Musical Movement Optional Extras

The following items can be purchased to use with our range of music box movements.

Fixing Screws
We sell fixing screws in sets to suit the required movement. The choice of different screw types will depend on how you are going to fix the movement.

The Machine Thread type are made with a thread that screws into the metal base of the actual movement, so you would fix through a thin base of the object you're fitting into (as a guide, up to about 6mm thick) then into the movement base to hold in place.

If your base is thicker, or you are mounting another way, then we offer a Wood Screw Thread that are small enough gauge to go through the threaded holes in the movement base (where the machine thread screws would normally go) and with the aid of a small pilot hole, fix into your base material.

Wire Brakes & Brass Rod
This is the most common way of starting/stopping a small mechanism. Basically a thin piece of wire with a spring attached to give tension that when levered one way it hits the butterfly wheel (speed governor) of the movement to stop it and when levered the other way releases the butterfly wheel to start it playing. This is what we use in our musical jewellery boxes.

These pictures show the wire brake attached to the movement. See how the levered end fits into the recess in the side of the box, then connected vertically to the Brass Rod. The rod has a hole drilled in the end, so the wire brake fits into this and can slide up and down in the side of the box against the wires spring tension, so it can pop up to release upon lifting the lid.

The wire brake can be bent in many different ways to suit a variety of applications.

Weighted Stopper (or Tilt Stopper)
As used in our 18 note paperweights. A small brass cylinder device that attaches under one of the comb fixing screws. When the movement is tilted to the left the brass cylinder slides over to touch the speed governor and stops the movement from playing. When the movement is tilted to the right the cylinder slides away and releases the movement to play.

Keys
A standard "T" type key is supplied with all clockwork spring wound movements as standard. You'll find spare keys of different types & lengths from the main movement page should you need an alternative size or type.

Blank Paper Strips
If you want to make more tunes for the punchable paper strip movements you can purchase extra packs to make more !

Sliding Stopper
The larger multi tune movements have a lever mechanism attached that will automatically stop them playing when the tune is finished. At the end of the tune, as the cylinder turns, a hole in the main gearwheel lines up to allow a lever to slot into it under spring tension which then pulls the lever towards the butterfly wheel to touch it to stop the movement from playing. The sliding stopper slides this lever mechanism over to release the gear & butterfly wheel so it can play again. If the stopper is slid and left over one way the movement will continue to play all the tunes. Once the slide is returned, the movement will stop at the end of the tune it is currently playing. To fit these, a recessed slot is normally needed on the inside of the box to act as a small channel for the slide to run in. The large flat spring keeps a tension on this slide to give a smooth action.

© N. J. Dean & Co.