The “common escapements” are those that are found in the domestic clocks that are most frequently found in a clock repairer's workshop. The average clock repairer is very rarely called upon to attend to a three legged gravity escapement or a “Graham grasshopper” (my earlier book “Practical clock escapements” deals with those). A book that deals with the design of the escapement only is very useful, but what a repairer really wants is a quiet word with the person who mauled the clock last and some useful information about what to do to repair or replace the sad result.This book describes what the escapement should look like, how it should operate and practical measures to achieve those aims. It also explains the effects that different proportions of the movement have on the design of the escapement and points out the errors that arise as a result of assuming that all escapements are “square”, ie. linking the pallet arbor centre to the tip of the tooth that is about to be touched by the pallet, from there to the wheel centre and from there to the tooth that has just been released, and back to the arbor centre again – will trace out an approximate square. Most British authors appear to make this assumption, because long case and bracket clocks typically have square escapements, yet American and Continental clocks very frequently are anything but square. As a result repairers find themselves in difficulty when dealing with escapements that do not conform to the British pattern.My hope (and expectation) is that this book will make the life of the average repairer a little easier.

This book includes detailed instructions for making all types of escapements and for the location and correction of faults. The book is designed to appeal to those interested in the mechanisms of clocks and watches.

One of George Daniels's central contributions to horology is is co-axial escapement. This book explains the action of the escapement in terms accessible to both expert and layman, and is accompanied by a series of detailed line drawings.

A how-to guide to diagnosing and correcting faults in clocks, antique and...

The definitive guide to watch repairing by a...

The pendulum is a constant source of interest to scientists. Great and well-known inventors such as Galileo, Huygens, and Kelvin all devised mechanisms to maintain its even oscillations. Others such as John Harrison, Lord Grimthorpe, and William Shortt are known only in horological circles but contributed as much or more over three centuries. By writing a personal account of his own inventions and achievements in horology the author involves the reader in the history of precision time-keeping before the advent of atomic clocks and the quartz chip. Escapements, the mechanisms that drive pendulums, are a delight to the geometrical mind as well as a delicate and subtle challenge to the mechanical engineer. In their most refined form pendulum clocks not only keep astonishingly accurate time they are also sensitive enough to detect the ebb and flow of tides and even the ceaseless quivering of the Earth itself. Philip Woodward's deep knowledge of and passion for time-keeping mechanisms is evident throughout this highly readable and fascinating account of precision horology.