Printed with a bunch of leftover colours to clean up the shelf.
It worked well right off the bat with no pen
dulum but refused to work with it, so, I did what all intrepid makers do ... broke down and read the instructions! Now it just needs some run in time and tweaking.
Cheers
Mr Peterson, my friend who is 92 and had a stroke started one of your clocks. He gave me all the plastic parts I would like to assemble and give back to him. All the printed materials got wet and I was able to find your name. Can I get all the documents for I think is “SP6” please advise thanks Allen a.pen48@gmail.com
Steve, thank you very much. I think I can build the clock. From the electrical I will be way over my head but I’m going to give it a try.
Almost finished, just a couple details left. Trying to decide on minute and hour hands. Made cover for drive motor, I like how it turned out.
I had some trouble getting it to run properly, mostly friction in the center gear cluster that drives the hands. Not enough end play, filed down some of the surfaces between bearings. Hour shaft was a little snug where it pass through the clock face, sanded surfaces with 400 grit sand paper. Also loosen the M3 screw in the center gear and take out any binding.
Looks good.
Tolerances are always a problem with printers. A part that is tight for you is loose for someone else. Increasing clearances to make it fit for everyone would make it sloppy for others. It is difficult to add material if a part is too loose, so the best solution is for some builders to sand or file a few parts.
The M3 screw on gear 4b is important for the clock to keep time. If it is loose, gear 4 will rotate but the hands may not move. It can be loosened to determine the proper position along the arbor, but it should be tightened fot the clock to run properly.
A lot of people seem interested in the motorized version of this clock. A bottom mounted motor could be easily hidden and the wiring would be cleaner. However, there is no room without increasing the height of the base. The top mounted motor is much easier.
Nearly two months ago I had never seen a 3Dprinter. Fascinated, I borrowed an old printer and built the easy clock, #16, because it seemed like a good (easy) place to start. Once finished, it ran on the first try.
Then I took it for a car ride and I was unable to get the clock to run again when I returned home.. For the next three weeks I built and rebuilt it, printed some new parts, verified the spacers -- printed new spacers -- which are a big deal becasue they easy to switch around.
After dozens of experiments I decided the stack of gears on the top arbor was 2mm longer that the available space. (Yes, I had pushed and positioned and adjusted a dozen times.) I was unable to reduce the height of the stack of gears by the necessary 2mm.
Interim Fix: I added a spacer on the top…
The low printing temperature of PLA is both a blessing and a curse. It prints easily without needing an enclosure. Yet, it also can soften and deform at temperatures as low as 60C (140F). Higher temperature filaments like ASA are much more tolerant of car ride temperatures. They are also significantly more prone to warping unless printed inside a heated enclosure.
Adding spacers solved your issue by giving enough clearance to make up for the frame warping. It may be equally as effective to reduce the height of one or two gears by the same amount. Most gears split cleanly along the layer lines.
Great looking clock. It even matches the tablecloth.
Testing the clock without the pendulum is a good first check. It helps break in the components and gives you an indication of overall dynamic friction. Clocks are sensitive to static friction as well. This gets tested by the start/stop action of the escapement.
Add the pendulum and slowly move it from side to side. The escapement should start spinning instantly when the pallet tips clear the escapement. If the escapement is sluggish, then there could be high static friction somewhere. You could try lubricating the pinion teeth with a thin layer of grease to see if it improves.
Also the escapement should have equal action in both directions. Make sure the table is level. Add playing card shims under corners until a ball can rest in the lower tray without rolling. You may need to remove the tablecloth until you get the clock working. The side screws on the pendulum arm can be used to adjust the beat if needed. As Andrew mentions, they should start in the middle of the adjustment range on both sides.
Both of these issues are related to the escapement characteristics. A 10 second video showing a closeup of the escapement can often help pinpoint where to focus the next debug effort.