Clock WIP - Maintenance

[stuartpaul]

Brian,

That is delightful! What a wonderful piece of work.

Love the tick, tock.

Stuart

 

[John Brown]

That's fantastic!
I'll re-read the entire thread before asking any questions.

 

[Ryandotdee]

This seems appropriate

 

[ColeyS1]

This seems appropriate

Completely- what the heck have you created! It's a living moving thing now ! I am completely in awe of all of it

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[Jonathan S]

Masterpiece!!!

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[woodbloke66]

That is superb, but I don't think I could live with that 'tick-tock' clonking noise for very long :lol: - Rob

 

[gregmcateer]

You are a genius! And an incredibly patient one, too.
I bow to your skills, sir =D>

 

[Yojevol]

That is superb, but I don't think I could live with that 'tick-tock' clonking noise for very long - Rob

The sound is much louder in the vid than in reality. It's just a soft tick-tock that we've soon got used to. The noise level generated is related to the mass of the weight driving the clock. The more weight there is the harder the escape wheel teeth hit the pallet teeth every second. I'm pretty sure I've got more than enough lead in there at the moment, so I'm going to try reducing it thus reducing the sound level.
Brian

 

[woodbloke66]

Out of interest Brian, what timber did you make the toothed gears from? I would imagine something hard wearing like apple or hornbeam would be ideal and I would again assume that they've been cut out on a scroll saw.
I'm not a scroller, but I'd be tempted if I were to make a project like this...again, very nice indeed =D> - Rob

 

[Yojevol]

Out of interest Brian, what timber did you make the toothed gears from? I would imagine something hard wearing like apple or hornbeam would be ideal and I would again assume that they've been cut out on a scroll saw.
I'm not a scroller, but I'd be tempted if I were to make a project like this...again, very nice indeed =D> - Rob

The whole clock is designed to be made from 6 & 12mm ply, although I've used mahogany where possible. The use of a darker wood makes it a much more attractive item.
I have heard that apple is a good choice for the gears, but ply is probably more stable. A problem with ply is that little bits can easily chip off.
I upgraded my scrollsaw before I started in anticipation of this project. I'm not convinced that this is the best way of teeth cutting, but the saw was certainly useful in cutting out the other shapes. I am going to try drilling the tooth roots (if that's the right word), cut the bulk of the ply with the bandsaw and then sand down to the correct profile. To this end I have purchased a jewellers detail sander (13 quid from China) and set it up as the world's smallest bobbin sander.
Brian

 

[richarddownunder]

Congratulations. That's a great project - I'm feeling quite inspired. You may have covered it, but did you make this from a plan. If so, where did you get it from? Also, ply comes in numerous grades, was this a particular type of ply?

Cheers
Richard

 

[Yojevol]

Thanks for your kind words, Richard. Yes it was made from a purchased set of drawings from Clayton Boyer. The drawings are available in paper form or in DXF CAD format. The DXF is in one big file but it is set out so that it can be printed as 17 pages giving you full size patterns for all the parts. There are others selling plans - google Wooden Clock Plans.
I used ordinary commercial grade birch ply, BB grade I think. It does have its problems but I have just purchased a complete 8 x 4 sheet of 6mm for future projects (the next one is starting TODAY). So I'm still working my way up the learning curve - I'll be trying a different gear cutting procedure soon.
If you want to continue a more detailed discussion send me a PM
Brian

 

[Yojevol]

Well it's a year on (almost to the day) and I have to report that the clock stopped working after many months of reliability. It began to fail for no apparent reason so a complete strip down was required to investigate. It tuned out that a bit of poor workmanship by yours truly had come home to roost. During making of the frame I didn't ensure that the main shaft supports were properly in line when gluing up so when I came to instal the brass shaft it needed some remedial attention. This resulted in me boring out the holes oversize and inserting brass tubing as plain bearings. Now this shaft is subject to a heavy loading from the 1.5Kg power weight which the brass on brass bearing was not up to and so it slowly seized up.
Finally got round to doing something about it a few days ago so here is the clock dismantled on my bench:-

And my solution to the problem - 2 little ball bearings:-

The clock is now almost reassembled so, hopefully, tomorrow it will be back on the wall again.
Brian

 

[J-G]

I've only just found this thread due to MikeK moving my WIP from [General] to [Projects] which I didn't know existed

Excellent work Brian proving that wood can be a suitable material for such projects as long as you take account of the inherent properties and add in other materials (Bearings) as and when it becomes necessary.

 

[AES]

Yup, "me too", thanks to MikeK for moving this thread.

AND of course, thanks to Yojevol, not only for the magnificent clock itself but for an excellent write up and pics.

VERY inspiring! WELL DONE indeed Sir

 

[donwatson]

Thanks for the WIP shots and the superb result you got from the making of this clock.

 

[Yojevol]

Thanks for the WIP shots and the superb result you got from the making of this clock.

Funnily, Don, just as I was reading your kind words I glanced over to the clock only to see the bloomin' thing had stopped. It has been running continuously for a week since I reassembled it without any sign a problem.
If it happens again I'll have to put markers on the gear teeth to discover if there's a poor tooth interaction that needs a bit of fettling.
Brian

 

[Jonzjob]

Well Brian, that is quite some clock and you should be very proud of it mate!

As I said in my clock thread, I am still having trouble with the friction between the wooden shafts and frame bearings. I am hoping that I can modify the shafts to brass rod and tube bearings on the ends? And I need to know if the box for the spring I intend putting in there will sit correctly in the box i have turned for it?

To get mine to the same, or near, accuracy as you have would be the real icing on my cake.

Thank you for the WIP too. It shows how much you have put in to it.

 

[donwatson]

Thanks for that Yojevol I needed some inspiration. I never had my clock running more than 10 seconds after I added the the dial and hands and the corresponding gears. Someday I may get back to it but .....

 

[AES]

Thanks for that Yojevol I needed some inspiration. I never had my clock running more than 10 seconds after I added the the dial and hands and the corresponding gears. Someday I may get back to it but .....

Thanks for those pictures donwatson. This is NOT a complaint, but just FYI, the pic marked "02" has an overall vivid blue background - you can still see most of the detail, but ........ : And BTW, the pic "03" is all fine. As said "just FYI" (but maybe only on my PC)?