New Clock Design

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Well I got my new clock design up in AutoCad. This clock will have hours, minutes and seconds in the traditional sence.
CNCClock6-Large Tiff.jpg
Its powered by a 1 RPM sychron motor. I provided a power takeoff at the rear which can also be used to drive the clock at 1 RPM or provide hookup for other clock features.
CNCClock6-Large Tiff back.jpg

The Parts have all been cut and are ready for the first assembly. It consists of 169 individual parts.
_MG_9689.jpg


The last clock was all wood and had much of the same design components. I wanted to add a second hand and the ability to take it apart and reasemble with ease, so I converted all the arbors to brass. With brass bushings on each gear set and in the clock plates.

Now comes the time consuming task of writing it all up with exploded drawings and instructions.

[Mick A Martin]

Very nice work Michael, do you plan on selling your kit/plans?

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I was just going to include the plans as part of my CNC book. But when the book reached 400 pages I knew I would have to cut back several things. So I planned on writnging a smaller book devoted to the Clock.

I dont like calling them just plans since I will provide step by step instructions. I will also include G-Code for CNC owners. PDFs for laser owners or possible the corel files for the gears. I will also included full size layout of the gears for scroll saw users.

To drive the clock Want to provide plans for a couple moters avaialble from suppiers. I also want to provide instructions for using the various motors that can be purchased from Ebay.

On my web site I will also offer bare gears in various materials. IE small pilot hole and teeth. The user can then add other features as I will offer templates for various spokes. I also plan on offering a microcontroller based battery operated motor that fits the rear PTO.

I need to experiment with various materials. I know the front and back pannels can be made from solid wood. I have designed the gears with a lot of forgivness so slight warping should not be a problem. So it may be possible to do some of the gears in different solid wood. I need to do more experiments on this. I do know that any kind of cabnet grade ply does work for the gears.

PErsonaly I can make a MDF or particle board clock look real nice. On my last clock I painted the gears with hand hammered coper paint and I had a lot of people think they were made from metal.

[james mcgrew]

that is pretty cool

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Sure would like to have a set of plans
how long and how much before available
Ken

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

The book process will probably take me about a month. Then I pay for it has to go to an editor. (my grammer could be better). It will be beta tested before I release it. I allready have a couple volenteers on the CNC side. I would like to get a volenteer from the non CNC side to beta build it.

Once its tested and corrections made it will go up on my web site. Where I will print them on demand. Then after the first revision it will go into the POD system, where it will then become available on Amazon.

As far as price goes I have not settled on that yet. I may offer two versions. One with and one without the source files and G-Code.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I managed to ge most of the clock cut and assembled today. The design works, but my assembly technique needs improvement. Without thinking, I used a portable drill to widen some of the arbor holes. If an arbor hole is even the slightest bit off square, it will show up in the performance of your clock. My last couple clocks did not have a second hand so you could get away with a few mistakes.

So its off to cut and build another...

[Mick A Martin]

Nice looking clock Michael, keep up the great work.