In 1978 I built a grandmother clock for my wife. It has run all those years and within the last year it has stopped chiming the minutes and some of the hours. OK I know it needs oiled, but it is 40 years old. There is little room to work and frustration builds till it bursts. I put it all back together and now it chimes the hours and minutes perfectly, but it won't run. I am so frustrated I just put it back for another day when my nerves settle down. Maybe have a cold one and chill.

I'm having the chiming same trouble with the one I built. An emperor clock kit. Oiled it- same, cleaned old oil and reoiled- same, air dusted inside- same. I guess I'm going to have to pull the guts and make a support stand so I can see inside of the clockworks while it runs. Like you, it is so frustrating and to make matters worse- I quit drinking!

You might try what worked for me on my grand paw clock..I hung a bunch of plastic sheets all inside the cabinet and used a 1/4 of a roll of hand tissue to catch the excess down in the bottom and then spent a few minutes shooting WD 40 on every thing that turns and where the bearing would be if the movements had bearings..about a half a can later it started running..This clock was in storage for about 5 years and when brother in law went and got it it never would run so he gave it to me and it has run for the last four or five years with no stopping.. It did have a little smell for a few days but either we got use to the smell or it dried up. 

  Your post reminded me to go and set the time back an hour and it is still running.

Used the WD-40 to help loosen up the old oil and then air can sprayed everything before re-oiling- same thing. I'm wondering if there is something either worn or broken that is causing it not to "trigger" some of the chimes. The minutes/hours chime for about half of the 24 hour cycle but not the rest. I really need to set it up and figure precisely what's not working.

I built a large grandfather clock for my daughter years ago (picture below) and it would not longer than a year and I tried all I knew. I got a pro in and he said I did everything right, but there was a binding in the mechanism from the factory. He fixed it, cleaned oiled and adjusted the chimes. As we talked I asked how it looked, as I had been cleaning and oiling. He said I was doing a good job and all looked great. He said that he has seen clocks that were sprayed with WD40 and other cleaners. he said"Don't ever do that" 

At some point it will nearly impossible to clean the gunk out without a sonic cleaner.

He said the dust and particles adhere to the WD40 and make a big mess. He also said something that surprised me. The new synthetic oils they make allow a clock to go as long as 8 years, depending on how much dust/dirt it is exposed to.

 As for the grandmother clock I am working on, I think I finally got it adjusted correctly, it took hours of cleaning, oiling, bending, adjusting and cussing

Edited November 6, 20187 yr by Ron Altier
sp

1 hour ago, Ron Altier said:

Don't ever do that

Oooopppsss!

 

You clock looks a lot like mine except mine is in red oak.

When I finished it, the color wasn't uniform, so a guy at Rockler said to stain it with water based cherry stain. I did and it looked great until I applied some poly...............it turned BLACK!

I had to strip it all and start again.

You should have asked Stick, WD 40 ranks right along with Harbor Freight in his little black book.

Herb

2 minutes ago, Ron Altier said:

When I finished it, the color wasn't uniform, so a guy at Rockler said to stain it with water based cherry stain. I did and it looked great until I applied some poly...............it turned BLACK!

I had to strip it all and start again.

He must have sold you the Bing Cherry.

Herb

It was a Bi(n)g Mess

Well............the grandmother clock got the best of me. I had it all set up and it quit everything

EVERYTHING!!!  Back to square one. I redid the tick and tock, as I was in that process I broke off the flex joint that the pendulum assy hooks to. Its been in operation since 78. I looked up the movement for parts and found out that I can buy a new clock works for less than I paid in 78. I know this old one has to have worn places/gears, so I ordered a new one. $275. I was surprised. Maybe they haven't sold any since 78