# WIP - Cogitation - Designed by Clayton Boyer



## Ian down london way (2 Nov 2012)

And so it starts (November 2012).

This is the page on Clayton Boyer's site, of what I'm attempting to make.
http://www.lisaboyer.com/Claytonsite/co ... npage1.htm

I'll be letting Clayton know about this thread, so he can keep an eye on me 

So, first, a picture, taken from the plans, of the overall project.





.

Having read (well, at least some of) the instructions, I'm starting with constructing the frame, which sits at the back. Its barely visible in the picture above, as its at the back.

The plans for the frame have to be assembled from 6 sheets of A4 (once copied) paper. Here it is assembled. The plans include a checking plate to ensure that the centers of cogs which are supposed to mesh, are the right separation (when they are on different sheets of paper).






I want to use a dark wood for the frame, to act as a contrast to the wheels / cogs, many of which are likely to be beech ply.
I've the remains of a fire place mantle given to me by a friend. Its a dark hard wood, very old and stable, so I shall see how that behaves first. The frame is made of 3/4 inch (sorry - they are American plans!) thick solid wood. I obviously want the grain to run along the three parts of the fame, so it will have to be constructed from at least 4 pieces.

So, first job, create a decent amount of 3/4 inch stock from the mantle.

Time to make some noise


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## Max Power (2 Nov 2012)

Sounds very interesting. Don't worry about quoting imperial sizes , we did invent the system over here after all :lol:


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## xy mosian (2 Nov 2012)

Great.  A good thread to follow for at least part of the winter months.
xy


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## Ian down london way (4 Nov 2012)

So, to create the 3/4 inch dark hard wood for the back frame, I used my thicknesser (a noisy dewalt 733). 
So, I have a 1.4m long, 140mm wide plank. Quite nice looking, but very narrow (only two of the bits are that narrow). 






However, trying to fit the 4 or 5 curved sections needed for the back plate on such a narrow plank was tricky. Although i made templates of the pieces I needed, and then templates of the plank, it was too difficult.

In the end, I decided to create a single slab, as I could then pack the templates of what I needed much better. Pondered how to joint them, but decided on a simple edge to edge white glue in the end. Its not structural.
I had made my own clamps years ago, using some Veritas panel clamps, which I find work well. I remembered to apply plenty of top-to-bottom pressure before tightening the clamps to keep the planks flat. And this time, I remembered to protect the clamp bars from the white glue with some paper (I expect grease proof would have been better, but what the heck.






Slab looking pretty good the next day, but need to tidy them up. Cabinet scraper seems the right tool, but of course they are blunt. They do seem to loose there bur during storage - I wonder if that's actually possible. Humm.

After a quick search on the internet (I do like the luxury of a computer in the workshop, although I think the computer does not appreciate the dust), I managed to re-bur them, using a diamond file thingy, and found a Veritas bur-er (?). 

I should say this is not an advertisement for Veritas. I think that may be all the products of theirs that I have. But getting the bur right on a cabinet scrapper is tricky, and I do find that two passes with the bur-er works really well (then rotate it, work the other way, and you have a bur on each side).






Dang - you can see the third Veritas tool I have, a gadget to hold scrapers. I love that, as it allows me to work without creating flat finger tips. 

Next job, lay out the pieces, and remember to leave enough extra on the ones that are going to be jointed. I will do a simple lap joint, which will provide plenty of glue surface.


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## Joe Shmoe (5 Nov 2012)

this is great, awesome project and great wip. thanks very much, watching with great interest.


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## Ian down london way (13 Nov 2012)

*From Slab to frame - in a week*

Well, I said it was a hobby so don't expect progress to be too quick.

Having posted my first two entries I've taken the bold (to me) step of emailing the designer in Hawaii and my daughter, who can both keep an eye on this blob - Hi Tasha ! (and if she does not email me back, I know she'd bluffing if she says she'd looked at this !!!).

So, having studied (haha) the instructions, I chose to joint up the frame by rough cutting the pieces, then using a half blind joint joint it all up and only then, when its strong and stable, to lay on top the accurate plans, for the accurate drilling and cutting. Its really the separation of the holes that are important, not the wood itself.

So, a picture paints a thousand words - thank goodness.





First, the rough layout. I'm not too worried about where the slab joints are, although avoiding where the holes go (hummm, more on that later).

Now, bandsaw out the pieces, but only roughly. I want plenty of spare space around each. Its way more difficult to joint curved pieces accurately. Much easier to cut it after its jointed, but then you need some slack on the size of wood.





Now, the blind joints. Now that is a challenge. Its a very hard old wood, and blind joints with a chisel are seriously hard work. I decided to try using a solid carbide router bit, mounted in a pillar drill. Its cut a cutting surface on the end, so whilst I'm not intending to plunge at all, its good for not burning the wood.
I take off only a little at a time, about 2mm, but it seems to work pretty well.






Of course this leaves corners which are round. Now long time ago I learnt that you really don't need to square up the holes, just round off the tenons, so much easier.
So, now all dry jointed.





I decided on helping the gluing process with some screws. (Shhhh - only you guys will know!)
So each tenon has a couple of screws as well as normal white glue.






I used a random orbit sander, plus a cabinet scrapper to flatten it all off.






And here is the end result, after I've used some more white glue in the gaps, and rubbed in a combination of cabinet scrapings and saw dust.






Now to lay the accurate plans on it. As for all of these bits of paper, I've been using a spray repositionable adhesive. Most recent purchase had a spare nozzle in the lid, which is great (although I do always turn the can upside down and vent till only propellent comes out, to clear out the nozzle anyway).






And the accurate cut - this was done using my Hegner (and a new large tooth blade). Also had bought a decent set of imperial drill bits. Of course the most important thing is the accurate placement of the holes. I drilled a small pilot hole (1/16th inch) for each of the holes - most of which are 1/4 inch. it helps to settle the larger bit more accuratly. I'm aiming for better than 1/2mm accuracy for the hole positions.
And there lay my first potential major problem, I hadn't thought, when I put the screws in, where the holes needed to be drilled. Very fortunately, none of the holes hit any screws, although one did go through a joint gap. However, its only holding a stopped, rather than anything too structural, so I think it will be fine (and if not, well, we shall see).






So, I'm quite pleased with the end result. I'm not sure yet whether to chamfer the front edges, or round them, or leave them sharp. Best to decide late in the context of how they look with the rest of the structure overlaid. 

Of course, the rear is not quite so pretty. (don't tell anyone!).





End of another week.
So, too many pictures? feed back would be appreciated.


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## Chems (13 Nov 2012)

Ian down london way":3nttcxdy said:


> Very fortunately, none of the holes hit any screws, although one did go through a joint gap. However, its only holding a stopped, rather than anything too structural, so I think it will be fine (and if not, well, we shall see).



Worst case couldn't you glue in a dowel and re-drill the hole? 



Ian down london way":3nttcxdy said:


> Of course, the rear is not quite so pretty. (don't tell anyone!).



Props to you for showing the Shrek side. I think you were right to add some extra form of stability on those joints. Although technically a half lap joint they can't be large enough to support something that looks quite large. 

Keep the pics coming, there are an awful lot of lurkers on this here forum who don't contribute any but I for one am enjoying the build having spotted it this evening. 

PS. The more pics the better!


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## AndyT (13 Nov 2012)

Yes, keep the pictures coming even if there are gaps between sessions and not as many comments as you would expect. I think that some of the most worthwhile threads on here are where you can watch how someone solves the succession of little challenges that come up in a project like this - as you are doing.


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## trsleigh (13 Nov 2012)

Ian down london way":26xkeyfo said:


> *From Slab to frame - in a week*
> 
> And the accurate cut - this was done using my Hegner (and a new large tooth blade).
> So, too many pictures? feed back would be appreciated.



Ian, great pics, never too many.

Now a question re scroll saws. I've got the Axminster AWFS16 ( bottom of range ) and I can't say using it is particularly relaxing to use. A quick Google seems to imply that Hegner are the dog's b******s when it comes to scroll saws. Have you ever used any other saws you can compare your Hegner to? Is it much smoother, less vibration, in your opinion is it £300 better than a cheap n cheerful model?

Anyway, keep it coming.
Toby


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## JakeS (13 Nov 2012)

AndyT":yfazxa7k said:


> Yes, keep the pictures coming even if there are gaps between sessions and not as many comments as you would expect. I think that some of the most worthwhile threads on here are where you can watch how someone solves the succession of little challenges that come up in a project like this - as you are doing.



Seconded! I find the project fascinating, and I've read the posts so far with interest - I just don't have anything constructive to add!


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## Ian down london way (13 Nov 2012)

trsleigh":4h83yrde said:


> Now a question re scroll saws. I've got the Axminster AWFS16 ( bottom of range ) and I can't say using it is particularly relaxing to use. A quick Google seems to imply that Hegner are the dog's b******s when it comes to scroll saws. Have you ever used any other saws you can compare your Hegner to? Is it much smoother, less vibration, in your opinion is it £300 better than a cheap n cheerful model?
> 
> Anyway, keep it coming.
> Toby




I'm afraid I can't help with that. For many years I'd buy cheap tools, and then eventually go through an upgrade. However, having used a Henger on a course in Wales, I went straight for that as my first, so I can't compare.


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## bugbear (14 Nov 2012)

trsleigh":clsbmuo4 said:


> A quick Google seems to imply that Hegner are the dog's b******s when it comes to scroll saws.



I think they're the Le Creuset of the scroll saw world. Not the absolute top, but very near it, and for a very long time.

BugBear


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## Ian down london way (14 Nov 2012)

Ian down london way":3htu96p3 said:


> trsleigh":3htu96p3 said:
> 
> 
> > Have you ever used any other saws you can compare your Hegner to? Is it much smoother, less vibration, in your opinion is it £300 better than a cheap n cheerful model?
> ...



One thing I wood add (haha), is that I did attach the hegner to the table, but placed it on a foam mouse mat rather than directly on the chipboard bench I use for it. I found that the noise was much reduced, even thought its held down by a couple of bolts (well, bolt threads with handles attached, as I don't always have it out). The bolts (2 of) hold it in place, but the foam reduces the transmitted vibration.


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## trsleigh (15 Nov 2012)

Ian down london way":1nkq1hxi said:


> One thing I wood add (haha), is that I did attach the hegner to the table, but placed it on a foam mouse mat rather than directly on the chipboard bench I use for it. I found that the noise was much reduced, even thought its held down by a couple of bolts (well, bolt threads with handles attached, as I don't always have it out). The bolts (2 of) hold it in place, but the foam reduces the transmitted vibration.



Thanks for the tip, I'll just persevere.


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## Ian down london way (17 Nov 2012)

Woodwork? What woodwork!

Well, its time to make the arbours on which the cogs will all spin.

I bought them all from CJW steam, on the web. They are a model engineering place, seem to specialise in train stuff. However they have a full range of imperial and metric, brass and steal, good prices, good postage, and very fast. Used them a few times and no regrets at all. 

However, one pic I left out last time, how I sanded the curves. I used a spindle sander - works a treat.






I thought you guys may be interested in the dust extraction system I use. 
I have a primary extractor, which I plumbed in using a combination of rigid ducts (clear - love to see the stuff wosh though!) and flexible, to fit.











I also have an overhead suspended air-born dust remover.






But my most recent toy really adds to the effectivess of the dust extractor, especially the main one. I never invested in the electrically connected blast gates, so I have to walk over to the main extractor to switch it on, then use the tool then walk back.
Hmmm. I must admit, it wasn't used as much as it should.
Then I saw a remove control device in B&Q. I was a bit concerned it might burn out from the inductive load, but in the interests of helping other woodworkers out, I thought I'd give it a go.
This is the one. Comes with 3 (I think) things you plug into the wall, and one controller. which I hand around my neck.
This is it. It works a treat. I control the overhead and the main extractor. I still have to manipulate at least one blast gate, but that's normally the one by the tool I'm using. Only the thicknesser has a separate thick pipe.





Anyway. The brass rods and tubes all need to be cleaned, and cut to length. Quite a lot of them. 
I use metal polish from Halfords to clean them first - very expensive, but you don't need much. I mount them in a slow-ish running pillar drill and use paper towel to clean them down. The coating comes off very black. I hope they won't tarnsh now the coating is removed, but they shine afterwards 






I use a dremel to cut them, much neater than a saw. Then I use a grinder to get them neat and the correct length.

The end result is this - yea - that is quite a few hours of work, especially the tubes, which need to be clean / polished inside too, so they slide over the brass rod.







So, Lastly, I've now mounted the frame on a board, so I can start assembling the beast, in the manner the plan suggests.






Next stop - Cog-land 
(and the Hegner earns its keep !)


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## paul-c (17 Nov 2012)

hi ian
great wip pics.
i look forward to the future work.
thanks for posting
cheers
paul-c


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## Ian down london way (25 Nov 2012)

*First Cogs - the Drivers*

And so the Hegner starts to earn its keep.

The weights which drive this contraption hang down on cords in order to turn the 'drive cog'. This is a substantial first cog which has to take the highest levels of stress. The plans span two sheets of paper, so its worth ensuring it all lines up by using a large compass, to make sure the teeth still form a circle.







Therefore this one, of all the cogs, really needs to be made out of ply, in order for all the teeth to be strong enough. It needs to be 1/4 inch thick, but I decided to make it from two layers of 3.8mm ply, (rotated 60 degrees) and then thicknessed (is that a verb?) off the back only - keeping the front nice.

First thing, is to accurately drill the centre hole. If that goes horribly wrong, then at least I've not invested lots of teeth cutting time before starting again. In this case, I need a 9/32nd hole (odd size reasoning in a moment). Having rough cut a circle, leaving some spare wood around the outside, I cut one side of the teeth only, all the way around. The spare wood give me some room to steer the blade to start the cut more accurately then had I made an accurate circle first.






Then I cut the opposite side of the teeth, and also the base of the cut, popping the waste wood out. This leaves sharp teeth all the way around.






To make sure the teeth ends are circular on the cog, I mount the cog as it will be mounted. This involves a 1/4 shaft, and a 9/32 brass tube which will later be attached within the cog centre hole. The thickness of the tubing is such that a 9/32 tube can smoothly rotate on a 1/4 (8/32) rod. So, I mount the 1/4 rod on some MDF and present that to my rotated belt sander (I keep it that orientation permanently). and turning the cog against the belt sander can ensure that all the teeth are a good 'height'. I hope that makes sense.






After then cutting out the insides of the cog, and smoothing off using the bobbin sander, and a little bit of finishing with random orbital sander, and by hand the results is this:






I need a cap to keep the 9/32 brass tube (and hence the drive cog) in place. I decided to use off cuts from the frame for the caps, ties the front to the rear and a nice contrast against the birch ply. I'm not great at turning, and this is very small. However I did find that if I drill a 1/4 hole in the off-cut, and then super-glue it onto a short length of 1/4in rod, it holds ok. I then mount the rod in a drill chuck, and turn it that way. When finished a sharp tap can dislodge the cap off the rod - job done.

And here is one I made later - the item needs two drive cogs. So, two down, and LOADS to go.
(And hey, if it doesn't work, at least I'll have something nice to look at - I do like the contrast of the dark and light wood - even if one is ply)






Next step, is a sort of pulley arrangement which is glued to the back of the drive cogs (through which the supports of the weights go) and the escapement (duplicated top and bottom).


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## xy mosian (25 Nov 2012)

Great stuff, keep the updates coming please. I admire the concentrated patience you must have to cut those gears.
xy


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## Ian down london way (2 Dec 2012)

*Drive Drum (behind the drive cogs)*

*AKA The First big "Oh Dear"*

*(Please see bold edit I've added at the end of this entry)*
First job, is a decorative front to the drive cogs. Easy enough, except it's supposed to be 1/16th inch ply. Hum. Not available (would have to be incredibly thin layers. Could make it from three layers of veneer, but that would be really expensive). I decide to sand down some ply, which takes forever, and isn't very flat. Successful technique is to slip in a raised bed on the thicknesser, and then use that. Although its a heavyweight machine (see earlier posting), as long as its only skimming, it can take down to that thickness without destroying too many pieces in the process  Our course, it's helped by only one face needs to look good. 






After using a small jungle of clamps:






Job done - looks fine.

Times two, and onto the next stage.

Behind those nice drive cogs needs to be mounted a drum, through which is attached the line which holds the weight - 4 in all, 2 per drum.

They are made by sandwiching layers of wood together, but with some layers at 1/16 inch, making them out of the ply that is recommended, is tricky. It's not helped by the UK ply sizes not aligning to USA ply sizes (which are all about 1/16, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4).

However the pieces are small, so I try building up the drum from over thick layers, and then sanding them down to the required thickness. Worse case scenario, if I go to far, is to sand it right off and glue a new piece on. Not hugely easy to sand down parallel with previous layer, but by using a 1/8in hole down the middle, and by holding the item using a 1/8th in steel rod, I can both hold it more safely and with more accuracy against the belt / disc sander.

So, all is well with the world.

Glue these to the back of the drive wheel (which already has the right size hole, hence I could show it on the shafts, as its got one of the 9/32 brass tubes push fitted inside.

View attachment 603


Now just extend the 9/32 hole using the drive wheel as a guide - using my nice relatively new floor standing pillar drill. 

Looks very nice I think.






Speaking of pillar drills, I bought this particular model as it has an adjustable head, which give a really deep throat. Very handy at times. The head can also rotate, but I've not seen the point of that, better to keep everything aligned, and use adjustable tables.






I also use this milling table quite a lot. Most often, it holds a surface, but sometimes I will clamp wood directly into it. Its not machining quality, but for woodwork, its very handy.






And this is where the first major problem occurs. Whilst the drive cog and drum look nice enough, when they spin, they wobble. So much, that it looks doubtful that I will be able to engage the escapement cog robustly. Oh C**P. :evil: 






After some pondering, its clear that the hole through the drive wheel/drum combo isn't perpendicular to the drive wheel itself. After more pondering, this simple test, first applied to the top of the adjustable table, then to the pillar drill table, makes it clear that I've a pillar drill set up problem! The square is touching the drill bit at the top, but there is a ~ 2mm gap at the bottom. #-o 






After much fussing around with the table, I eventually track the problem down to the drill head ! This fancy adjustable drill, has rotated a little at the top! Well, it may have a nice movement to it, but the locking handle which avoids the rotation of the head needed some more work. Well, I know now to keep an eye on that. 

Grumpy for a day or so, till I face up to correcting the problem.

And so, how to fix it.
Well, first thing, drill out the 9/32 hold, to 9.5mm as that is the size of some metric dowel/rod that I have, and I plug the hole. Then I drill the 9/32 hold again, from the front, and out the rear. This is the result. You can see the old hole by the darker dowel wood. So it was out by about 1mm, over the 30 or so depth. A huge amount. I'm really annoyed I'd not seen that earlier. It does mean that the rods out of the frame won't be quite perpendicular either, but I've thought about it, and I don't think that's a problem. But I shall keep that in mind if things aren't quite right later. (what else had I drilled recently....).









Next stop - the escapement and the cog that engages with the drive cog.

_*I'd like to make a suggestion, in order to motivate me to keep posting. There is a "good" icon (thumbs up) at the bottom of posts. Even if you have nothing particular to say, that warrents a post, if you have an interest in this thread and would like to see future entries, can you use the "good" button. I can see how many people select it, and so differentiate between the number of views - which could be people with no interest in it, but perhaps the title caught their eye - and those who would like to see the next entry. It will help considerably to motivate me to spend the time photographing, editing the pictures and making the entry itself. Thanks very much.*_


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## gregmcateer (3 Dec 2012)

Looks bloody good to me - I'm going to keep watchin in interest and awe.


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## trsleigh (4 Dec 2012)

Keep it coming.  

Sorry about your pillar drill problem. One useful tip I got from Clayton's website was to check the alignment of your pillar drill before starting. He suggests simplist way is to put a double bent length of wire in the chuck & sweep it through a complete circle to check that the end of the wire touches the table equally all the way round.

I have just about finished a Genesis clock, bit rough but a good learning experience. I've found a second hand Hegner :-D that should be on its way today and have already got the plans for the No. 6 clock and case. That'll keep me going over winter.


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## trsleigh (4 Dec 2012)

Ian down london way":3jyfhdm9 said:


> [_*I'd like to make a suggestion, in order to motivate me to keep posting. There is a "good" icon (thumbs up) at the bottom of posts. Even if you have nothing particular to say, that warrents a post, if you have an interest in this thread and would like to see future entries, can you use the "good" button. I can see how many people select it, and so differentiate between the number of views - which could be people with no interest in it, but perhaps the title caught their eye - and those who would like to see the next entry. It will help considerably to motivate me to spend the time photographing, editing the pictures and making the entry itself. Thanks very much.*_



Ian, thanks for that tip, I've never really noticed the "thumbs up" before nor realised its significance.


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## devonwoody (4 Dec 2012)

I'm interested in your project and wish you every success to its completion.


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## Ian down london way (4 Dec 2012)

trsleigh":1lz3pyiw said:


> Keep it coming.
> 
> One useful tip I got from Clayton's website was to check the alignment of your pillar drill before starting. He suggests simplist way is to put a double bent length of wire in the chuck & sweep it through a complete circle to check that the end of the wire touches the table equally all the way round..


What an excellent idea.
Of course I'll be dreading doing it tonight !!


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## boysie39 (4 Dec 2012)

Ian ,Great WIP thanks for posting it .Looking forward to following to the end . Although it's a bit too complicated for me I will enjoy watching you complete it


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## gwr (4 Dec 2012)

I'm with Boysie on this! Great WIP keep them coming.


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## devonwoody (5 Dec 2012)

Ian did you see this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNuhr3htNWs


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## pjm699 (5 Dec 2012)

So impressed! Mostly with your patience, but also your skill and armoury of machinery. 
I will be following your posts and hoping that one day I am granted with the ability to work on something so beautiful (complicated) and with the final result so far off!


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## AES (6 Dec 2012)

Ian,

I only just stumbled across your WIP post - absolutely 1st class, especially as I fancy such a thing myself ("one of these fine wet days!"). Please keep it coming.

Have you see the Adrian Iredale series of clockmaking videos on Youtube?

I noted you're having some trouble finding good ply, especially in Imperial sizes. Try a good model aero shop (plenty in London - send me a PM telling me where you are and I'll send you a couple of names & addresses). They should stock (or could order) aircraft quality birch (and other good woods) ply in a wide variety of thicknesses from a US company called Midwest. If they don't stock it they should be able to order it (I think the main distributor is a well known US kits, etc, supplier called Sig). The only problem you may find is that as far as I know it only comes in smallish sheets (I think about 12 inches by 6 inches max, but I may be wrong about that).

As a quality example, on my desk as I type this I have an offcut of Midwest ply that's one eighth of an inch thick and consists of 7 laminations, all birch, all laminations exactly the same thickness (as far as the eye can tell) and not a void anywhere to be seen.

If that doesn't work (or if I'm right and the Midwest models ply sheets are too small for you) then there is a firm specialising in all sorts of tools and materials for home builders of light (full size) aeropülanes. Again a US firm, called "The Yard", but I suggest worth looking at:

http//www.yardstore.com

All the best & congratulations on a excellent job.

Krgds
AES


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## trsleigh (8 Dec 2012)

Ian down london way":15fbkv1z said:


> [What an excellent idea.
> Of course I'll be dreading doing it tonight !!


And the result was...?


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## Ian down london way (9 Dec 2012)

Thanks very much indeed for your input. Much appreciated.



AES":31c0wv4l said:


> Have you see the Adrian Iredale series of clockmaking videos on Youtube?
> AES



I hadn't thanks, will look at those.



AES":31c0wv4l said:


> ... only problem you may find is that as far as I know it only comes in smallish sheets (I think about 12 inches by 6 inches max,....I have an offcut of Midwest ply that's one eighth of an inch thick and consists of 7 laminations, all birch, all laminations exactly the same thickness (as far as the eye can tell) and not a void anywhere to be seen.
> AES



That is very impressive.
And I shall check out out. I wonder how loud I will gasp when I hear the price . I do like the finish of birch ply. My local builder sells it at about £45 for an 8 foot x 4 foot sheet (8mm I think). I have made my own ply in the past, using veneer (but quite a small piece, say 1/4 thick, takes lots of veneer!) However, it was amazingly rigid at the end of the process. I may put my own veneer as the top layer on a more commercial ply, although the paleness of the birch is working well for now.

I shall preserver for the time being with the normal shop - albeit best quality they have - ply, and where necessary, sandwich that together to make thicker ply (each layer is just over 1mm thick). If that fails me, I'll start looking further afield.

Thanks again for your input.

Ian


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## Ian down london way (9 Dec 2012)

trsleigh":10f2x090 said:


> Ian down london way":10f2x090 said:
> 
> 
> > [What an excellent idea.
> ...



The result was interesting, and I think I want to improve the design. Yes, the wire now touches all the way around, but it also flexes (Maybe I should use thicker wire). So, I'm wondering about something that is more rigid, like a home made compass affair with a pencil in the end, so I can see where it touches the paper on the table, perhaps. 

But I do like the idea allot.


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## AES (9 Dec 2012)

Yup, the price of such ply will NOT be cheap, especially not when compared with buying a full sheet or half sheet of ply from a wood dealer, etc. But that's always the way with modelling goods - small packets of nuts and bolts; bottles of glue; paints, etc, - just about everything in fact, is always much more expensive than the same products sold in larger quantities elsewhere. But OTOH, sometimes model shops have stuff that is FAR superior than the "normal" equivalents and that ply is one example.

Good luck anyway - and I'll keep my fingers in my ears until you've heard the price - after all, I'm only about 700 miles away from London :? 

Krgds
AES


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## Ian down london way (12 Dec 2012)

*The Escapement (part 1?)*

The power for this kinetic sculpture comes from the weights which are attached to the drums behind each of the large drive wheels already mounted. What stops the wheels spinning round is the escapement.

This takes the form of a smaller wheel, whose teeth connect to the drive wheels. What stops that smaller escapement wheel from spinning even faster, is the way in which it is held back by stoppers which press against brass pins which are mounted on these escapement wheels, which only lets them rotate 1/6th of a revolution at a time.

Each escapement is made of a solid wheel which engages with the drive wheel, a spacer behind (to ensure the escapement wheel is at the same distance from the frame as the drive wheel), and the escapement wheel itself - whose key aspect is the series of pins which are used to stop it from spinning uncontrollably.

So, first, the solid wheel. Same technique as before, hand cutting on hegner, and making it circular using the vertical belt sander. This time, I checked the drill for its orientation to the table though !







Then the outside and inside of the escapement wheel. The teeth around the outside will be used by the mechanism which allows it to rotate only one pin at a time.










The escapement wheel also has four more brass pegs, which actually protrude opposite to the rotation-limiting pegs (6 of). They are used to allow the sculpture to be wound up. They support a ratcheting mechanism, whereby when the drive wheel is applying torque to the escapement wheel, it tries to spin it, but if you rotate the drive wheel in the opposite direction, then you do not have to spin the escapement wheel - such is the nature of a ratchet. To tell the truth, till I made one of these on my first model from this designer, I didn't realise how it would work, so don't worry if you don't either. But its rather clever, and is used in a number of his designs (clocks as well).

So, having also cut the ratchet teeth, these are the two sets of components needed to make the escapement. The escapement wheel has already got its brass pegs in place. 






Now for their assembly. I had to thin down the wheel, so the back of it is looking a bit ropey - I've not bought the expensive ply of just the right thickness, but the front looks fine.

The spacer is stuck to the back, and the ratchet wheel, part of the ratchet mechanism is stuck to the front, all three items are mounted onto a 9/32 brass tube (which will rotate on the 1/4 inch brass rod).






So, once assembled together, on the mounting rod, a single escapement assembly looks like this. You can see the ratchet assembly which is what couples the front to the back.






And here is what they pair look like in situ. 






Next - more cogs and the bits which engage with the pegs on the escapement.


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## gregmcateer (5 Jan 2013)

Ian,
I am really loving this WIP.
Can't wait to see the finished article.
Greg


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## Steve Maskery (7 Jan 2013)

Excellent Ian, don't stop.
S


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## Ian down london way (7 Jan 2013)

I'm nearly there for the next one. But xmas and a nasty does of flu (I fainted for the first time ever), has delayed things. That and the need to make xmas presents (butterflies on thin dowels on a turned base, rather nice, but time consuming).

I'll be posting within a couple of days, and you can look for the, um, deliberate mistake - )


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## jordec66 (7 Jan 2013)

That is so fantastic, we're all waiting with baited breath to see the finished art. That is seriously impressive stuff you're doing. Nice one.


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## Eric The Viking (7 Jan 2013)

This is fun!

I was right there with you on the drill table. 

I've been caught out twice: I tilted the table for drilling into the edges of dolls house floors (for wiring) and forgot to put it back properly (only roughly). 

Then, on the morticer with a drill chuck mounted, I found out I'd never checked it for squareness with the table - and it wasn't :-( Now shimmed with kitchen foil pro tem. Quite infuriating really, but so easily done!

Thoroughly enjoying your postings.

E.


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## Graham Orm (8 Jan 2013)

Great stuff. Looking forward to seeing the final item. Maybe a little inlay work to spruce it up? :twisted: Just kidding! I spotted this on the same You Tube page as your video link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hHTuXe1rZrQ How do you even begin to design something like this??


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## Ian down london way (8 Jan 2013)

I do love the interaction and encouragment on here - thanks guys.

I must admit, this kinetic sculpture was me taking a break from a hard(er) problem....

I have in the past made something called a marble chest, whose plans I got from Forrest Designs: 
http://www.foreststreetdesigns.com/Marb ... _Plan.html

Really fun to show working, but it runs only for about 1 minute at most. The link has a video of one running, mine was made close to the plans. Apparently I have to make another similar one, as I've two kids and they are fighting over who gets it when I die. :lol: 

So, having made some clocks, with varying degrees of success, I set myself the challenge of trying to combine a clock concept with the marble chest concept, so allowing a weight to be used to re-raise marbles back to the top of a marble chest type thingy - so it would keep running till the weight reached its end point - maybe 30 minutes.

I started with prototyping different ways of raising marbles, given some torque being available from a cog. I came up with 7 or so concepts - which operated in very different ways. I prototyped them all, but my second concept design was the most effective, although not the most asthetic. However it suffered from a run-away problem - it just got faster and faster, where as I wanted one marble raised every 3 to 5 seconds. I had to introduce some means of making it run at a constant speed. 

Ah, that's what the escapement of a clock does - I hear you say - quite so. However, on a clock, the pendulum swings once every second or so, and gears down the hands to turn more slowly. Where as I needed to raise about 1 marble every 5 or so seconds.

So, I struggled with this for a couple of months, got rather frustrated. So, in need of envigoration, I decided to take a break in November, hence this item.

When its done, I'll either do another marble thing (there are four here: http://www.foreststreetdesigns.com/Catalog_page.html) or return envigorated to design my own beast. 

So, here's a challenge, How many significantly different ways can you think of to raise a marble using the power of a falling weight. 

Enter your ideas here in this new thread: raising-marbles-using-gravity-t67070.html

*(NOT IN THIS ONE !!!)*


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## Graham Orm (8 Jan 2013)

Not sure about raising marbles....but could you slow down your runaway problem using a fan? Not a conventional 'cool me down' type. Imagine a windmill with the sails turned through 90 degrees. I'm sure I've seen something like that somewhere to regulate the speed of a spinning object.

Been for a look....here ya go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJhIGWiMwwg


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## stevenw1963 (8 Jan 2013)

Cracking stuff this


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## Ian down london way (3 Apr 2013)

*The Escapement - Part 2*

Firstly, apologies for the very long delay. A combination of several issues, partly, making stuff for Christmas (some butterflies on flexible dowels - you can see some in pic 701 - more cogs on earlier), plus my workshop was pretty damn cold for quite a while.

Anyway, I'm back out here, the temperature is much better, and I've completed the next tranche of bits.

So, the next set of parts are all about the escapement and the parts holding the weights.

Its at times like this that you just have to make the bits, without necessarily understanding how its all going to work. Having said that, I was following some of the instructions and they really didn't make sense. An error in the plans, I have concluded. We shall see.

So, the next set of parts comprise:


The escapement mechanisms (* 2)
two sets of wheels to allow weights to hang down from two threads
Thread redirection cogs

So, here are the first few parts sitting there waiting for the off:







Had some problems with the sizes of the small wheels. They are used as part of the structure which supports the smaller counter-weights. It turned out that there was very little wood in the structure holding the wheel, and I kept finding the support snapping. After three attempts I gave up, and amended the length of the wheel holders, which game me more wood to hold it all together - job done (they must have really strong wood in USA, is all I can say).

So, first job, is to try to install the weights. There are two sets, one for the top escapement and one for the bottom. Each set comprise a pair of weights, one heavy, one light. This is a common arrangement in clocks and the like, where you don't have a winder. Instead, you lift up the heavy weight (by hand) and the light wright then draws up the slackened supporting 'string'. 

Now, to make that work, the weights have to work against each other, but the plans show them pulling onto their respective large wheels, in the same direction. That can't be right. Not helped by the instructions also talking about winding the 'thread' (well, I used fishing line) anti-clockwise, but that's really ambiguous (is it the thread's direction, or the direction you rotate the wheel to wind on the thread, which is the opposite direction.

Oh well, two threads, two directions, at least there is a one in four chance of getting it right first time. We shall just have to weight (haha) and see.

So, this is what it looks like with the weights mounted, with a close up of the weights:











You may see that the weights themselves are not the most attractive items. They are scraps / blocks of wood laying around in my workshop, but will do for now. They do have the benefit of easily being fitted with hooks, and I just need them to hold everything taught. Mind you, I did find I had to wedge the cogs so they didn't accelerate to a truly impressive speed (took a good 20 minutes to find the end cap which flew off one of them as one reached supersonic speed).

Next is the escapement, and with that, lots more brass rods to be fitted.

The two sets of escapements are doing the same job, but gravity is working in opposite directions. They each comprise two parts, one which catches on the brass pins and one which catch on the outside wedges. They pass control of the release of the escapement wheel back and forward. 

Here are the parts (with the wheels):






And here they are fitted, well almost.






Now the reason they aren't working just yet, is that the 'pendulum' isn't fitted. 

That will be in the next posting - I hope not too far in the future, as I'm back in the swing now.

bye for now. Looking forward to the sun they are predicting for next week !


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## devonwoody (4 Apr 2013)

You are a better man than me. (hammer)


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## AES (4 Apr 2013)

I second that - you're a better man than me too Sir. Really interesting posts, good clear pix and excellent precise workmanship.

Congratulations and please keep it coming (or the "clock" going if you prefer).

Thanks
AES


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## Hermit (5 Apr 2013)

Just found this thread yesterday, thanks to a friend. A great build and a very descriptive WIP. Superb work.
I'm along for the remainder of the ride.

... Steve


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## Gary Morris (5 Apr 2013)

Wow, just read the thread. Fantastic, please carry on. I like the marble threads too, clear tubing, very clever, you'll all ways know where the blockage is.

Gary


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## Ian down london way (5 Apr 2013)

Wow - Switzerland and Australia !!

Cool !!


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## spinks (13 Apr 2013)

keep the pics coming, cant wait to see it finished!!


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## Ian down london way (22 Apr 2013)

*9th Report : The big Wheels*

Nearly there ! (I hope).

And so, the light at the end of the tunnel starts to appear.

Time for the large wheels, which actually are the pendulums - although exactly how it works in that role, is still a little unclear.

I find large pieces like this rather satisfying. I'm using ply, but as its non-structural, I could probably get away with any wood, but the consistency of the pale wood, I think, is quite nice.

The plans show two different styles of wheels - I've gone for the simpler, symmetric ones, rather than the highly asymmetric design which required aluminium strengthening. I can always change it later.

So, the pic below shows the simple design of wheel.






However the fates are against me. First I get a call from my niece who is giving some acting courses and wants some props for 'that play' (wooden swords). So that kept me busy for the weekend (made 7 in the end):






Then my daughter (doing architecture at Uni) wanted to use my workshop for her context model. She did a really good job - really nice small holdings (and buildings) - which you can't see:






So, two weeks later, I'm back with my big wheels. Slightly unsatisfyingly, the plans call for the use of ball bearing races. And the use of "phenolic tubing" of various sizes. Well, I've never come across that, and google's not helping much (at least in the UK), so i'm adapting the plans to avoid its use. Cross fingers.

Ball races (imperial size) are available over the web, but not cheap. After wondering if I can get away with brass tubes rotating around polished brass rods, I commit to spending £17 on 5 little ball races (1/2 inch across, with a 1/4 inch hole in the middle).

Anyway, decided to cut two wheels at a time on my hegner. needs lots of careful use of masking tape to keep it all aligned. I'm very conscious that the wheel needs to balance, and I'm expecting to have to either add weights, or slice out some wood at the back. But the more accurately I can cut a symmetric wheel, the better.
















So here are the two of them, together with some stuff which are to be glued to the back of the wheels, that will hold 'thread' to attach these big wheels to the escapement mechanism - spinning the big wheels back and forward.






So, here is a close up of the wheels mounted on the central brass rod. Through the ball races, with the pulley type wheels glued to their backs, and a decorative item in the front.

All ready to start adding weights and threads to make it work ! 

Major crossing of fingers time !











I must admit, that the ball bearing race does give a really smooth action to the way the wheels move. If they were frictiony (?) It could kill the movement entirely. So we shall see.

Do vote with a thumbs up if you are still enjoying this posting. 

I'm looking for what is my next project, and if I get lots of votes, I'll do a WIP for that too.

Bye for now !


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## devonwoody (23 Apr 2013)

Superb work and workmanship going on here. (hammer)


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## AES (23 Apr 2013)

@Ian down London way:

For small ball races of various sizes & types at good prices n with excellent service, I suggest you try Model Fixings:

www.modelfixings.co.uk

Usual disclaimers.

I have little idea about phenolic tubing, sorry, but any decent model shop should be able to supply brass tubing (in sizes which "nest" one inside the next) and which match to the standard sizes (SWG) of piano wire (music wire if you're of the US persuasion). Look for a K&S Metals display in the shops.

Hope that helps.

Lovely work as usual Ian.

Krgds
AES


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## Hermit (24 Apr 2013)

Good stuff, Ian. I've been looking forward to this latest installment.
The pics of the big wheels being cut on the Hegner really show the scale of this clock. 
Looking great, mate. Keep up the good work.


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## paultnl (15 Jun 2013)

Just found this WIP, when is the next instalment?


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## hanser (17 Jun 2013)

Looking forward to an update. 

Some info on 'phenolic tubing' - http://www.tufnol.com/tufnol/default.asp?id=109


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## Ian down london way (17 Jun 2013)

Thanks for that Hanser. Looks like that is an heavy weight engineering company. Probably not going to want to sell me a 20cm rod.

Anyway, my WIP is complete. I'm just going to take some videos and pop them on youtube, so the final installment can have stills, and a link to the beast working. Should be in the next day or so.


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## Ian down london way (23 Jun 2013)

*Last Update - The completion*

And so it comes to pass that at last the WIP is no longer a WIP. Its a WC (work completed?).

And so this is the last update to this forum.

The final jobs on this project were to get the weights to look nice, any last bits of tweaking, and then move it to its final resting place (?), the kitchen.

So, first the main weights. 

The plan called for 1lb 13 oz weights. Well, apart from the pain of having to convert everything into a sane unit of measurement (praise be to SI units), I decided not to use brass tubes (such as is used in grand father clocks - very expensive), nor copper tubes, as suggested by the plans (tricky to source of the right size). So, I tried turning some attractive spalded wood that I had around, and was rather pleased with the results. To get enough weight, I had to turn cylinders that were 11cm across. They looked great. Spend time time polishing them up, and on my test set up in my workshop they worked a treat.

Unfortunately, and as spotted by my wife (even more unfortunate that!), the distance that the supporting line was from the wall where it was going to have hang, was only 3cm (the perils of a non-representative workshop set up), so the weighs would be rubbing against the wall - bad news. So much for the use of that nice wood.

After some maths (I knew my O'levels would come in useful one day) I worked out that even with the most dense wood I had - Oak - it would take 66cm long cylinders to make the main weights clear the wall - well that wasn't good!

Plan B.

I tried drilling some 10mm holes into a 6cm diameter cylinder of wood, as deep as my (now perpendicular) pillar drill could go, and fill the holes with lead shot. I used 10mm as I had a set of plug cutters, the largest of which is 10mm, so allowing me to plug the holes neatly. Unfortunately, I couldn't get enough lead into the cylinder to shorten it enough.

Plan C.

Sliced my original cylinder in half, creating semi-circular weighs. They were only half the weight they needed to be, but as they were much wider, I could drill out lots of 10mm holes.






I figured I could let the flat side of the semi-cylinders (?) run up and down the wall, and they would still look fine. I was quite pleased with the result.

I turned one of the smaller weights, with a nice aesthetic curve to them. However, after my wife burst out laughing when she saw them, I threw the phallic shaped weight out and stuck to simply cylinders for the others too.

After some discussion, and negotiation, the precise resting place for this WIP was chosen, replacing a slightly defective wooden clock (what woodn't go). However, problem - its above a radiator. Now I could have tried to move it to one side, but that would mean mounting it above an electric point (hum - when I hung the woodn't go clock, I did manage to fuse the entire utility room, but that's another story!) so I thought I'd stick to a slot above the radiator, but now the main weights would foul on the radiator - best laid plans and all that.

So, Plan C2 was hatched.

I needed a stand off, to redirect the weight 12 cm away from the wall, so it would clear the radiator.

Mark 1, neat and compact. Brass rods to run the thread around (which by now was 20lb fishing line).






I used oak for the cheeks, which was good and strong (and reclaimed from my previous kitchen cupboard doors, I like reusing wood with history I know). Needed some dowels to give good grip for the mounting screws, but that was straight forward.

Only trouble is, with the fishing line having to turn around two right angles, even when the line was waxed, I had to add another 6 ounces to the weights to make it work!

And so, on to plan C3.

Less redirecting of the fishing line (and extending it another 2 cm out, as I hadn't allowed on the Mk1 for having to move to the middle of the weight where they are supported - Doh!), by turning through 45 degrees only.






I still needed to add a little more weight, but I managed to squeeze in a couple of more 10mm holes, plug them, and all was well.

So, Done !!!

Time to move it to its final resting place.

Here, the frame is mounted, but with the escapements removed.






And here it is with everything in place !!!






And just in case you would like to see, I've taken a simple video, and popped it on youtube - which is here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMtHK1rYoP8. You can see how the escapement works, which is very cool. 

By the way, the dog's called Barnaby - 3 years old 

And if you are curious about the item to the left, you can see that working here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivE3fkDbXHs.

Well, its been a long journey - started November 2012, finished late June 2013. A few delays along the way - what with xmas, and out of action with some health stuff in May, but its all done.

I've chosen the next project, which is to be another marble chest (I have done this one already : http://www.foreststreetdesigns.com/Marble_Chest_Plan.html.

These are the plans I've bought. http://www.foreststreetdesigns.com/Bell_Tower_Marble_Machine_Plan.html. Whilst its large (100+ pieces), its not as complex, I think, as a clock. So, something more relaxing to make. 

Worth another WIP here? What do you think?


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## Graham Orm (23 Jun 2013)

Brilliant! well done, wish I had the patience for something like that.


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## Harbo (23 Jun 2013)

Fascinating - well done!

Rod


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## AndyT (23 Jun 2013)

Bravo! A fascinating story of one design or making challenge after another - all solved!


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## AES (23 Jun 2013)

Superb! A lovely and inspirng "WC", thanks.

And thanks for the problem solving info too - glad I'm not the only one who's first go at solving a problem leads to a need to solve 3 new problems created by the first "fix"!

Will check out the video links when I have time, thanks.

AES


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## xy mosian (23 Jun 2013)

Brilliant. I bet you're well chuffed with that, you should be. Now where to get hold of a couple of bucket fulls of your tenacity?

xy


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## gregmcateer (17 Jan 2014)

I kinda lost touch with this post, somehow and I am really relieved to have spotted it again - amazing job, well done and thanks for the detailed WIP.
Way beyond my wildest dreams, but inspirational.
Greg


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## Ian down london way (17 Jan 2014)

Thanks for your support Greg, much appreciated. Its still working on the kitchen wall, a little more robust than some of the wooden clocks I've made.

Just in case you are interested, I've started a thread on a new project - wip-marble-tower-t74356.html


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## rspsteve (18 Jan 2014)

Great stuff Ian ....thanks for sharing .
Steve


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