Wooden Gear Clock

[oldhudson]

The plans are from ScrollSaw Woodworking & Crafts Issue 42.

 

This clock is not a traditional clock. In this clock the numerals for the time are not on a ‘stationary face’ but on the gears (the hour wheel and a minute wheel) themselves. The clocks hands don’t move.

 

 

After making copies of the plan I cut up the plan according to stock thickness and type. There is 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 BB plywood and well as 1/8 and 1/2 hardwood, I'm using cherry. 

 

In the past I’ve had issues applying patterns to wood. Either they come loose while cutting or fray so lines can’t be distinguished and/or are difficult to remove. So after checking with a couple of folks on another forum I decided to try covering the face of each piece of stock with ‘blue painters tape’, adding the pattern with 3M adhesive and then covering the whole thing – front and back with packing tape. This seems to work pretty well but I’m not thrilled.

 

This project has a lot of drilling and I sure wouldn’t attempt it without a drill press. Drill bits needed are 1/16, 7/64, 1/8, 5/32, 11/64, 3/16, 7/32, 1/4, 17/64 – yep, lots of drilling. The author recommends using brad point bits. I’m not even sure they’re made in all these sizes and even if they are, I’m on a fixed income so I used plain old twist bits.

I applied the patterns as described and then using the center hole of each gear and a circle cutting jig on a band saw to cut out the circular shape each gear. Then I used the same jig and disk sander to get the edge just 'kissing' the top the pattern of each tooth. However if the center hole isn’t drilled exactly in the center of the pattern, when using the circle cutting/sanding jig, you’re off some. I think you can see this in the pics.

 

In order to position each wheel for the drilling I used the scrap from the circle cutter and clamped it to the table so I could just spin the wheel to each new location. I could get pretty close using that method. Then bring the bit so it’s nearly touching the work and move the gear exactly under the bits center and clamp the wheel into position for drilling.

 

Because the bottoms of the “valleys†between the teeth seemed round I decided, rather than scroll them, I’d drill them out. That’s what I did. Then I scrolled from the top of each tooth to the center “valleyâ€. It seemed to go pretty well. The author recommends cutting just outside the line and then using a strip sanded to creep in and just remove the line. Unfortunately a tool I don’t have so I’m hand sanding quite a bit.

 

The plans have a set of numbers on them that are to be mounted on 1/8†stock and then scrolled into a ‘shield’ shape and glued to the wheels. This ‘glue the number’ process wouldn’t provided a look I was happy with, so I looked for alternatives. I could print out a new set of numbers and then try to transfer inkjet images to the wood wheels. I could try wood burning. I could go to CL and find a calligrapher. There are rubber stamps, stencils and paste on numbers.

I ended up purchasing a set of rubber stamps (Garamond type) and added the numbers to the largest face. I made a little jig that helped my position them and used acrylic paint. (Sorry no pic but I can post one if someone has an interest.)

 

When I went to add numbers to the ‘minute face' my stamps were too large. Agh! So after some trials I ended up using the computer to set the numbers I needed, reversing them with Paint, printing them out onto Jolee's Easy Image a product used to transfer (ink jet) computer art to fabric. The transfer is done with an iron. But it seems to work okay on wood.

 

 

One of the worst things is that unknown on a project like this. I've taken quite a bit of care here but I have no idea if this will really work. Are the teeth well enough formed?

 

Next step to cut and polish the arbors. I also still have to cut the pallet and get weights.

 

(POST SCRIPT ONE: I know I ‘talk’ a lot, my wife says I never say anything with one sentence that can be done with 5 or 6. Those bored by the narrative can just look at the pictures.

 

POST SCRIPT TWO: In Previewing this the photos are all small. I'm hoping that when posted you'll be able to double click and get them to a more reasonable size. If not I'll have to get another lesson from Admin.)

 

 

 

[amazingkevin]

A person after my own heart is a clock maker in wood. Absolutely the cats butt in ingenuity.!

[bobscroll]

Thank you Berry for posting the photo's, And I can see it's a difficult

project to do, Good luck and can't wait to see it finished, Bob   

[heppnerguy]

 good job, I am anxious to see it finished and running. I  have one that I started about a year ago and it still sits in the box waiting for me to finish it.  Good luck , i have a good feeling that you have a handle on things.

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[PaPa50707]

That is looking good so far. I also like the way you have posted your photos. It is like a work in progress.

[LarryEA]

I like your step description. That is good. It takes patience, huh?

I admire any one that  "completes"  this gear clock.

And this is supposedly an easy one...

 

It brings back memories on the one ' I have not finished '

 

IMHO, it takes all the right tools, the right wood, and access to other supplies.

And a lot of grit.

Like BB's and lead weight, a pot to melt the lead and a mold to shape it.

I have the gears made and meshed together.

I have not been able to make the pendulum right, nor get the weights right.

I shelved it, claiming I will finish it later.

 

 

Larry

[amazingkevin]

I'm eating up and love this clock talk,guess it takes that special one to complete one.

[heppnerguy]

Larry, it sounds like you and me should get together and work on our clocks. we must be a lot alike,

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[jrpeteo]

Thanks for sharing your progress on this project. My short attention span would never allow for a project like this....

Fellow Minnesotan,

Pete

[Birchbark]

Thank you for posting these pictures, lovin it.  Keep us updated on the progress, its very interesting and the pictures are great.

 

Russell

[amazingkevin]

Keep it coming!

[oldhudson]

Thanks to all for the kind words. I hope to return to the shop soon. Like many of you this is a busy time of year. Raking, cleaning gutters, putting the lawn mower in storage, getting the snow blower operational, turning off the exterior water outlets, put away patio furniture and then there's more raking.

 

I think I'm done with leaves until spring with the oak trees give up theirs. 

 

Unfortunatly the clock isn't the only project I have working. I have a long time friend, whose been after me for two years to build her a cabinet for her kitchen. I finally caved. She wants it to:

hold a 30-40 cook books

have a slide out drawer for garbage

a hanging file drawer, at least 16" deep

a 'office drawer' for stapler, post-its, clips, scissors etc.

and a fold out secretary if possible

there's an alarm system mounted to the wall that I have to work around

 

It can only be 16 1/2" deep; 5 feet end to end; max height would be 92" to a sofit.

 

She has a older cabinet her father-in-law made now. But wants to move it to a 'less visible' area. And she wants it fit style-wise with her existing stuff. Anyway I have that build rolling around my empty head too.

[heppnerguy]

She must be a really good friend to do all that for her at this time of the year.

 

I hope it doesn't take you too long to make and install the cabinet so you an get back to your clock.

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[oldhudson]

She must be a really good friend to do all that for her at this time of the year.

 

I hope it doesn't take you too long to make and install the cabinet so you an get back to your clock.

 

Dick

heppnerguy

I told her this could take a long time, because I am pretty darn slow in during the 'creative' part of the project. She said that was fine - we'll see? 

[Clayton717]

I can't wait to see more of the clock. I have been wanting to build one of these for years, just have not got brave enough.

[Ron Johnson]

Totally awesome Berry

You must have a lot of patience. Great photos of work in progress. Sounds like you are determined to see this clock project completed and running. Can't wait to see the end result. Unreal. Thank you.

[Sparkey]

I like your step description. That is good. It takes patience, huh?

I admire any one that  "completes"  this gear clock.

And this is supposedly an easy one...

 

It brings back memories on the one ' I have not finished '

 

IMHO, it takes all the right tools, the right wood, and access to other supplies.

And a lot of grit.

Like BB's and lead weight, a pot to melt the lead and a mold to shape it.

I have the gears made and meshed together.

I have not been able to make the pendulum right, nor get the weights right.

I shelved it, claiming I will finish it later.

 

 

Larry

 

Larry I am a bullet caster in my spare time. I have plenty of lead and a way to melt it. Don't know if I will have a mould but might be able to come up with something. Let me know if you need some help and a size and weight and I will see what I can do.

 

Berry the wood clock is awesome.

[oldhudson]

Wooden Gear Clock continued....

 

Well I lost some time getting the house winterized plus I’ve had serious issues with my 7 year old Dell. But finally I’m back working on the clock.

 

The instructions call for cutting and then polishing the brass shafts (1/16â€, 1/8â€, and 1/4â€) that the gears rotate on. I picked up a honing kit for carvers. I mounted the shafts in the drill press, carefully tightened the chuck so as not to ‘ding’ the shafts, and turned on the machine at the lowest speed and polished each shaft. I’d turned them end for end to do the other halfs.

 

Next these had to be mounted on the base. The shafts seemed loose so I applied a couple drops of CA glue to each so they are fixed to the base.

 

The shafts have supports that are glued to the base. Glueing supports to frame.   In order to glue the connectors and pinion gears they have to perfectly align with the other gears. In order to glue them so they wouldn't slide off center I used a waxed drill bit to position the parts together while gluing. Note the drilling marks on the back of the gear...used to balance the wheel.

 

I purchased the brass stock as well as 1.5†and .5†copper pipe plus caps for the weight and counter weight from a local hardware store. (Neither of the big box stores in my area would sell less than 10 feet and all I needed was 14â€.) The pipe, as you’d expect, was pretty oxidized and had printing from the mill. I cleaned all the copper in a roasting pan (jeeze don’t tell my wife PLEASE). I used 1.5 cups of vinegar and tablespoon of salt and the hottest water I could get from the tap. I let it soak about an hour and then brushed it with “0†steel wool. It cleaned up pretty well but not great, I may give them another bath?

After the supports are glued to the base the author recommends mounting the unit, for the rest of the assembly, on the wall. My shop is in the basement (lower level of a split entry home) and has zero wall space. Our son moved out a few months back so I moved the project into his old bedroom. It should work well to finish this.

 

Even though I made the clicker exactly as in the drawing they were too large for the clock. I had to re-cut them. Now that I’m in assembly, I’ve discovered some parts are mis-labeled between the directions and plans. But so far I think I have things figured out. Keep your fingers crossed boys and girls.  

 

I planned to mount this clock on a wall in the entry of our split level home. Splits all have those large walls in the stair wells. The directions caution about use anywhere there are strong air currents e.g., by a HVAC register or window – because air currents disrupt the motion of the pendulum and pallet. (That’s why old clocks are encased in glass and/or wood.) I have no idea of another location so I may be compelled to make some kind of case to enclose the unit. Here's the frame on the BR wall.

 

That's it for a couple days.

Edited December 8, 2013 by oldhudson

[Birchbark]

Wow this sure is an interesting project, thank you for the update.  All seems to be going well.  I think the copper came out real nice.  Glad you went to a local hardware as opposed to the big box store anyway.  They needed the business worse than the big corporation.  Can't wait to see this project completed, it's really moving along nicely.

 

Russell

[oldhudson]

Okay team I'm to the point where I have to fill the copper pipe and create the weights.

 

Per the magazine instructions. I intended on adding lead shot and soldering the caps onto the pipe. But lead shot pretty pricey. (I can't believe how expensive it is!) The best I've found is $38 for a 10# bag. In the end I choose to use fishing sinkers. They're a bit cheaper.

 

I even thought maybe I could swing by a couple of tire shops - maybe they'd let me have wheel weights? But driving around on the snow covered streets in Christmas crowds - hmmm - nah. I'll order on-line.

 

I also picked up the monofiliment line for the weights and BB's to fill the 'bob'. And I cut the last part today, the pallet.

Edited December 16, 2013 by oldhudson

[oldhudson]

Wooden Gear Clock build continued....

 

While I wait for my sinkers to appear at the door I measured and wound the monofilament onto the wind pulley.  I also sanded and glued the caps on the hands of the clock.

 

There is a 3/8 dowel that connects the pallet (the part that engages the gears of the clock) to the bob (that’s the round piece at the bottom of the pendulum).

 

Incredibly the directions don’t provide a length for this piece!?! So I looked at the picture in the magazine, which shows the whole clock.  I took a divider and set it for the length of the large weight. I know that’s supposed to be 13 ½â€. I used that dimension and ‘walked’ the divider up the pendulum shaft and determined it close to 42â€.

 

I’m making the hands and pendulum parts from cherry.  After checking the big box stores as well as my local Woodcraft and Rockler I discovered you can’t buy cherry dowels in lengths longer than 36â€.

 

So today I fabricated my own. I dug through the scrap bid and found a suitable piece of stock and ripped it to a 3/8†square.

 

 

I set up the router table with a 3/8†round over bit and made 4 passes rotating the blank 90° after each pass. Bingo and little hand sanding and I can start assembly of the pendulum.

 

 

(Sorry about the focus on the pics. I think my camera needs a new operator.)

Edited December 16, 2013 by oldhudson

[oldhudson]

Wooden Gear Clock cont'd

 

 The stock for the pendulum shaft came from a different lot than the rest of the cherry I used. As a result it looked a lot different after I gave the stock a coat of BLO. So I added some Old Masters gel coat stain (Cedar) and I think it matches well now.

 

    

 

I’ve begun putting the wheels I place as you can see. All the other gears work fine I’ve rotated them by hand and, as far as I can tell, all is good.

 

     

 

Except for these pieces, the escape wheel and pallet. They have a very tight tolerance. I play with it a little at a time sanding a tooth or one of the important faces. I may have to make the pallet over? If you hear load noises it will be me banging my head against a wall.

 

 

I’ve begun gluing up the ‘bob’ and the weights arrived in the mail.

 

 

[Birchbark]

Wow looks great!  The stain on the dowel rod matches perfectly.  I haven't heard any load banging noises yet... 

 

It is all coming together nicely Thank you for the updates

 

Russell

[oldhudson]

Hooya I got the clock running Christmas day (no grandkids - so I can do stuff like that). It's stopping every now-and-then so clearly I have to look at some more delicate sanding.

 

It's not where it will finally reside, it's still in the bedroom, but first the directions say to let it run for a couple weeks before setting the time or putting it in the final location. This is bloody important because I'll have to use a ladder to work on it in the stairwell. I've also got to put some paraffin wax on the teeth. Then adjust the pendulum length to keep correct time. And figure out how to make a video with my old Canon Power Shot and post it. Phew.

 

Here are a couple more pics but it's not the same a watching and listening to it march along. It is surprislingly quiet.

 

 

And here are links to see the clock  working. I reposted these 12/28 and the quality if much better. Hope you like it.

 

 

I

 

 

Edited December 29, 2013 by oldhudson

[Bishop]

WOW

What a labor of love.

Thanks

God Bless

Homer & Carol