The Engineer 614 Posted September 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2015 I agree with FLY2 that they shouldn't be oiling the butterflies. Each butterfly has a stainless steel shaft, sitting in a pair of brass blocks which are attached to the cobweb wheel. The blocks were new this year. Some slight misalignment of the mounts coupled with the shafts not being true meant that the butterflies didn't all swivel freely (small ones seemed worse - maybe due to less mass). I did drill out the blocks slightly to counter some of the error but some butterflies still wouldn't swivel freely. It was (and still is) on my snagging list to align the mounts nearer to true (i.e. by judicious bending). I don't think oiling is the remedy. If the alignment is not addressed, the stainless steel shafts will probably wear the brass to a point where the butterflies can in fact swivel. They might need to re-think the arrangement and install some sort of self-aligning bearings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mary1947 2,080 Posted March 26, 2016 Report Share Posted March 26, 2016 What do members think of the new look Victoria Centre? Went down Notts the other day to do some shopping, to my amazement the clock at the front had gone!!! this was hard for me to tack in as if I was to meet anyone in Notts is would always be by the clock. On going to catch my bus at the other end of the centre there it was now I don't know what you think but to me it's now in the wrong place. People just walk by and now never stop to look at the clock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanielHST 1 Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 The engineer needs to fix the clock again as it is bang out of order it has been acting wrong cause the birds and squirrels weren't dancing and the petals were moving the opposit way to what they should be doing and my solution is taking it back to it's original location and make a new octagonal frame and whilst the frame is being build please move it to a temporary spot in another centre Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanielHST 1 Posted February 9, 2019 Report Share Posted February 9, 2019 It has to be fixed however when the engineer comes online again he will need to see this cause he restored the clock Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanielHST 1 Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 That's what the clock should look like once it has been restored 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonab 1,644 Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 I'm amazed that thing still exists at all. Even in my days there it was held together with Araldite, string and elastic bands. Has it been re-jigged? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanielHST 1 Posted February 15, 2019 Report Share Posted February 15, 2019 It is not how it was and I think it is something to do with cafe rizzoli damaging an electrical or mechanic of the clock so it would have to move back. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanielHST 1 Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 I went today and it was still broken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DanielHST 1 Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 I think Rizzoli cafe destroyed the clock's electronics and now the clocks petals are moving up and down and not normally how they should be so i better get pete dexter back into the centre and fix the clock Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brew 5,417 Posted March 10, 2019 Report Share Posted March 10, 2019 Do we know Rizzoli damaged it, how did they, was it deliberate? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted March 27, 2019 Report Share Posted March 27, 2019 Just realised I'm actually in that photo!! Behind the clock and to the left there are two 'big' girls, then a small boy, then a lady with white hair, well that small boy was me! 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Engineer 614 Posted December 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2019 Thought I would pop back to the forum to see what's occurring.  Must say I don't visit the clock for fear of seeing it not in fine fettle. I am saddened to hear that it might not be getting the attention it needs. Those of you who followed the journey will know that I put a lot of hours into it over several years. I would have liked an on going arrangement to fettle it as necessary but it wasn't to be. If 'The Management' ask, I would happily sort it out at any time.  Pete (The Engineer)   5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,466 Posted December 27, 2019 Report Share Posted December 27, 2019 ...and it would also be much better if it was sited in its original location - in the large 'exhibition area' of Victoria Centre. Â Its current location - hidden away upstairs, with the upper features of the clock lost in the roof girders - is completely inappropriate. 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Engineer 614 Posted February 29, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2020 I was passing yesterday so stopped to check at midday. The bell rang and the music played. However the petals (a few of which now look bent) cycled down-up-down-up throughout the performance and the 'orchestra' (three birds and three squirrels) were not spinning. Looking back in this thread it appears that these faults I observed may have been present for over a year.  The cobweb water wheel was turning but several butterflies were not tumbling. All butterflies look tarnished/verdigris. One of the 12 water jets looked a bit blocked.  I agree with the sentiment of most (all?) who remember it in the lower atrium. It looks so lost upstairs and I was reminded yesterday how close the three rotating arms at high level come to touching the girders (luck rather than judgement I think).  It is coming up for five years since Emma switched it back on (17 June 2015). How time flies. Let's hope it still attracts enough coins to make a difference to the chosen charities. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,466 Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 17 hours ago, The Engineer said: I agree with the sentiment of most (all?) who remember it in the lower atrium. It looks so lost upstairs and I was reminded yesterday how close the three rotating arms at high level come to touching the girders (luck rather than judgement I think).  Photos of the clock in its original location often crop up on various Facebook Groups, and those photos always produce a large number of comments saying that its current location is stupid, and it should be back where it was.  I'd be interested to know who thinks the present position is a good idea - apart from a few Intu managers who've never actually been there. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 Does it still play that awful Gigue en Rondeau by Rameau? Â Why they chose that particular piece I really don't know. I can think of many nicer compositions. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 I guess they needed that for those squirrels to dance too.  Should have used Bach's Gigue Fugue. How about a bit of Poulenc? When I lived alone for a couple of years after the first Mrs L died I had a young black Lab nemed Solomon.  He liked to lay in his bed in the kitchen.  There used to be a radio program each afternoon witn a real mix of music.  Every so often they'd play some Poulenc while I was making supper.  I'd say in an excited tone,  "it's Poulenc Sol!"  He'd come flying out of his corner, jump up and put his front paws in my hands, and we'd go whirling round the kitchen. Sorry!  Irrelavent to the thread, I know, but it brings a tear as I write and was reminded of it.  It was quite danceable. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LizzieM 9,508 Posted March 1, 2020 Report Share Posted March 1, 2020 Ah that’s really nice Dave, I can visualise that. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 Crazy old guy and a big black dog.  Lol.  We must have looked quite the pair. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 Lovely memory, Loppy! Â I often dance round the house, sometimes with a cat in my arms. Sometimes, they humour me...and sometimes they don't! When they don't feel like dancing, I have claw marks in my neck! Â I think the reason why I don't like that particular piece of Rameau is because either it or another piece from the same Suite turned up in my Association Board exam set pieces around the time the Emmett clock was installed and every time I went in there afterwards, it struck up. It's a bit sewing machine-like and I've never been keen on it. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beekay 5,146 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 I have just finished reading this thread right from the word go. Starting from page one, it were like reading a book on the life of the Emmet clock. Gotta admit though I was lost with some of the technicalities posted by The Engineer, but even so, found it fascinating. A pity that some of the photos showed as ' no longer available', so can't comment on peoples replies. It does strike me though that the clock is very high maintenance. Remember seeing it back in the seventies, but it's over 40yrs since I've been in Vic., centre. B. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stuart.C 491 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 Don't know if there were any vidoes earlier but there's few on Youtube, jump to 4.00 mins to hear it play, there's countdown clock on the bottom right of the video;    Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 I was joking about Bach's Gigue Fugue, but when you think about it, it is probably one of the most danceable pieces Bach ever wrote. Â A good organist's feet have to dance on the pedals to do it justice. Â I've never tried to even learn it. Â It's way beyond my level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 For those of you who are not familiar with the Gigue Fugue.  Here it is played by my favorite young Dutch organist, Gert Van Hoef.   2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jill Sparrow 10,307 Posted March 2, 2020 Report Share Posted March 2, 2020 Or even this, from Partita no, 5, played by the irreplaceable Glenn Gould. Â If I'm feeling low in energy, this never fails. Â Â 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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