Steve I had an idea over the weekend while I was doing some plumbing. lol. I thought how over a short period of time the minute hand in our hands always become loose and you have to wind up reprinting them tighter again and again. And then I got the idea of why not make the end of the two gears that hold the minute hand and the hour hand like the end of a spicket that looks like a small gear at the end of it and you attach the handle that also has the matching gear inside that to match the shaft of the spicket. So the two gears per minute had an hour hand would have gears on it and then the hour hand and minute hand have the matching cut out of the gears to push on nice and tight. And I think having them that way even as they become loose over time they're not just going to become so loose until flop down at the 6:00 hour. So what do you think do you want to try it do it for the sp7 clock?? And I'll test everything.....
I have been looking for a better mechanism for the hands, especially the hour hand. Some traditional designs use a square post instead of a full spline. Or I might try a set screw from the tail end.