Clock Forum

I have ordered 3 separate pendulum movements from Aliexpress. They all show pictures that jibe with the instructions, but when they arrive, they have surface mount components instead of the large size caps and resistors shown in the instructions. The problem I am having is that they don't seem to have enough oomph to swing the pendulum far enough to engage the ratchet wheel. It swings, just not far enough. The bearings and mechanical portion of the clock seems to run well. Does anyone know a workaround or where I can find the appropriate pendulum driver? Any suggestions welcome. Thanks

Hi Steve... Its Bill Roman.... I have a question about the Moon Phase Clock. What would you have to change on the gears to only run the clock by the pendulum. No weight shell. Just like the (Elecromagnetic Desk Clock). I can make Moon Phase clock and some of your other clocks run without weight shells. And you would be able to set the bob in a matter of minutes and have accuracy of 1 to 2 seconds a month. I can't show the prototype of the driver board yet since Im still testing adding and removing parts. I can tell you that, and I will explain later, that I figured out the main problem with the Electromagnetic Desk Clock with is one of my favorites and has been the biggest pain in my ass that I was not going to let it win me over. lol. I've spent over 10 months on that clock from morning til night figuring out what was wrong and making it so fidgety and after hundreds of dollars and prototypes and hundreds in equipment to prove my theory, the clock has now been running for months with perfect time and an accuracy of 1 second a month. And to set the bob to keep perfect time it only takes a few minutes (Not Days or Months to set). You would have a whole new line of clock designs to sell as well :-)

Thank you Steve for sharing these great designs with the world, and your support of people using them to build clocks. I'm looking forward to printing and building one of them myself soon. I saw that you joked in another post on this forum that these clocks would not be heirlooms for anyone. That got me to thinking "why not?" I assume it is because PLA isn't designed for longevity. ChatGPT suggests these lifetimes for different materials: PLA - 5-10 years, ABS - 10-20 years, PETG - 15-25 years, Delrin - 20 years to indefinite. A Delrin clock would be cool, but all indications are that it is quite hard to print. Some online services offer 3D printing in metal. For instance Selective Laser Melting for Stainless Steel (at jlc3dp.com) I expect that these materials aren't quite ready for this application, but I was wondering, Steve, if you've been pondering other materials yourself? Thanks, Tucker