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Arts and Entertainment => Hobbies and Photos => Topic started by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 07, 2015, 08:24:48 PM

Title: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 07, 2015, 08:24:48 PM
So I'm going to have a go at building my first wooden clock.  I just bought a scroll saw today to cut the gears and other parts.  I have other equipment I need to get and need to source whatever wood I decide to use.
Here's a YouTube playlist of various clocks others have built based on the same design I'm planning to use and I may build a glass cabinet over the gears to protect them from dust and so on ..
Pretty nifty clock in my opinion ..
http://youtu.be/DC0FhSjmoWQ?list=PLB154D1A7C72B2A25
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: stromboli on November 07, 2015, 09:01:04 PM
they had a relic hall in the town I grew up in that had a lot of old crafts from pioneers, stuff made mostly from wood and by hand. There was a wooden gear clock and some chains made from a solid piece of wood, really cool stuff. More power to you if you can do it.

(http://tomsworkbench.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Be%C5%9F-Di%C5%9Fli.jpg)

(http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhvm73oRgp1qagkt0o1_400.jpg)

Hope you have the patience. Good luck.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: jonb on November 07, 2015, 10:51:14 PM
I love seeing peoples creative projects, and it is great to see them unfold, as such could I make a request: could you please take pictures of the work in progress and go through the stages of building it rather than just showing the finished product?
I love automata and clockworks so I would love to see where you start from the difficulties you encounter and the way you find to get around the problems of construction, the more you post about this the happier I will be.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 07, 2015, 11:10:41 PM
I'll do that if I can remember .. I've still got a lot of stuff to learn before I begin and some more tools and equipment not to mention the garage needs a massive clearing out since we moved my dad here and filled it with junk.. Pretty sure soon as I get it cleared out Sylvia will want to park her car back in the garage too.. We do have a shed out back I could probably expand to make into a workshop .. I have so much crap to do around here I might get around to this before my 109th birthday.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: PickelledEggs on November 08, 2015, 01:06:13 AM
This is really neat. It's going to be awesome when it's done
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: pr126 on November 08, 2015, 04:20:31 AM
But no wires!
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Atheon on November 08, 2015, 08:18:32 AM
Don't have brown skin and show it in a school, or some braindead idiot will think it's a bomb!
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Johan on November 08, 2015, 01:06:14 PM
What an awesome project. Doing gears on a scroll saw sounds tough. I'm sure I'd up fueling the wood stove with lots of scrap if I tried it. Definitely document the progress of the project as you go.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 08, 2015, 01:35:47 PM
Gahh! Trying to find the blade adapter for the saw I bought .. Apparently only one was ever made .. Well maybe more .. I bought the saw used and it's probably out of production so search search search!  The plans for the clock cost $42+ shipping .. I could use some free plans online,  but I really like this one not to mention printing plans at home come with some drawbacks. It can be tough to get the correct ratios and the printer only accepts 8.5x11 paper .. I guess I should just part with the $ to be on the safe side .. In the meantime I can practice getting good with working with the scroll saw and make some useless little junk out of wood scraps..
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 08, 2015, 03:27:34 PM
Another clock I might use simply because it is a free pattern that can be printed on standard paper size..and I like it because of the second hand at the top ..
https://youtu.be/vicHb6HIuLE
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Hakurei Reimu on November 08, 2015, 07:25:00 PM
The escapement of a clock is something I always find mesmerizing.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: jonb on November 08, 2015, 07:50:50 PM
I know what you mean two of my favourites-

(http://38.media.tumblr.com/2c1bb84068cd58229c5b3e5bbd475d5f/tumblr_mr3m86us1t1s6r1vho1_250.gif)

(http://soepic.net/stor/items/0f06f1aa6d4496cce.gif)

and my own little difference engine

(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll236/jonber/difference--1_zpsb711e842.gif)
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Baruch on November 08, 2015, 11:33:31 PM
Christiaan Huygens of Holland built the first pendulum clock:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Huygens#/media/File:Christiaan_Huygens_Clock_and_Horologii_Oscillatorii.jpg
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 09, 2015, 12:19:39 PM
Quote from: Hakurei Reimu on November 08, 2015, 07:25:00 PM
The escapement of a clock is something I always find mesmerizing.
Interesting video about the escapement mechanism and how it works with everything ..
https://youtu.be/2xoO4IdJMaw
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: trdsf on November 10, 2015, 12:43:10 AM
Awesome.  I have the Wrebbit medieval clock kit (still unfinished) and I too find a mechanical clock's mechanism fascinating.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Baruch on November 10, 2015, 07:25:34 PM
Quote from: trdsf on November 10, 2015, 12:43:10 AM
Awesome.  I have the Wrebbit medieval clock kit (still unfinished) and I too find a mechanical clock's mechanism fascinating.

Even in the early modern period, you had to make all the intricate beers by hand, using a saw and a file ;-(
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 10, 2015, 09:30:24 PM
Some pretty cool movements if you're interested ..
http://507movements.com/
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 23, 2015, 11:53:57 PM
So I've had this scroll saw now for about 3 weeks or so.  I've done lots of sawing of all kinds through the years, but had no idea the learning curve with a scroll saw was as steep as it is.  I'm involved with a few forums on the subject and have learned to modify the saw as most factory designs basically suck and no local stores carry parts much less blades except home depot which only carries pin type blades for cutting large arcing cuts so most everything has to come from specialty places online or in some cases ebay.  I'm just now getting fairy good at making tight turns and how to control the cuts with very close tolerances. Man, it's disappointing to almost have something cut out right only to fuck it up at the last second, but I'm hanging in there  .. I tried my first gear and it was a disaster so hopefully I've got it down now to be able to cut a gear reasonably before sanding the rough edges.  I still have several modifications to do,but they don't come too cheap.
I finally purchased a drill press, a 5 speed harbor freight deal. It seems to work just fine.
My next big hurdle will be cleaning off my work bench and finding places for all the crap I've acquired. I still need to set up a dust collection system and find a small pump for blowing saw dust off my work. The scroll saw has one built in,  but it's about useless. 
I'll keep you posted.
Oh yeah. .I'm learning to do intarsia which is making art work,  pictures with wood. This stuff is pretty slick.. Here's a few examples .. http://www.freeintarsiapatterns.com/woodworking_art.htm
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Johan on November 24, 2015, 06:53:30 AM
I had no idea scroll saws were so difficult to master. What kinds of modifications do you have to do to the saw?
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 24, 2015, 01:13:44 PM
Quote from: Johan on November 24, 2015, 06:53:30 AM
I had no idea scroll saws were so difficult to master. What kinds of modifications do you have to do to the saw?
They're not major modifications. I probably overstated that, but out of the box the cheaper models like dremel and others are often put together with hard to reach Allen screws, blowers that don't work,  alignment is iffy, etc.
The blades for real fine work are very thin and break easily if anything isn't quite right.  Try threading a 1mm blade into a 1/16th inch hole in 3/4 inch plywood ...takes lots of practice and patience. I have learned that getting in a hurry is no friend of mine.  Part of the problem with this saw of mine is the work surface table isn't perfectly flat. It's cast aluminum and slightly warped so I have to either compensate or find a suitable alternative surface that is flat because the blades have to be at a 90° angle or should be.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Johan on November 24, 2015, 10:13:24 PM
Ah, I see. Would you be able to attach some MDF to your table and make a work surface that's more true?
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on November 24, 2015, 10:35:31 PM
Quote from: Johan on November 24, 2015, 10:13:24 PM
Ah, I see. Would you be able to attach some MDF to your table and make a work surface that's more true?
I have to be careful because the cutting depth isn't very deep,  about 2 inches.  I thought about corian..
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Johan on November 25, 2015, 09:15:46 AM
Corian is a good idea. Perhaps a phenolic sheet might work too? I got a hunk of phenolic plate cheap on amazon to make some zero clearance inserts for my table saw. The stuff is cheap, flat and very hard.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on December 06, 2015, 05:25:02 PM
Something really cool if you're into this kind of stuff ..a gear template generator. You can set the gear ratios and all kinds of cool stuff online and print them out and there's a downloadable version for $26.
https://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html

I'm thinking of a rack and pinion system for my table saw ripping fence. The one I have now is a POS . The motor is ok, but the table surface and miter slots are shit..
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on December 06, 2015, 10:19:49 PM
My first rack and pinion to use on the new table saw rip fence I'm working on.  I might extend it for the entire width of the table, but for now it's probably going to be just a micro adjusted for tight adjustments. I'm still working on that idea ..

(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q490/atheola/IMG_20151206_220548.jpg)
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q490/atheola/IMG_20151206_220558.jpg)

It rolls nice and smooth so far ..

I'm still waiting for the new blades I ordered. The blades that came with the saw are plain old cheapo cutting blades. I ordered Flying Dutchman blades and from what I've read they cut a whole lot faster and cleaner.  I'm guessing it's like the difference between the cheapo blades that used to come with a circular saw as opposed to the carbon tipped blades of today.  Those old blades would burn up just cutting 1/4 inch plywood.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: Valigarmander on December 07, 2015, 04:03:00 AM
Neat. I've always found clockwork fascinating and wanted to build one of my own.
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on December 07, 2015, 08:23:27 PM
I'm finally getting this down fairly well. I think I'll make a sanding jig to sand out the inside of teeth or the contact angles because on an 18 tooth inch and a half gear it's tough to make the turn accurately. It needs to be about 20°.

The rack and pinion on the right is the one I made yesterday,  a 7 tooth gear, not so accurate.  The one on the left is 18 teeth,  much more accurate, but not quite as strong and tougher to grab the inside
(http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q490/atheola/IMG_20151207_200409.jpg)
Title: Re: Clock making
Post by: AllPurposeAtheist on December 09, 2015, 08:25:20 PM
2 genius moves today..forgot to plug in  batteries for the drill (I have about 6 of them) then while building a table saw top I glued and screwed an end piece on for stability, but forgot to cut it to the same length as the top.. jig saw cuts really suck.. oh well..