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Lot Essay
ALBERT ODMARK NOTES
Purchased from Malcolm Gardner on March 16th, 1965.
Derek Roberts, British Skeleton Clocks:
The word Helical is derived from the Greek and may be translated as having the form of a spiral. In helical gearing a spiral groove is cut in the arbor or pinion which meshes with teeth angled to match it. Sometimes called oblique tooth gearing it has some advantages over normal gearing such as increased contact area and a greater reduction in gearing. This latter point means that a longer duration cold be achieved.
Charles MacDowall, 1790-1873, was the son of a watchmaker from Yorkshire. Having set up as a clockmaker in Wakefield his work with helical gearing came to the attention of Dr. Birkbeck, a physician, philanthropist and Professor of Philosophy at the Andersen Institute, Glasgow. He persuaded MacDowall that his talents would be better served working from London. Whether MacDowall was the inventor of helical gearing on clocks is difficult to prove as the mechanism has appeared on several occasions. But he would certainly appear to have been the first to have put it into regular production as he featured it at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Like many clever clockmakers MacDowall's interests lay not only in clockmaking; he also turned his talents to developing and improving instruments including a spiral drill used in dentistry by adapting a rose drill to the tip.
Purchased from Malcolm Gardner on March 16th, 1965.
Derek Roberts, British Skeleton Clocks:
The word Helical is derived from the Greek and may be translated as having the form of a spiral. In helical gearing a spiral groove is cut in the arbor or pinion which meshes with teeth angled to match it. Sometimes called oblique tooth gearing it has some advantages over normal gearing such as increased contact area and a greater reduction in gearing. This latter point means that a longer duration cold be achieved.
Charles MacDowall, 1790-1873, was the son of a watchmaker from Yorkshire. Having set up as a clockmaker in Wakefield his work with helical gearing came to the attention of Dr. Birkbeck, a physician, philanthropist and Professor of Philosophy at the Andersen Institute, Glasgow. He persuaded MacDowall that his talents would be better served working from London. Whether MacDowall was the inventor of helical gearing on clocks is difficult to prove as the mechanism has appeared on several occasions. But he would certainly appear to have been the first to have put it into regular production as he featured it at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Like many clever clockmakers MacDowall's interests lay not only in clockmaking; he also turned his talents to developing and improving instruments including a spiral drill used in dentistry by adapting a rose drill to the tip.