am finally happy with the pallets of this Seth Thomas Sonora.

Rebushed and ready for testing while I work on the chime movement.

Note: I like to fit bushings to the length of the pivot, which on most American mass-produced pieces means they'll run proud of the plates. That's my choice; I have my reasons. I'm aware people are divided on this; I'm not here to convert. Let's agree to disagree, live and let live.

16/10/2026

Seth Thomas… one of the worlds greatest timepiece manufacturers. I'm not sure what makes that claim so. Certainly anything I've read from that period of time suggests so.

But just what makes it so? The materials seem similar to Ansonia, Waterbury, and Jerome at their own high points. Ansonia brass in the early years wasn't up to scratch, so they lifted sticks and moved from Connecticut to New York.

Maybe it was diversity in the models they produced, quality, workmanship, or warranty. In my corner of the world it certainly wasn't market share. Ansonia would most definitely have the lions share of what I've seen over the past 25 years.

So when I see the S.T. logo behind the dial, I am always presently surprised. To see a Sonora wander my way, no matter the condition, I know I'm in for a treat.

To take this particular model, there are a few things that stand out to me—time regulation from the dial side. Good quality steel and brass. Anti-clockwise hand movement. Cork padded hammers with a felt buffer to minimize mechanical noise and smooth gear meshing.

Not that these things were unique to S.T., but the fact they are there speaks volumes.

Do you think Seth Thomas deserves the accolade?

16/10/2026

A really beautiful Jager LeCoultre U.S.A.F. airplane console chrono with time elapsed recording. A little damaged, a little worn, in need of a clean and TLC.

Also coming up, the click spring had been broken, and I needed to remake it from scratch. I was super happy with how that turned out.

The second recording hand was broken, but I managed to repair and keep as close to original as possible.

These can be seen in soon-to-come reels.

In all a fantastic challenge !

15/10/2026

This is the first Ansonia Sonora I've seen in "The Flesh," as it was. Time and the environment have certainly left their mark. All steel components had a good deal of rust; nothing was left unscathed. I was able to save almost all of the original components, except for the hammer arms, too far gone with rust, now made from brass.

The hammer pads didn't survive the extremes of time and have been replaced with new rubber pads. I was surprised to see that these were screwed in place. The entire journey has been catalogued, at least the bits I found interesting, over a series of reels, and a suitable track of music piped in along the way. This is my own guilty toe-tapping pleasure.

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Unit 4B Connolly Street
Nenagh

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