Radiance, a most unusual wooden clock

**Hobbyhorse** · 23rd August 2009, 04:17 PM

Herewith Radiance which as the title says is a most unusual clock. This is one of Clayton Boyer's designs which has no gear wheels, runs on a torsional pendulum and ticks once every two minutes. The pin wheel bears on the impulse pallet and gives the pendulum a push and it takes 120 seconds for the pendulum to slow down sufficiently to activate the trigger and give the pendulum another impulse and so it goes on. The design is very new and I believe that there are only about 8 clocks that have been completed to this plan.

The frame timber is 10,000 year old swamp kauri finished in Wattyl lacquer while the remainder is of oak finished in orange shellac and clear wax.

Rhys H

**nine fingers** · 23rd August 2009, 05:58 PM

Rhys, A very unusual clock, how many hours to complete it and have it ticking. How is it wound and what is the running time?
thinking about making another clock after acouple of years on
other projects. John W

**paul k** · 23rd August 2009, 09:30 PM

Amazing stuff Rhys H , I thought your last thread Clayton Boyer's ( inclination ) was good , and then you post this new one . its hard to imagine how much time a project like this would take , also the accuracy needed to make sure it can keep the time within reason . Thanks for the post ,

paul , k

Sometimes we hear but do we listen

**Hobbyhorse** · 24th August 2009, 06:14 AM

John I guess there are about 100 hours in the clock....but that is only a guess. The run time is about 1200mm drop per 24 hours and it is wound with the cord hanging down from the middle of the assembly which winds up as the weight falls and on pulling it down the weight rises.

Paul thanks for your comments.Yes accuracy on this one was fairly important and I learnt a lot in the process. I did manage to buy an optical punch through which one can centre accurately over a point and then punch a starting dimple to locate the drill point. I was also "fortunate" in having been unwell for a couple of weeks thus I was able to spend time on the clock without feeling guilty!!

Rhys H

**artme** · 24th August 2009, 08:04 AM

Beautifully made clock Rhys.

Clayton Boyer has some stunning, and out there designs.

**Swifty** · 24th August 2009, 01:35 PM

Awesome Rhys, and must have been very interesting from an engineering point of view.

**Pete L** · 26th August 2009, 10:37 PM

Hello Rhys,

That is a lovely and very unusual clock. I have made a dozen or so clocks and I would love to do a different one such as this. It looks so simple and yet, it is actually a very complex design.

A couple of questions. The weight appears to be wood, perhaps lead filled. What is the weight used for a wooden clock such as this? Secondly, the cord wind has me puzzled. There are two hooks on the weight and there appear to be two separate cables going through the mechanism dropping towards the ground doing the same thing. Why two? What is the purpose? It is different to the grandfather or regulators that I have made that have a single cable going through a pulley on the weight or around a drum in the mechanism. Or are the two cables looped/joined at the bottom end? Either way, how does the weight drive the gear?

I love it. Congratulations on your skill and craftsmanship.
Peter

**Hobbyhorse** · 27th August 2009, 05:47 AM

Peter,thanks for your comments.....much appreciated.

The weight is a 25mm copper tube about 200mm long and is filled with lead shot weighing it at 1.5lbs in total. The cord wind works on two separate drums with the cord in the centre being wound up as the weight falls. Winding is simply pulling on the centre cord and the weight rises. The second item hanging down in the centre is a section of brass rod which acts as a stabiliser for the daisy wheel. Normally the hour hand is driven by the minute hand through a gear train of 12:1 but in this the the minute hand has a cam in behind it which carries the hour hand around and works with a three point "tri" which in turn locates on the daisy wheel to regulate its movement. It is all very simple but difficult to explain in print.

If you go to this site you can see pictures of the construction
http://web.me.com/johntribe/Learning...ton_Boyer.html

I hope this helps.

Rhys

**Pete L** · 27th August 2009, 02:43 PM

Hello Rhys,

Thank you for your reply and the description of the drive and for the fantastic step guide pictorial. I will go back and study that in detail.

The precision required in this project to actually make it work is considerable. Having seen your other clocks on display shows the patience and skills you have.

You have really enthused me. My next clock project will now be a wooden one. Maybe I should try for something more conventional though as a first step in making the actual mechanics of a clock movement.

Peter

**TTIT** · 27th August 2009, 04:29 PM

Extraordinary clock Rhys

I envy your patience and skill

**Hobbyhorse** · 27th August 2009, 06:20 PM

Thanks guys for your comments.

Peter I am a bit of a fan of Clayton Boyer and his designs and plans. Clayton insists that one builds one of his more conventional clocks before you start on his more complex clocks which he has in his "masochists corner" on his web site...
http://www.lisaboyer.com/Claytonsite/Claytonsite1.htm

As you may know I built his Inclination plan as my apprenticeship before starting on the Radiance. I have in my filing cabinet stored away until next winter the plans for Lolli and also Upsy..... for the moment I am a bit "clocked out" and also the summer season sends me back to my workshop to try and earn a living making items for craft and gift shops.

Cheers,

Rhys

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