Copper

The counter-weighted brackets that hold the sunflower petals have now been delivered by Team Billington to the metal finishers in Walsall who will plate them with copper and bring them back up to a polished finish. The original photographs of the clock show that they were originally copper as did the lowest layers revealed by blasting. But they have, for some time, been painted an insipid gold colour.

What's In A Frame?

Of all the parts of the Nottingham Water Clock that have deteriorated, changed colour or simply gone missing probably the most radically changed piece has got to be the main  frame. This tubular steel structure has supported the clock for over forty years and has definitely been showing its age.

The clock after removal from its pool.

When the clock was removed from its pool in February the frame was a substantial element but, it became apparent, a shadow of its former self. There was talk that parts had been removed over the years but investigations were required to establish exactly what was no longer there.

Emett at work on the Clock. A model of it next to him.

The first call was to Emett's drawings. Because he was so intimately involved in the construction of his 'Things' there was little need for full working drawings. He relied instead on sketches and scale models. When it came to the frame the complexity of it would defy two-dimensional drawing and the models came into their own. He did, however, need to show his clients what he was proposing to build and so his highly stylised ink and watercolour drawings would be unveiled. Excellent to sell an idea, but not exactly something that could be built from.

Emett's drawing.

Having been able to look through his wife Mary's filing cabinet, a number of photographs have come to light taken in Emett's workshop during construction of the clock. These have proved invaluable as evidence for the original form of the frame.

The frame in Emett's forge.

Sketch of missing parts.

Using the photographs as a guide sketches were produced and the missing parts identified. It was then up to the fabricator to interpret the sketches and photographs and bring the frame back to life. The frame is still a work in progress but it is already re-gaining its lost elegance. The legs have been extended and many of the missing elements have been restored. There is still finishing work to do on the welds and the hub for the waterwheel needs to be remodeled but it is most definitely well on the way.

Work in progress. The frame is 400mm taller.

Our thanks must go to the fabricator Mark Dewar at Lycett Fabrications in Tamworth who has worked tirelessly to do justice to Emett's work. He has been able to reproduce the curved members without the use of computer controlled bending machines, this has all been fabricated by hand. He has also restored the pads at the base of the frame to anchor it into place.The complexity of the frame is now returning and it will once more take on its supporting role.

Mark Dewar with the Clock Frame.

After the fabrication works are complete the frame will be zinc sprayed and powder coated to its original colour. The frame will still bear some of the scars of being stood in water for forty years so the the new glossy finish will accentuate this. Rather than carry out radical surgery to return it to 'showroom condition' it has been decided to retain as much as the original structure as possible. It will wear its history.

Electric Striker Found

It looks as if we have found a striker. What's more it has an Emett provenance!

We have been talking to Keith at the Cumbria Clock Company, church and public clock specialists based in Penrith  www.clockmaker.co.uk who carried out restoration works to the Emett Clock in Basildon and it appears that the striker mechanism on that clock was replaced with a new one. However, the original striker appears to be in working order and Cumbria Clock have kindly donated it to the project, so the striker will now be able to find a use in another Emett machine.

Now all we need is a bell.

Electric Striker Wanted

We are urgently trying to source an electric striker mechanism for a 'ship's bell'. The bell (which we are also looking for, but should be easier to find) would be about 8" (200mm) diameter and is missing from one of the Emett machines.

The picture below is of the striker in the Nottingham Water Clock's bell and would be a similar size.

If you can help please get in touch via the Rowland Emett Society website.

Dismantling the Featherstone Kite

The video footage of the dismantling of the Featherstone Kite in Leeds has now been timelapsed down to a few seconds so that you don't have to sit watching it for an hour and a half.

For anyone who would like to watch it for an hour and a half please get in touch and we will consider your request.

This is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycagSEMExPk

Water Clock Restoration Day 20

Not the normal view you would get of the Bouquet in the centre of the Water Clock. Looking straight down the detail in the bouquet is once more apparent after blasting. There is a piece of foliage missing but everything can now be seen for what it is. There is a central steel structure with a ring of copper tubing at its base. The tubing carries the water to the copper pipes and their terminal spouts. We now know that there is a small stop tap - it had been completely obscured by thick layers of paint. Three of the copper pipes have parted company with the ring so will need re-soldering.

Bouquet from above

Clean but awaiting re-assembly and polishing.

And here's one for the aeromodellers. We have now identified the colour of the main structure of the Water Clock from the sample found under the Central Control Box. The Control Box hasn't been removed since the Clock was assembled by Rowland Emett so the platform on which it stands has escaped repainting. It turns out to be one of the colours defined by British Standard 381C. It is BS283 otherwise known as 'Aircraft Grey Green'. This is the standard colour that the interiors of RAF aircraft such as the Spitfire were painted. We will know the identity of the colour of the Control Box itself tomorrow when the inside of the control box door is scanned.

Paint fleck for colour matching.

Water Clock Restoration Day 19

The Bouquet is in its constituent parts and they have been soda blasted to remove the thick layers of paint that have accumulated over the years. The detail is now visible in the leaves but so too is the extent of the corrosion that the painting was presumably meant to conceal.

The picture below shows a number of the features on the Clock that have not fared well, as they were when the Clock was first assembled in Emett's Forge. Starting from the top right. The head of the water spout with its cluster of leaves is now a shadow of its former self. The graceful curving hub that carries the Cobweb Water Wheel has been replaced with an ugly bearing block. The Bouquet's curved support tubes have been reduced in number from six to two and the Bouquet itself, as can be seen from picture in Day 18 has been transformed from a graceful arrangement of delicate copper foliage to a multicoloured misshapen mess. All of this needs to be corrected.

How the Clock should look.

Some of the remaining leaves have now parted company with the branches. The reason is clear from the photograph below which shows the extent of the corrosion particularly at the bases of the leaves where they have trapped water. Where possible the leaves will be repaired. Failing that they will be replaced with new leaves forged by our blacksmith.

Corroded leaves from the Bouquet.

An interesting photograph from Emett's Forge shows an alternative arrangement that he was considering. Gone are the birds, squirrel and frog and instead we can see a dragonfly and a stag hiding among the leaves. Maybe the clash of scales convinced him to change his design. I must ask one of his assistants. 

Emett's first arrangement of the Bouquet.

Water Clock Restoration Day 18

The Bouquet feature in the centre of the clock has suffered more than most. The woodland creatures have become tarnished, the foliage has been damaged and repeatedly over-painted, losing all the detail. The large copper autumn leaf that supports it all is grimy and dull.

The bouquet before work begins.

Team Billington have stripped the Bouquet down to its constituent parts and have brought the three birds, frog and squirrel that populate it back to their true shiny condition. The foliage and autumn

leaf are at the soda blasters joining the queue and a close inspection of the metalwork to assess the condition of the water spouts will only be possible after it has all been exposed by blasting.

Some of the woodland creatures before cleaning.

We know that some of the leaves have broken away over the years and will need to be replaced. Tracings from the surviving leaves will be taken to allow accurate replacements to be cut and formed.

The woodland creatures after cleaning and polishing.

Some of the bright metal parts of the Clock are in very good condition but the animals and butterflies that have been repeatedly exposed to water have suffered. Following soda blasting and polishing they are bright and shiny but some show slight signs of wear with the brass from which they are made grinning through the chrome plating, particularly on edges. Rather than attempt to rectify this, which would involve stripping them down to their constituent parts and replating we have decided that it is better if they 'show their age'. They are, after all, over forty years old and are allowed to!

Water Clock Restoration Day 16

A quick update on the Nottingham Water Clock.

We now have steel fabricators in place who can carry out the works to the main steel frame. Mark Dewar of Lycett Fabrications in Tamworth will be taking the frame into their workshop early next week to start work extending the legs, remodelling, replacing and generally returning it to its original form.

Sorrill and Coley, silversmiths of Birmingham will be assembling the missing Butterflies for the Cobweb Water Wheel using elements supplied by Steve Milner and David Griffiths.

Shelley Thomas, blacksmith and jeweller at the Kew Steam Museum will be forming the leaves and flowers missing from the Cobweb Water Wheel and central Bouquet.

The first of the lattices from the Central Control Box is away being copper plated with the others to follow after soda blasting. The colours of the main frame and Control Box will be identified from samples early next week.

Featherstone Kite Ground Crew Induction.

Today three members of the Society; Mike Rouse, Ed Copcutt and David Griffiths had their first experience of dismantling the Featherstone Kite for transportation. There is a planned appearance of the Kite on Blue Peter in April and the machine will need to be taken apart, packed, transported and re-assembled. However, few people have the knowledge how to do this. Today we now have three more.

The process is fairly straightforward and re-assembly took only about ten minutes but then we looked at the purpose-built cases that Emett designed to safely transport the machine when it travelled the world. There are three cases for the kite. Each has a series of purpose made brackets and clamps designed to take the parts of the machine and each has a profile of the relevant part painted over it so there can be no mistake. Even the order that the parts should be inserted into the cases is painted on the doors. As with the Nottingham Clock, he left nothing to chance.

What became apparent is that our stripping down didn't go far enough to allow all three cases to be used. The Kite breaks down into much smaller components, obviously designed to give it the best chance of surviving the rigours of handling at airports and sea terminals. For transport within the UK the parts can probably be left in bigger assemblies so long as care is exercised in handling them.

Restoration Day 14

On Wednesday 5th March it was time for a progress meeting. Cleaning the bright parts of the clock is progressing well and the blasted parts are beginning to reveal the detail lost under layers of gold paint applied over the last 40 years. The lattices that are fitted to the control box will look much better with a new metallic finish.

The first blasted control box lattice.

Pete Dexter's protective rim to the Cobweb Water Wheel now has metal straps to ensure that it all stays in place and the last of the butterflies have been removed for blasting. The cleaned butterflies have now regained their shine and the hunt is on for replacement jewels. The missing butterflies have been identified in the photographs taken when the wheel was originally built and .dxf files have been created to allow the brass bodies of the replacements to be cut by Steve Milner. The decision whether to use water jet or high definition laser to cut the profiles can now be made.

Computer model of replacement butterfly.

Pete Dexter has been busy stripping down the motors and gearboxes and giving them a thorough clean. The oil in the gearbox, noticeable by its absence will be replaced. Most of the hinge pins for the petals have been removed and the grub screws cleaned. The electrical wiring has been inspected and missing parts replaced. The next thing will be to decide the gear ratio of the replacement drive shaft for the Water Wheel and order a replacement motor and gearbox.

All but four of the petals have been separated from their cast iron brackets and beaten back to their correct shape using the former shaped by Roger Price. In separating the petals it has been revealed that the cast iron brackets have also had numbers stamped into each to allow them to be correctly paired with their petals. Emett left nothing to chance.

The Bouquet has been stripped down by Team Billington and the animals have been cleaned and polished. The 'tree' is in the queue at the soda blasters along with the copper leaf. Team Humpherson are well on with giving the Woodland Orchestra back their shine anf Team Grogan are about to experiment with the best method to replace the missing jewels in their holders.

A minor episode of frightfulness at the Blacksmiths (thankfully before the Emetts were taken there) means that we are having to find another but hopefully tomorrow we will know if our main contender will take on the challenge of restoring the main structural frame.