
Just finished the beautiful Crazy Gear Pendulum clock and have it running flawlessly.
I did make one minor change, it is battery orperated. I designed and printed a battery powered weight. I replaced the fish line with a endless loop of 1/8 " ball chain. The weight is powered by a 1000:1 N20 gear motor to operate a small ball chain sprocket with idlers inside the housing. When the weight hits it's lower limit it activates a rack and pinion that tilts a mercury switch. That powers the motor and sends the weight to the top limit where the motor is turned off. I designed a chain sprocket that snapes on to gear 8 (no modifications to that stl file). However, after making a few chain sprockets for gear8 I ended up with a sprocket that was 4.5 inchs in dia. That required that I make a small change to the gear7 ratchet so I could get clearance for the sprocket.
All in all I am very happy with my latest pendulum clock. My daughter saw a photo of it and wants me to make one for her.
Thank you Steve for your beautiful creations and your acute attention to detail.
Leon
I have made one more change to the battery operated weight. The chain has slipped on the motor gear on one of my clocks concerning me about the design. So I made a change to the motor gear that allows the ball chain to make a complete rap around the sprocket. This greatly improved the dependability of the sprocket. For those that may be thinking or have built this project, please let me know and I will make the STL file available. If you have completed this project I would highly recommend this update and it can easily be retrofitted .
hoppy
The switch in held in by 2MM screws all the rest are 2.5mm
I was looking at the design and what it will take to get this started and came here. Steve is there any way to add the self winding mod to the download? or post it somewhare, as it would only be useful if you have purchased the original design. I have finished my 9th Crazy gear desk clock and am ready to try this.
Hi Hoppy,
Have now built Steve's SP12 and it is evident that Steve has put lot of effort and it can be seen where he has used the good bits from all of his previous designs. SP12 went together flawlessly and just started ticking away as soon as I put a weight on it.
Now that it is running, I will want to recheck everything and try and get the friction as low as possibe.
Anyway, the thought of making this clock battey operated is extremely interesting to me.
I have a few questions.
I have built a number of Steve's SP8s (Coup Perdou) with the N20 motor. I purchased the motors from a number of different supplier from ebay as well as alliexpress. I have found that the quality of the motor/gearbox is variable. A couple of the builds are still going strong, but one in particular required a motor/gearbox change as one of the gears stripped.
Why did you go for the N20 motor. Is this a good option for long term usability and longevity?
Why did you go for a ball chain option. I would have thought that the winding option that Steve used for SP8 would be more efficient with the weight around the bottom gear.
Krys S
Very nice. I always enjoy seeing modifications made by other builders. Adding an endless loop ball chain probably makes the mechanics inside the shell easier. This clock is fairly efficient. Any idea how long the batteries might last?
You have spurred my interest in this style of self winder. I am curious if bicycle chains would make good chains. They are relatively cheap and the larger sprockets might be easy to print.