It’s really important to keep your fine mantel clock in excellent working condition and appealing to the eye. Here is an article I found that you may find helpful: http://www.higglehaggle.com/tips-in-caring-for-antique-clocks/

Keep on ticking.

Ok, so Galileo discovered the pendulum. How does it work?

Most clocks were driven by weights and gravity. A string was tied to a rod, also called an axle, and a weight attached to the string. The string was wound around the axle. As gravity pulled on the weight, the attached string would be unraveled from the axle, causing the axle to turn, or spin. However, as gravity acts on objects, those objects begin to accelerate unless something interferes with, or acts upon that object. Until the pendulum, the weight on the clock mechanism just kept speeding up, and clocks would not keep accurate time.

Next post: how the pendulum and escapement are used to counteract gravity in weighted mantel clocks and table clocks.

“Some people don’t think much of clocks,” he said. “But there is a lot more to some clocks than one may realize. Really, they are pieces of art, history and mechanical marvel, what the people were able to do in those times, with no machinery.” Read the article at Clock collection marks history, craftsmanship

Take a look at the mantel clocks and wall clocks offered at MostlyMantelClocks.

Galileo was once bored as he sat through a church service. His mind wandered and noticed a chandelier’s repeated movement as it hung from the ceiling. He noticed that the chandelier swung from its center and stationary position, and no matter how far it swung, whether 5 inches or a foot, it still took the same amount of time (measured by his own pulse) to complete a full swing. That is, it took same number of heartbeats to complete its cycle from one extreme of the swing to the other. Thus, the pendulum was discovered to be an accurate tool in timekeeping, and paved the way for mantel clocks.