Ping: William B. Noble

Hi Jesse,

I'll butt in til Bill reports. First off, I'm surprised to hear that synchronous household alarm clocks are becoming rare. I thought they'd be easy to find in thrift shops. I don't think there are any dc analog clocks extant, but I may be wrong.

Henry Warren in Ashland, Mass. (my wife's hometown) invented the Warren Telechron, an analog clock mechanism that depended on 60 cps house current. The Telechron Co. made zillions of 110 V. alarm clocks.

I think the Co. was bought out by G.E. and they may not make Telechron alarm clocks anymore, although they do make timers, etc. at the old factory at the end of Central Street where this Southern Redneck did some tricky but highly successful (for him) courting a long time ago. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Well, it's a good lead, Arch- Thanks! I DAGS on Telechron with a couple different strings, and it looks like they were bought out by GE in 1951, then were revived from time to time, up until 1992 when the market for them dried up. (My guess is that it was because they were really, really ugly) Found one on Ebay for $4.99, but the bidding was over.

I hadn't thought of checking thrift shops, so I'll check that out the next time I go into town- but a good search of the local retailers came up with no new products. Could be just me, but even though digital technology is great for a lot of things, I still find the mechanical ingenuity of clockwork fascinating and it seems a shame that it has been so lightly abandoned. I *like* my clocks to tick, even if it's just a little bit- and the old ringing bell is so much nicer than the hateful electronic air-raid siren I have on my current alarm... kind of like the old ring of a telephone, before everyone had to have a low-quality midi version of a classical tune to let them know they have a call.

But that's progress, I suppose. Fix it whether it's broke or not, and the to the devil with the old standbys. I couldn't believe it was so hard to find such a simple thing either, but it seems that's the case- at least in my area. I guess the powers that be figure that anyone still wanting an analog clock was such a knuckle-dragger that they would insist on winding it up as well... :)

*sigh* And I'm not even an old guy. Just really, really, tired of shoddy plastic and space-age gimmicks.

See:

"Prometheus" wrote: (clip) I hadn't thought of checking thrift shops, (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Try, also, the wanted category of Craig's List.

I think Arch already answered the question - the clocks on my site (for the rest of you,

look in hobbies section) came from garage sales or the trash, I doubt that I paid over a dollar each, though of course they are worth at least a million $ each now (well, we wish>>)

what I would do is look in thrift shops, junk stores, etc - I have the clock guts from a sony radio - it's a motor driven "digital" meachanism somewhere - and I have a pile of clock guts and clocks I saved because I used to use them in metal sculpture (weld up hands, weld clock to something cool, add the hands, .....) - if you can't find any, I'm sure we can work a deal, but I'd be totally amazed if you can't find all you want for a dollar each or less.

that said, I am unaware of any suitable production analog clocks with battry backup - they were made, but they were complex affairs with lots of electronics to make a freq source to drive the motor. There are "school" clocks that have a stepper that you drive with a one pulse per second signal, those would be amenable to battery backup, but I don't think that's what you are looking for.

a battery quartz unit is good, easy to have battery backup, and you can add a "wall wart" to it by just using a rechargable battery and wiring a battery charger to it.

hope this helps

Bill

to contact me, do not reply to this message, instead correct this address and use it

will iam_ b_ No ble at msn daught com

*** Posted via a free Usenet account from ***

Here you go:

Sigh, even the font is familiar.

Also try Seth Thomas and Westclox - yes, That Westclox. The Westclox name was taken over by an outfit called Salton and they are making a lot of what Retro clocks.

I guess if you can remember the clocks from the first time around, you might br Retro?

Well Jess, we all have to get with the program eventually. I kept my dial telephones because I could "please hold" and a human would answer. Not anymore. Wally had to give up his sleeve bearing Dunlap lathe, Leo L. his broken tool rest and questionable VS outfit and altho George reveals his kinder gentler side with his love of 'ole Blue', he turns on a Nova 3000. :)

Since I've gone completely OT, I may as well ask you computer whizzes. Packrat that I am, I have kept several Vic 20's and Commodore 64's and boxes of basic tapes & players, manuals, games, modulaters, cables, etc. which Lori says have to go (altho I notice she's keeping her dolls). Is it too soon for these early day personal computers to have any historic value or should I risk being served cold suppers and hang on to them? How bout my big Holly carburators and AM ham rigs? Next week I'll ask about my British Seagull motors and Wentworth tools. The world has passed me by. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

That'd be Whitworth. Still have a set.

Right George, but whatever their worth was, it went. Can't repair a Harley with them and not many Triumphs around. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

And almost everything on my old 120 Jag was 9/16 anyway. Not sure what that is in Whitworth. Been too many years.

*Sigh* Yeah, I swore I'd never own a cell phone, but it appears I have to get one now. Having gotten tired of being laid off in the spring as a carpenter, I finally found a position as a cabinetmaker (not a gloat, because I've been working towards that goal at night and on weekends for over seven years) but the hitch is that all the cabinets we make get installed in Chicago (about 9 hours' drive from the shop) so I need something to keep in touch with the wife in case something happens.

Don't know about the Commodores, but I know the Apple // series can fetch big bucks if you find the right buyer.

snips

ebay, ebay, and ebay. Folks will buy just about anything on ebay. I should know, I've bought just about anything on ebay. In fact, if you wanted to advertise an online store = or anything else -, you could do it cheaply by selling 'nothing' on ebay and reach far more customers than normally might find affordable.

old computer stuff is starting to have value again - the trick is finding a buyer - hint - look at e-bay completed auctions. Wentworth tools - those are really useful, can't give them up. all those new 8 inch floppy drives I scrapped 10 years ago are almost worth hanging on to now. and a big holly will bring $ on ebay - folks still like to see how quicly they can drain a C-note.

to contact me, do not reply to this message, instead correct this address and use it

will iam_ b_ No ble at msn daught com

*** Posted via a free Usenet account from ***

Sent this to Arch yesterday instead of to the group. Just bought an 06 Harley and unlike my 48 and 68 it will not make much difference what tools you own you're not going to do much work on it anymore. Fred