Nice note from a military family that got their cuckoo running.

Dear Papa,

Toni and I want to thank you again for your help and advice on my cuckoo clock. I did as you said and so far so good. Its been running for almost two weeks now. I appreciate your help and your obvious passion for these clocks.

Here was my answer on how to get their clock running.

Dear Jason and Toni,
Thank you for your question. I would have gladly answered anyway but my son in an Army Reservist and I admire and appreciate your service to our country.

As to your cuckoo clock.

The first thing to check is to see if it is off level. You've probably already done this but this is where we start.Even if it is level on the wall, if that little pendulum hanger wire gets bumped up hard it will knock the clock out of beat. You need to try this with the weights on. Level the clock and start the pendulum. If it runs a little and stops, move the base slightly to the left. If it runs longer but still stops move it slightly further left. If nothing happens go back to level and do the same as above but move the base slightly to the right. If the clock will run without the pendulum on it, then I think I can tell you how to get it running. Leave the weights on and remove the pendulum. You may have to now give that little metal wire hanger that held the pendulum a flick. Or it may start running very fast on its on. If it runs like that, with the age of your clock it needs oiling which you can do with my help. It probably has enough wear and dried oil to stop it. I'll put oiling and "jump starting" instructions below. I have these pre-written because I get similar questions all the time.

How to make an oiler, oil your cuckoo clock and "jump start" it.

Take a paper clip, open it up and whack one end of it with a hammer. That end of clip that you whacked is now your oiler and you will dip it in oil and touch each hole coming thru the back plate that has a shaft running thru it. Use any oil you have around, razor oil, sewing machine oil, motor oil, or 3 in 1 oil. Just don't use WD-40 or any spray oil. You can see the steel of the shafts and usually there are indentations around it in the brass that help hold the oil. Now, here is the most important part. Trace your finger up the pendulum, follow up on that metal hanger and you will see a wire looped around the hanger and it goes up into the movement at a 90 degree angle. That sounds complicated but you will see it as soon as you open the back. I'm not talking about what the pendulum hanger wire is suspended from but a wire the pendulum hanger slips thru. At the end of that wire is a brass wheel with sharp teeth on it called the escape wheel. When the pendulum moves back and forth it lets off the power one tooth at a time. You need to take your paper clip oiler and touch a drop of oil to about every other tooth. Just move the pendulum back and forth to get the wheel to move. If it doesn't you may have to tug slightly on the chain. When the escapement dries out, the clock won't run long. Now that you've oiled the escapement put a drop of oil on that loop the hanger goes thru and on the very top of the hanger where it is suspended from and moves on. If your clock is ever going to run without professional help it will do so now. Equally as important is the leveling of the clock. You may get a little life from this, you may get a lot or nothing will happen. The oil in these clocks turns to gum and the brass filings mix with that and they start wearing those pivot holes you oiled into an oval shape from the gravity of the weight. Once those ovals get too wide the gears separate enough to stop the clock or slow it down to where it will barely run. I hope this will fix you up.
Jason, I hope this gives you somewhere to start. Let me know what happens and I can advise you further if you need it. Have a good Sunday and a good week.

Sincerely,

John "Papa" Barnette
www.cuckooclockdoctor.com