Bürk Signal Clock - South Africa

[ChrisB]

Dear Members,

I would appreciate any information on a Bürk Signal Clock, recently found in South Africa ?

The Clock appears as the Clock in the attached picture, save that it has an all alloy Dial, a Brass 'Day' indicator to the right hand side of the Dial and a 220 v AC winding motor mounted on the rear Clock Plate on the right hand side looking at the Clock from the front.

The Pendulum Rod is wooden as in the picture and the Clock appears to run at 5,400 BPH. Unfortunately any of the parts that would have contained Mercury are missing.

Any information or documentation on the clock would be greatly appreciated !

Best Wishes,

[ElektroUhren]

Dear Chris,

welcome to the forum!
Unfortunately the picture is missing; this makes it a little difficult to answer.
I have some information on Bürk clocks which I could share if you can specify in more detail what you are looking for.
In addition I would strongly recommend to have a look at the "Electric Clock Archive" at http://wp.clockdoc.org/
This is a most valuable source of information of all kind on electric clocks including a vast document archive and fabulous picture galleries.

Best Regards,
Manfred

[ChrisB]

Dear Manfred,

Many thanks for the welcome and reference ! I will try and post the photograph again.

The 'Burk 34 Second' Brass Clock shown at the 'Electric Clock Archive' is almost identical, save for the all alloy Dial and bright metal Weight with a black painted top.

I would appreciate knowing the approximate year of manufacture for the Clock along with any other available info.

I would also very much appreciate a detailed photo of the Pendulum Leader or a dimension drawing or sketch so as to make an accurate replacement Leader as the original Leader is missing.

A detailed picture of the rewind Switch would also be greatly appreciated along with a possible source for the tiny threaded Pins for the large Signal wheel.

Many thanks once again and kind regards,

[ElektroUhren]

Dear Chris,

I have a similar Bürk with an all-alloy dial too.
The previous owner told me that his father purchased it around 1960 but I have no further detail how long this type was manufactured.

I can certainly help you with a picture of the winding switch. I assume you refer to the one shown in the image "bc05_1" in the archive - can you confirm please?
As my knowledge of english horology terms is limited, may I ask you which part you mean be 'pendulum leader'?

I'm a bit busy the next days but will try to help as soon as I can.

Best Regards,
Manfred

[ChrisB]

Dear Manfred,

Many thanks for the date info, this is again, much appreciated.

The Switch assembly should be as depicted in picture 'bc05_1' and with detail pics should be able to make an authentic replacement, but unfortunately, without the Mercury switch. The bottom of the Pendulum Leader can also be seen in the pic, with the Pendulum hooked into the bottom loop of the Leader.

The top of the Leader would be hook shaped and would be hooked onto the bottom of the Suspension Spring. There would be a vertical Slot cut into the Leader toward the bottom Loop, where the Escapement Crutch would fit in.

Pic 'c8b1_1' shows a general view of the Leader in the Clock, between the bottom of the Suspension Spring and top Hook of the Pendulum.

I hope this helps clarify and thank you for all your kind assistance,


With kind regards,

[ElektroUhren]

Dear Chris,

finally I managed to take a few pictures for you. Hope they are detailed enough to suit your needs.

The clock itself:

Buerk.jpg

and two images of the switch in "on" and "off" position

Switch1.jpg

Switch2.jpg

and finally the pendulum leader:

Leader.jpg

The dimensions of the pendulum leader are
Overall length 159 mm
Width 6.1 mm
Bottom Width 18.1 mm
Height of bottom part 12.5 mm
Rectangular hole for pendulum hook 11 mm x 6 mm
Slot for escapement crutch 9 mm high, 2.7 mm wide; lower end is 13.5 mm from leader lower end.
Material 1 mm thick

Good luck for the restauration!

Regards,
Manfred

[ChrisB]

Dear Manfred,

Thank you very much for the pics and info relating to the signal Clock, this is very much appreciated. The detail is most helpful !

The detail for the Leader is most helpful and appreciated.


With kind regards from South Africa.

[ChrisB]

Good Day,

Could one of the forum members kindly suggest a parts seller in Germany (or Europe) who would be able to assist with basic parts for the this Bürk controller clock (not a 'master' clock) that has unfortunately been subsequently damaged, while being moved ?

Unfortunately, not able to purchase via an auction site or make international payments by credit card at this stage. Pre-payment by electronic Bank transfer is possible.

Any assistance welcomed,

With many thanks and kind regards,

[steffl62]

Hello Chris,
What I know there is no company what can deliver spare parts for this clock. I think it's easier you make a photo and a short description of the special part what you need and put it in here. So everybody can take a look on his own conglomeration of parts and with a little bit of luck we will find what you need.
Another possibility is to reproduce the part.

nice greetings from Vienna
Christian

[ChrisB]

Hi Christian,

Thank you very much for the reply and appologies for not responding sooner.

Am in the process of taking pic's of the Clock and hope to be able to upload them to the forum in the next few days.


With kind regards from sunny South Africa,