Em primeira mão: recensão do investigador norte-americano Fortunat F. Mueller-Maerki à obra The Turret Clock Keeper's Handbook, edição revista, de Chris McKay.
A Concise Hands-on Guide for Taking Care of a Tower Clock for the Non-Horologist,
The Turret Keeper’s Handbook, A Practical Guide for those who Look after a Turret Clock (New Revised Edition), by Chris McKay, Published by the Author 2013. ISBN 978-1-4923177-0-8. 81 pages, perfectbound, softcover, 30 cm x 21 cm. Illustrated by the author. Four appendices (Glossary, Information Sources, Bibliography, Checklist). Available for US$14.40 from Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Turret-Keepers-Handbook-Revised-Editiion/dp/1492317705/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389979842&sr=8-1&keywords=turret+clock+keepers+handbook
All over the world countless historic tower clocks are dying a slow death because they are not being looked after properly. With both municipal and church budgets being constrained, all too often there is little or no funding to hire a trained clock professional to properly service a public clock that is part of the soul and fabric of a community. Often a civic minded volunteer steps up and takes on the job of looking after the clock and keeping it running.
There are in depth and detailed books on the history and technology of mechanical tower clocks available (although many are now out of print) but this is not what the volunteer needs; he is looking for a practical, pragmatic guideline on how to deal with the artifact he is trying to keep functioning. Fortunately in 1998 one of the foremost experts of tower clocks, the British clocksmith Chris McKay wrote a practical handbook for exactly that audience, and the Turret Clock Section of the Antiquarian Horological Society (AHS) published the 40 page booklet.
It proved popular and has recently been out of print, but the author in late 2013 has released a new, expanded and improved edition. This new edition builds on and expands the strengths of the earlier edition. Besides the basics (History, How a Turret Clock Works), the core of the book is full of pragmatic, hands on, practical advice, written so a non-specialist can understand it. There are short chapters on special features (Automatic Winders, Night Silencing, Automatic Correctors, Electro Hammers), and throughout the book there are many simple checklists. Health and Safety Issues (rickety towers and mounds of pigeon poop) are addressed as well, and there is guidance on conservation issues and selecting 3rd parties to do repairs. The author deals with all these issues in a direct and uncomplicated manner, there is even a reproducable ‘Instruction Sheet’ to be posted inside the clock case.
This is the book to get if you want to keep a tower clock movement running.
Fortunat F. Mueller-Maerki Sussex NJ, January 2014
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