Grandfather Clock Parts - Glossary Of Terms

When dealing with grandfather clocks, there's a lot of different terminology you might want to become familiar with. Here are some of the more common grandfather clock parts you might need to talk about when discussing maintenance or repair your clock:

Bezel Dial - a glass vase style that has a metal rim and is typically hinged.

Cable Driven Movement - one of the different types of movements a grandfather clock may have which is gravity powered. Here the weights hang on cables which are wound over drums.

Chain Driven Movement - another gravity powered grandfather clock movement where the weights are suspended by chains and the chains run over gears.

Dual Chime Movement - This is a type of movement that has two melodies.

Hands - This refers to the second, minute and hour indicators on the clock face.

Bim-Bam Chime - while this isn't one of the physical grandfather clock parts, it is an important term as it denotes the two note chime which sounds at the half-hour and hour.

Pendulum - suspended from the clock movement, this is a lolipop shaped piece that swings from side to side and is actually what regulates the mechanical movement of the clock.

Pendulum Bob - This is a weight on the pendulum which can be adjusted to adjust the speed at which the clock is keeping time.

Wasted Clock Cabinet - this denotes a grandfather clock cabinet that is made in 3 sections with the center one being the narrower one (like a waist).

Time Ring - This is the outer circle of the dial that has evenly spaced markings denoting the minutes in an hour.

There are many other grandfather clock parts, but these are some of the basic ones that you might come across when discussing grandfather clocks. As a clock owner, you don't need to have an extensive knowledge of all the different parts, however it does help to know a little bit if you need to take your clock in for repair.