How to Take Apart a Battery Clock Movement
Yesterday when I told you about my thrifted mantel clock makeover, I mentioned that I disassembled the "clock part" so that I could sand and paint the clock, and I thought that you might be interested in exactly how I did that.
So, technically, the part of the clock that makes it go is called the "movement" (here's a Wikipedia article about clock movements). The other parts are the face (the part you look at to read the time) and the case (the part that holds it all).
This particular clock was made with a battery operated movement. Basically you can turn just about anything into a clock if you can attach one of these battery movements to it. They're not too expensive, either. Here's an Amazon link that shows a variety of battery clock movements.
So, the way I could tell this clock had one of those was by looking at the back:
See the battery case thing back there?
Then on the front you can see the hands are interspersed with a bunch of nuts and washers.
The first thing to do is pull off the second hand. It just pulls right off.
Next there's a little nut that's holding on the hour and minute hands. You can get it off with needle-nose pliers.
There it is! Make sure to keep that and all the other little parts in a container (preferably with a lid) so you won't lose them.
With the nut off, you can just pull the hour and minute hands right off.
There they are!
Definitely put those in the container, too.
Under those is the last little nut and washer, which hold the battery case in the clock.
Use needle-nose pliers again to get that off.
There it is! Another tiny piece for your container of parts.
And with that, the battery case from the movement will come right out. There it is:
That's it! Now you can sand, paint, or refinish your clock any way you want to!
Fun, huh? This was the first time I had done a makeover project on a clock. I would love to do another one. I'm thinking decoupage, maybe. Anyone?
What about you? Have you ever made or made over a clock?
