CNC and clock building

[cjablonski]

Do you have any photos of the problems your encountering?

[rungemach]

Hi Bill,

Is this the second simplicity you are talking about ?

How long does it run before stopping? seconds, a minute, hour or more?

That design tolerates a lot of sloppiness but very little tightness. Gear mesh can be very loose, but the sliding surfaces of the weight bearing train must be smooth under pressure. If it stops at the same gear meshing points, that can be a clue as to where to smooth a bit more. also, the crutch pin to pendulum fit needs to be non-binding. I believe Clayton suggests that you should be able to get a sheet of paper between the pin and the slot at any point.

bob

[cjablonski]

Edited as my assumptions were incorrect.

[bill z]

Yes, this problem was on the second Simplicity clock.

Sorry but I did not take a picture before I cut and installed a new 3rd wheel pinion.

Replacing the 3rd wheel pinion did work after I cleaned up a few points on the new pinion.

After tightening the crutch and pallet it started working. At least through the night. I'll check it when I get home tonight.

Picture this where the top of the teeth of the center wheel collides with the top of the pinion tooth and not slide past because the teeth of the pinion are too short. Again, cutting a new 3rd wheel pinion worked.

On this clock, I have 2.75 pounds of weight to run it. I'll go back through and use 800 sand paper again to see if I can get the weight down to near 1.5 pounds like my first Simplicity clock.

I'm testing and fine tuning the clock in a converted bed room that we use for an office. Now my wife is starting to complain about the sand paper dust that is starting to accumulate. I'll have to vacuum, dust and things to avoid more criticism. She like the clocks but not the mess.

[cjablonski]

Truly sounds as if this hobby has grown on you bill, and that's awesome . When does the next adventure begin?

[bill z]

The second Simplicity clock is running and I am working to get it accurate by adjusting the pendulum length.

I had this idea of using a phone app that I can not find. Don’t even know if it exists. Where it listens to the ticks of the clock and gives me the number of beats per second in hundredths or spacing of the ticks. I can find apps where I can tap in a beat and it will tell me the rhythm but can’t find one that will listen to the ticks. There are errors trying to tap the same speed as the ticks.

With the time between beats, I should be able to set the rhythm of the clock nearly perfect within a few minutes or working with it. I’ll keep looking.

About what is next. This summer is complicated. My oldest son, his wife and 4 children are moving from NJ to San Antonio. I’ll be helping getting them settled on weekends. Hanging pictures, assembling stuff…while my son will be learning his new job.

My work moves from 5 8 hour days to 4 10 hour days in the summer giving me Fridays and the weekends off. If I am not in San Antonio on any Friday, I can go by and pick up the plywood needed for the Epicyclical clock by Clayton. I would like to start that next.

I have neighbors wanting an occasional plaque to cut but nothing like these clocks.

Now I am discovering that I need to organize my bits, rods and tubes needed for the clocks and this CNC machine. I’ll be designing some drawers and stuff to set up under the CNC so things will be close.

Lastly,

I feel like I'm dominating this thread. My hope is that several others will start working with these clocks and join in. I like learning from others rather than making all of the mistakes my self.

[cjablonski]

All said, it isn't my belief that the thread is being dominated by anyone. I also wish others were engaged in this pursuit, but unfortunately many are not. I'm waiting to get clearance on my current project before I post. Once it's all clear, I will be adding some myself. Unfortunately, it's an accessory to a clock, but a clock itself, but close. Lastly, the follow-up to the current one isn't a clock but yet another accessory to drive all the components together, but it's still clock related. Not all have the interest in this, either due to its meticulous nature or simply not on thier radar, but it's still fun to engage others with this hobby.

[bill z]

2 days now and the second Simplicity clock has only gained 10 minutes. Still tweaking the pendulum.

Also, I'm starting to remove weight. I know that removing weight will affect the time so I'll have to tweak the pendulum again but it feels good to get the clocks running with less 2 pounds. Just a personal challenge.

I like building stuff and I like mechanical things. Most of my life, I've been restoring cars, trucks, tractors and other stuff. This is very similar but way cleaner and, for the most part, can be done in air conditioning.

My wife had been telling the folks she works with that I am building wooden clocks. In their mind, they thought of a wooden plaque with a battery thing doing the arms. last night one came by to pick up some moving boxes we had and asked to see them. He was very impressed to see the gears and everything. Just not so simple as a plaque.

I guess we all want recognition in one way or another.

As you can tell by my past posts, I also like to come up with tools and ways to do thing easier. It is all a challenge in one way or another.

[bill z]

Working a little here and a little there between the honey dos, I am able to run my second Simplicity clock with only 10 ounces of weight. Yes!! Less than a pound! I was surprised, I just kept taking off weight till it wouldn’t run 2 hours without stopping, then I added back to where it would run. With 10 ounces, it has run now for 10 hours and still ticking.

Just to be clear, the clock is running with all gears and hands but not with any weight pulleys. Just the weight hanging on the string from the wind pulley.

If I remember my physics lessons correctly (WOW, some 40 plus years ago), with the use of 1 pulley, I can lift twice the weight with the same energy but it will take twice the length of rope. For these clocks, we need to turn this around to get twice the length it will require twice the weight to do the same work. Is this correct?

Speaking of weight pulleys, what is the better way to cut the 1/8” grove in the pulley wheel to get an even cut all of the way around? I’m at this point and I don’t want to mess up a pulley wheel.

[cjablonski]

As to the physics, you are correct. You will need to double the weight to halve to the drop. So in this case, 20 oz (which is pretty remarkable my friend .
With regard to the pulley groove, I may approach it differently. I would use a center section of material that was 1/8 inch thick to create the pulley itself rather than cut a groove. The second way I might do it would be to put a rod through the center hole of the pulley. I would then chuck that assembly in a drill. Take it over to the band saw and hold the wheel vertically to the blade. Start the saw and slowly start the drill and slowly cut the groove in the edge. It's the same concept as used to make perfectly round spacers but to cut a groove, your just changing the plane your working with. Hope this helps.