Having issues
The attached vid explains much of my dilemma. To add, I printed in PLA on a Flashforge AD5X following Steve's print details and guidelines. I welcome any advice. Please be kind. I'm new to this. Thanks!
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SP5B - 8 day mode
Hi Steve, firstly thank you for your amazing clock design! I've had fun building the SP5B in 8 day mode, but had some issues.
With a fully assembled test, sometimes it goes for 12 hours, sometimes for only 20 minutes, every time I start it again it seems to be random, but it's never been more than 12 hours. The pendulum swings around 2 to 3 degrees in either direction with a 2 Kg weight hinging directly without the pulley.
Sometimes I get the feel that it runs better after I've taken it all apart and put back together, or if I push the gears up or down on their arbours and start it again.
With the pendulum not connected to the escapement, it swings for around 6-7 minutes before stopping completely, I've tried 3 different types of bearings and tried IPA and white spirit to clean them that that's…
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SP14 report and question
Hi,
This is my first post and my first clock build:https://youtube.com/shorts/0S7IOCwYK3c?si=sIRYi_Ioy__q2pka
First of all, it was amazing to get it working. The ticking sound is fantastic. It’s been running for about 5 days now. It’s hard to measure precision exactly yet, but it’s definitely within single digit seconds per day.
A couple of things I did slightly differently from the manual:
I printed the frame back standoff in ABS, just to remove any concerns about sagging and PLA brittleness.
I also discovered “super-bearings.” They’re slightly more expensive, but given how many hours we spend on these projects, an extra $20 doesn’t seem excessive:
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SP14 - Assembly of Gear 9
Hi Steve,
I am about to build SP14 - the large moon phase clock.
When trying to set up gear 9, the M3x8mm screw in gear 9b_5 cannot be screwed in tightly enough to fasten gear 9_5 to the 1.5mm arbor. The thread in the gear is not stable enough. I printed gear 9b again with 7 perimeters and an infill of 40% (cubic), but that couldn't be fastened either.
Do you have any suggestion how to print gear 9b_5 so that the screw can be tightened sufficiently?
Kind regards from Germany
Bernhard
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Steve
Dec 13, 2025
The first question is why your screws are loose and mine fit as expected? I use the default extrusion settings for generic PLA in PrusaSlicer. There are parameters for filament diameter and the extrusion multiplier, but I have never adjusted them. The results have been working well for me with several different filament types.
Have you tried different filaments? Gear9b_5 is small enough that it should be quick to test with other filaments.
Other things to try would be to experiment with the extrusion multiplier or the XY Size Compensation parameter.
Another trick used by woodworkers is to add a drop of superglue to the hole, let it dry, then assemble the component. This adds a thin layer of glue to make the hole tighter. The arbor hole might need to be drilled out again for the proper fit.
btw: what printer, slicer, and filament brand are you using? Also, did you need to drill out the arbor holes? Or were the arbors already loose right after printing? My CAD files always start with slightly oversized holes, but the printed result is always undersized, and every hole needs to be drilled out for the proper fit.
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The moon is indeed moving, I just didnt have enough patience to measure day to day shifts. Overall everythins works great, weight is 7.7 lb, could probably reduce it but too lazy to touch it :) Probably an overkill for a first project, but worked out great. Thank you!