TerKuileClocks

Marc ter Kuile started TerKuileClocks in 2009 after graduating from West Dean College

My aim as clockmaker is to conserve your clock for future generations. Therefore, in any work I undertake, I try to minimise replacing parts unless absolutely necessary. I document my work in detail, so the current and future owner of your clock, as well as future clock repairers, can see what I have done to your clock and why. 

When solving a problem, I prefer a solution that can be undone rather than intervene in an irreversible way. Whatever I decide to do, I should be able to explain why I did what I did.

Unless you know that something is broken in the clock, the most common reason for a clock no longer working is that the oil has dried up. Over time oil mixes with dust particles and slowly dries out, leaving a grinding paste in the clock that does real damage to clock parts and hastens the wear and tear. This is why a mechanical clock needs to be serviced regularly (typically around every ten years) and cannot be repaired quickly. It needs to be taken apart until its smallest components. All parts will be cleaned in white spirit, after which a detailed examination of each part can begin. Never clean a clock in an ammonia-based fluid (as still sometimes happens) as that will take away a thin layer of brass. Ammonia works itself into the crystalline structure of brass. Continuing to clean a clock in ammonia-based fluids will ultimately break the clock. When all parts have been examined and repaired where necessary, the clock is oiled and put on test for at least two weeks. This, to ensure that the work has been carried out correctly.

So, in summary, if I work on your clock, I will do the following:

• collect your clock from your home and bring it to my workshop in Forest Row, East Sussex.

• take the clock apart into all its components, however tiny they may be.

• clean all parts of the clock in white spirit. 

• check all parts on wear and tear and repair or replace worn parts where necessary. If the cost of my repair would exceed £1,500, I will seek your permission first before continuing.

• intervene as little as possible in the clock to conserve what is there. If a part is still working fine, I will keep it rather than replace it. And, if I have to intervene, I will try to do so in a way that can be undone.

• oil the parts in the clock that need oil.

• test the proper running of the clock for at least two weeks.

• write a report of what I have done to your clock and give the reasons why.

• return the clock to you when it is ready.

Please note that during work on your clock, I will take pictures and sound recordings of it to evidence and help my work. These items are, and will remain, the property of TerKuileClocks. You will have free access to these items of your clock. I store all my clock work in an internet database called The Clock Register, an initiative I started to help the conservation of clocks.

This approach will take between 100-200 hours of work per clock depending on what problems I find in your clock. I spread these hours over about 3 to 5 months.

You should also look at the website of the British Horological Institute for other clockmakers in your area who you may want to approach for a quote as well.