Thread: My Wooden geared clock

Hi Jemijona Big Bens hour hand is clear of the numbers while the minute hand covers the number. I have decided to stay with the last version and feature a huon pine insert as requested by the finance committee (wife) and my daughter as opposed to a highly polished ally insert! Pictures sometime Tuesday.

Dean.

Hi all here are my new hands in purplheart!. After a few days they really turn dark after being cut or sanded. Tomorrow I will make the huon pine inserts.






Dean.

Hi all, still haven't completed the huon pine inserts yet.
I have a questions for the brains trust. As you know I have two coils that power my clock. The left one measures the time it takes for the magnet to pass by and depending on the time it does nothing. The second gives an adjustable pulse set to work with its neighbor and the amount of weight. What i am wanting to know is whether each coil should be equally spaced at the end of the pendulum rod? or should I give preference to the coil that does the measuring?




cheers

Dean.

Hi all here are the finished hands which I will put on tomorrow. Still thinking about the dual coil set up and to resolve it. Notice the change in color! Gotta love that purple heart.






cheers

Dean.

Evening here are the finished hands on the clock. Will spend the next week designing a small mechanism to adjust the position of the coils in relation to the pendulum rod.



Dean

Looks great Dean
The hands are a perfect match for the clock. Well done.

Thanks Nick. Its funny how the little things can take the longest time.
Dean.

Hi all have finally found an article that explains how to compound weights to achieve a longer running time. The webpage article is great ........Tower clocks: Weights, weight lines and pulleys.. This pic is from that article and I will be attempting in the next few days to apply those principles to my clock somehow.I will be aiming for a 2 fall compound because you have to double the weight to achieve the same weight affect; ie from 4ks to 8kgs.

cheers for now...

Dean.

Mate at the risk of telling you how to suck eggs if you use a four fall sheave arrangement you will need to use probably four and a half times the original weight.
last time I read your clock was running on nearly 8 kgs the clock frame is going to have to support 36 kgs.
Will the frame rack and cause gear misalignment and or will the weight rip the clock off the wall?

8kgs was a couple of evolution's ago! At the moment my clock runs on 4kgs which is weight/electronic hybrid arrangement. I am aiming for a 2 fall compound arrangement which will require 8ks. In its original form this design requires 8-10kgs to run. Its just as well the electronics have enabled the weight reduction or as you have stated the clock's frame would destort and quite possibly fall off the wall!!

Dean.

Hi all here is a pic of my first venture into weight compounding. The pulley is from our shade cloth. I was worried about doubling the weight on each side from 2 to 4kgs but i noticed that the end of the rope is fixed to the upper pulley shaft which is dyna-bolted to the wall. With that realization I will investigate whether a 3 fall compound set up is achievable! According to the article I have just read, a 3 fall compound is the best in terms of friction versus weight versus expense. I will keep a close eye on how the clock frame reacts to the extra weight applied. Can anyone more learned than me see how the increasing the weight by a factor of 2 or 3 will translate this weight through the frame of the clock. ? Does that make sense? From the way I see it my clock only needs 4 kgs to work and the extra weight required to make the winding less frequent loads through the wall pin and not the frame.


Dean.

As your combo goes to the dynabolt in the wall, that 3 rope setup will have the extra 2 times of the original weight going to the dynabolt. You still end up with only the weight of the original weight going through the frame to the drum. Hope that helps.

Cheers

Thanks for that Rod I hoped as much...Since that is the case I will try for a 3 fall compound. According to the theory because of mechanical advantage it should be easy to wind up a heavier weight.
Here is today's efforts in pictures. I have purchased some pulleys from the local boating shop; not cheap but great strength and quality and I don't have to fab from scratch!. On both sides I have used the pullyes; on the Lhs I have doubled the weight to 4kgs while on the right I have increased the weight to only to 3ks. I want to test if the theory that you have to double the weight is correct. So for my clock is still keeping time with 7kgs rather than 8kgs after several hours. We will see how accurate the time is over the coming week. With this set up I should get 32hrs between winding. We will soon see.

cheers

Dean.

I was about to give up hope of making these stars but persisted and here are the first two.19mm by 7mm high. I have experimented with 3 other sizes but these seem to work the best.
I have designed them to be a push fit into the dial because there is no way to clamp these little treasures!You can even see the pores up close! I will hopefully have the rest done by this week. 2 down 10 to go.

Dean.