Clock Forum

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

I have just tried to print the test cookie for the SP15 Globe and the Lat/Long lines will not print on a 0.4mm nozzle. (they show as printable in my slicer with a 0.2mm but I don't have one of these).

I am really enjoying the SP14 Moon Phase clock that I built from Steve's plans. It is far more accurate than I would have imagined; until I opened the windows this spring and heated up the room. Now the clock runs about 1 min per day slower. Easily adjusted for, but as an engineering curiousity does anyone know of a material I could try that has a lower thermal coefficient of expansion to see if I can minimize this sensitivity? All pendulumn parts are currently eSUN PLA+.