Why does my clock stop ticking?

Dust in the movement creates friction. Oils dry out over the decades and form a sticky paste in the pivot holes. This stops the gears turning freely. Servicing involves taking the plates apart. The horologist cleans every wheel and applies fresh synthetic clock oil to get it running again.

I have an old bracket clock in the living room and I want to know if it is safe to leave it winding down to a stop without damaging the spring?

Letting the movement run down isn't a problem. The mainspring simply sits relaxed inside its brass barrel until you next wind it. Keep the case door shut when it sits idle. This stops dust settling on the oiled pinions.

How often should I wind it?

Most antique bracket clocks run for eight days. Wind them once a week on the same day.

My grandfather left me a heavy wooden clock with a handle but the strike is out of sync with the hands on the face, how do I fix this?

The strike mechanism gets confused if you move the hands backwards past the hour. It counts the wrong number of blows for the time shown on the dial. Move the minute hand forward to the hour and count the strikes. Push the hour hand to match the number of bells you just heard. It just pushes on a friction fit.

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Antique Bracket Clocks from the 18th Century

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Spring-driven timepieces designed to sit on a wall bracket or table, antique bracket clocks usually feature a wooden case with a handle on top for carrying from room to room.