Tallcase/Grandfather Clock Repair

I NO LONGER MAKE HOUSECALLS FOR TALLCASE/GRANDFATHER CLOCKS

For decades I have been able to close the shop on Mondays to make house calls to service tallcase/grandfather clocks in the home.  More and more clockmakers have left the field due to retirement, or demise, and the result has been an enormous increase in work coming into the shop, creating a backlog numerous months long.  My clock repair work is shared with watch work, which is also impacted for the same reasons.  As a result, and with regret, I can no longer leave the shop to service clocks in the home.

Over the past two years many customers have called and told me that they would bring their tall clocks to the shop, but this is not practical for several reasons.  First, I have no room to safely store the cases while the movement’s are being repaired.  Secondly,  once the repairs are made the customer has to be able to install and set the clock up for it to operate properly in the position it will be running in.

I work with many customers, mainly collectors, who are knowledgeable in removing the clock’s movements from the cases, and after repairs they know exactly how to re-install them and set them up to run properly.  Unfortunately, on numerous occasions over the past two years, I have taken work in from customers who assured me beforehand that they would be able to perform the necessary reinstallation and set-up of the clock’s beat, strike, and chime operation “with no problem.”  Unfortunately, many were not even able to reinstall the movement (it’s easy to disassemble something — putting it together is quite another thing), much less begin to set up its operation.  This leads to the inevitable call begging me to make a house call that I already warned I would not make — with no exceptions.

Bottom Line:  If you have never before removed and reinstalled a tallcase/grandfather clock movement and successfully put it back in proper operation, PLEASE DO NOT BRING IT TO ME FOR REPAIR !!