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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Component record · Power

Clock Line and Barrel

Partially verified

The barrel and gut or cable carrying a clock's driving weight.

What it does

Stores the weight line and transmits its pull to the great wheel.

How it works

The line winds onto a grooved barrel; its diameter and the barrel's turns set the duration of run.

Evolution

Gut gave way to steel cable in much later work.

Known variations

  • Gut line
  • Steel cable
  • Chain drive

Identification for collectors

  • Line material and barrel grooving are dating and originality evidence.

Common failure modes

  • Frayed gut
  • Cable kinking and jamming

Diagram

coiled mainspring inside the barrelbarrel teeth driving the trainarbor and hook
Schematic: mainspring and barrel. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. de Carle, D., Practical Watch Repairing
  2. de Carle, D., Watch and Clock Encyclopedia
  3. Daniels, G., Watchmaking

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.