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Restoration of 8-horn Em. Wehrle Trumpeter Clock
By Justin Miller

Group -- This weekend I restored an 8-horn Em. Wehrle Trumpeter clock
that I have in my collection.  This clock was a special order piece,
and is the most intricately carved example of a Wehrle clock known.

I have worked on flute clocks in the past (no reeds), but this is the
first trumpeter that I have done.  The restoration took me 19 hours
from start to finish, but I am sure I could do the next one much faster.
Every valve, gasket, and skin was removed and redone with chrome tanned
leathers from an organ leather supplier.

One of the eight reeds would not fire but I was able to fix the reed
by adjusting the tongue side-to-side against the plate while viewing it
under a high-power loupe.  After the air chest was finished I adjusted
the eight lift levers and the springs on the bellows tops.

I have owned and heard many of these trumpeter clocks and I am very
satisfied with the end result.  I don't think the clock sounded better
when it left Emilian Wehrle's factory in the 1880s.  I have loaded a
small 4-minute movie of the clock that can be viewed on my blog at
http://www.blackforestclocks.blogspot.com/ 

I would love to hear from others that own or have worked on similar
clocks.

Best,
Justin Miller


(Message sent Tue 24 Feb 2009, 04:33:22 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

Key Words in Subject:  8-horn, Clock, Em, Restoration, Trumpeter, Wehrle

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