It takes very little to stop the ball from rolling and if it doesn’t roll fast enough it will not be able to unlock the train of wheels and lift the table. "However, the biggest task in getting this clock to work was adjusting all the levers and the table that had been bent and twisted previously. I have found that, even with the temporary cover I have made for it to keep the dust out, the metal ball needs to be polished at least once every two weeks to remove debris. "The clock and the tilting table (front and back) need to be totally level. The spring on this clock is a little weak with age, not enough to affect any other clock but a rolling ball clock needs so much energy to keep it going that on occasions it won’t last the two weeks. The chart below shows how much time it lost or gained in that period – up to 45 minutes a day! (The vertical lines indicate adjustments to the clock's time keeping.)ĭarren explains: "The Bryson rolling ball clock is designed to last two weeks after one winding. He has reset it to the correct time every working day for two months. This was how staff at Buckingham Palace described a rolling ball clock they were tasked with keeping to time in 1837.Īssistant conservator of technology Darren Cox has been wrestling with our Congreve clock to try to persuade it to keep time reliably.
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