2017 Clock Project

Today I started to figure out the gear design for my clock. I played around on GearGenerator.com and developed most of the gear work. The biggest challenge was figuring out the gear ratios and how I can get the proper RPM for each hand ( 1 RPM for the second, 1/60 RPM for the Minute, 1/720 RPM for the hour).

Here is a screenshot:

Today I received some feedback on my clock design. I heard that the pendulum thing was cool, and that I should provide more detail with dimensions and such.

I also looked at some more design ideas during the remainder of class. Mr. D gave me the name of a really cool clock maker (clock.wright), so I spent a lot of the class looking at some of his designs.

Today I drew all of the gears in inscape. I had to make some adjustments to one of the pinions because it was too small. it is now twice the diameter, and double the gears. here is a snapshot of the gears. The red circles centered in each gear are where the axles would be. I can work on making the gear design more ornate and interesting later, but for prototyping purposes, this will do.

Today I began to think about the escapement part of the clock. I spent most of the day doing research on how escapement works in more detail, and I used Mr. D’s Wooden Clocks book for the designs of the Pallet and the Seconds Gear.

Here are my calculations/beginnings of the design:

At this point, I am considering just installing a clock motor, rather than an escapement design. I think a clock motor will simpler and more accurate. I won’t have to wind the clock every day, and it will require less space to install on the wall. And if I use a normal motor, I can focus more on the aesthetics of the clock, rather than the insides.

I have decided that I didn’t want to do the escapement powered design. It was going to be a lot of work designing that, and make the clock very difficult to actually be useful. You would have to have a very large area to display it and remember to wind it every day. I think that just installing a batter-powered motor would be a better route. Plus, I can spend the next couple weeks focusing on the aesthetics, rather than the escapement. Today, I browsed the internet for inspiration.

Here are some good links

http://www.woodenclocks.co.uk/allclocks.html

https://www.instagram.com/clock.wright/

I began this project slightly intimidated. Although I liked the idea of a clock, I originally thought that designing the gears and escapement would be really difficult. I looked at many clocks online and they looked way to complicated. However, after thinking about it for a while, and looking at a book Mr. D. gave me, I decided to do it. After breaking the design into separate parts- the gear design and escapement- and some research, the process became much simpler. Figuring out how it all worked together was the hardest part. I used geargenerator.com to design the gears. After learning how to use it, this part was actually really fun. It also looked really complicated at first glace, so showing people made me feel really cool. Designing the gears was mostly a lot of trial and error and playing around with different sizes and configurations. I printed the gears to inskape, but I made a few errors calculating the circular pitch, so the first batch of gears didn’t quite fit together. However, the second batch fit perfectly- which was really cool. After printing the gears, I assembled the first prototype. The biggest challenge with this was finding the right size axles and spacers. One thing I’ll have to be sure to do is use bearings to reduce fiction. This first prototype was a really neat experience because something that I designed and mathematically calculated to work actually worked.

Today I decided for sure that I wanted to just power the clock via motor, rather than escapement. I looked at the internet for different types of motors. I decided on doing a Stepper motor, because they are supposed to be really accurate and efficient, programmed with an Arduino. I also looked at Servo motors, but those cannot do a full rotation.

Today I worked on programming a stepper motor using the arduino. It was difficult because I had to figure out how to connect the motor to the board. I also had to find the correct code and everything. Most of my day was spent looking at various tutorials from arduino.com, instructables, weird online forums, etc.

Hello,

I laser-cut holes in a board, where I installed the axles. The gears just rest on the axles, so the axles are stationary and the gears rotate around them. Except for the 3rd one, because that is the middle hand. That axle is installed with a ball bearing, and, although i haven’t done this part yet, I will attach the gear to that, so the axle spins with the gear. This is the minute hand, so it has to rotate.

Next, I am planning on installing a motor and installing hands, so it will be like an actual clock. I think it would also be cool to make a more interesting design within the gears as well.

Currently some problems are that the holes in the gears are a bit too large, so they tend to wiggle a bit around the axles. I also plan on making those measurements more precise.

Today I played around on Inkscape with the design/aesthetic of the backboard of the clock. They are based off of a photo I found on pinterest that I thought looked really good. I made two designs that were similar, but different.

Here is a snapshot:

Here is the file:

Today I made put some more details into the design of the backboard. I also did some research into the motor. I found this really helpful instructable about how to program, use, and power a stepper motor, which I can use to power my clock. http://www.instructables.com/id/Controlling-a-Stepper-Motor-with-an-Arduino/?ALLSTEPS

Today I designed the gears so that the first gear could spin at 1 rpm and the motor at 600 rpm. I want to do more research into a different types of motor so that it will be simpler.

Today I finished re-designing the board with the new gear sizes. Next class, I want to printout a cardboard version of the gears to make sure everything fits properly, and then print out the new gears and backboard. I also have to figure out how to attach the motor. Once I do all of these things, my project will be complete.

here is a photo of the

Today I printed out the new backboard. Everything fit perfectly, except the hole for the motor gear was too far away for some reason… Once I get that in the right position, I have to attach the motor and then I’ll be finished.

Also, I need to start thinking about how the clock will stand up, how the motor will be attached, and the design of the hands