Has anyone here made a wooden clock?

[MikeG.]

I mean, with wooden gears, escapement etc.

It seems I am not going to be inheriting the family grandfather clock I had always thought I would be getting :evil: :evil:, so I've started sketching a long case clock. There are millions of Youtube clips of wooden gear clocks, which are great fun, but I have no desire to build one from someone else's plans. There are many more pressing projects to come first, but I want to gather ideas. One of the things I am keen on is to make it an 8 day clock, so again, any experience or words of wisdom would be useful.

I'd like the clock to chime, too....well, strike on the hour, rather than chime. But only between say 7am and 10pm, so a 24 hour mechanism will be necessary for a 12 hour analogue clock.

 

[Bodgers]

It is something I would like to do, but never tried yet.

Have you seen this German guy's site?

https://holzmechanik.de

There are some interesting plans on here, plus videos...



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[Jacob]

Bruce (local chap) does them. Lots of pictures on his site here:
http://bruceaitken-clockmaker.co.uk/
He does shows and has displays in various places.

 

[MikeG.]

It is something I would like to do, but never tried yet.

Have you seen this German guy's site?

https://holzmechanik.de

There are some interesting plans on here, plus videos...

I hadn't seen the site before, but I've seen one or two of his videos.

 

[MikeG.]

Bruce (local chap) does them. Lots of pictures on his site here:
http://bruceaitken-clockmaker.co.uk/
He does shows and has displays in various places.

Very nice. Nice site, too. The clocks are all much the same, but they are a lot nicer than the usual plywood ones.

 

[Yojevol]

I can't claim to have actually made one, but I can claim to have started making one. I started investigating the whole concept a couple of years ago and I homed in on Clayton Boyer's designs. I liaised with him by email (he lives in Hawaii!). He was very helpful in assessing my woodworking skills and thought I would be capable of producing any of his designs. Nevertheless I chose one which was recommended for beginners appropriately names 'Simplicity'.
I knew absolutely nothing about basic clock mechanisms so, as a self tuition exercise, I decided to convert Clayton's 2D drawings (supplied as a DXF file) into a 3D model using TurboCad. This is the result:-

So I can claim to have made one virtually!
Progress in turning it into a reality has been rather spasmodic due to other priorities. But I have made all the gears and have rigged up a temporary frame just to test that they run together in pairs. Next stage is to make sure that they run as a full train.

Like you Mike, I would like to design my own clock, but I think taking it step by step, is the way to approach the whole subject. If this first one is successful I will progress on to another design which is a bit more challenging. After that maybe I'll have a go at designing. Eventually I would like to concentrate on design and venture into CNC machining, at least for the gears. The one thing I have learned so far is that cutting the gears on a scrollsaw is very intensive can be frustrating.
Brian

 

[MikeG.]

Fantastic, Brian.

I'm wondering whether just using a bandsaw , without a scroll saw, would work. I can see myself drilling out for the gullet of every tooth, then sawing down to that on the bandsaw.

 

[Yojevol]

I'm wondering whether just using a bandsaw , without a scroll saw, would work. I can see myself drilling out for the gullet of every tooth, then sawing down to that on the bandsaw.

I did contemplate drilling the gullet but discarded it as an extra repetitive operation. The method I have developed is to bandsaw down to the root of each tooth and then get the profile with the scrollsaw. The initial band saw cut allows the waste to fall away easily. The important thing is to end up with a tooth face which is smooth to minimise friction. I think you have just got to play with the process to find the method you find best.
Brian

 

[AES]

Like a couple of others here MikeG, I've done quite a lot of looking (net, Youtube, etc) thinking, and even have a couple of books, but haven't actually started one - yet! And I'm still not sure if, amongst other decisions,, it will be a metal clock (brass, etc), a wooden one, or even a long case clock or a bracket clock. But a clock of some sort is definitely high up on my list of to do-s.

In other words I have no practical experience to offer anyone, and for me there are still a lot of decisions to reach, but whatever you decide to do for yourself I for one would definitely be interested in details, a WIP, etc, etc.

 

[MikeG.]

.........whatever you decide to do for yourself I for one would definitely be interested in details, a WIP, etc, etc.

It'll be a while. It's about 45th on the list at the moment. Lots of these projects have long gestation periods. By the time I come to doing a WIP I'll certainly have forgotten that I ever started this thread!

 

[AES]

OK Mike, understood, I suffer from the same "problem"! (OTOH, I know several blokes now retired who spend all day sitting around wondering what to do with themselves now they're nor working! Glad I'm not one of them ;-) .

 

[user22161]

The clock in this video appears at about 10 mins, just wish I had the skills and patience to make the things on display here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQ_8gS77cg

 

[AES]

Nice clock (and lots of other stuff). Thanks for posting.

 

[sunnybob]

You lot have just way too much spare time :shock: :shock: :shock:

Buy the mechanism, build the case, move on. #-o 8)

 

[Bodgers]

You lot have just way too much spare time :shock: :shock: :shock:

Buy the mechanism, build the case, move on. #-o 8)

By this logic nobody on the forum would build anything, we'd be buying stuff from Ikea.

Building the mechanism is an interesting thing to do IMO.

It isn't necessarily about the destination, it is the journey...

 

[Yojevol]

You lot have just way too much spare time

The point is, Bob, we haven't got any spare time. That' why they're not getting made!
Brian

 

[sunnybob]

Bodgers;
Its all about patience levels, and time spent versus end reward.
Mine is very low and I could not envisage the hours spent on making those cogs only to then hide them inside an outer shell.
But you do have to remember my post did condone making the outer case, and also contained multiple emoticons depicting i was 'avin a larf :roll: (hammer)

Brian; ahh, I see. Its a method of explaining to your other halves why you dont have time to complete the honey do's. Good thinking. =D> =D> =D>

 

[MikeG.]

You lot have just way too much spare time :shock: :shock: :shock:

Buy the mechanism, build the case, move on. #-o 8)

Buy something! What, with actual, real money? When you could make it yourself?

You've been out in the sun without your hat again, Bob. :lol: :lol:

 

[MikeG.]

.........I could not envisage the hours spent on making those cogs only to then hide them inside an outer shell.......

I'm thinking of one really huge wheel, with a little slots in the casing so that it sticks out an inch each side, and then some small openings in the face so that you get a glimpse of the mechanism behind. The person only giving it a quick glance might just notice that the face and numbers are wood, but it's the person sitting in the room, or who otherwise has their eye drawn to the clock, who might see the hints of a wooden mechanism and go and give it a closer inspection.

I've designed an 8 day mechanism, so I'll store that away for a rainy day then build a basic drive train on a bracket to test it out. That should be an attractive thing on the wall even if it doesn't tell the time.

 

[AES]

Don't know if it helps or not, but I was thinking - only thinking mind - of a case with glass panels on each side so that anyone will see the wheels inside.