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Printed Clocks

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SP17 with a Stepper Motor

Am still printing the clock but once going will also want to "electrify" the winding.

Am thinking about using a stepper motor using an arduino circuit. (Generally already have the basics with one of Steve's earlier clocks).


Am thinking about running it at say 2 rpm starting every x minutes.

What do you guys think:

1. Will a stepper motor have enough torque to start turning the conveying screw if the screw is full of metal balls

2. How feasible would it be to have the thing run on say 4 x 18650 Lion batteries??


30 Views
Steve
Steve
8 hours ago

Stepper motors would be a very reliable drive motor. They can be run at any desired speed. The simplest circuit would be a 555 timer generating step pulses every few ms. Slow steady pulses turning the lifting auger every 2-3 minutes is all it needs. An Arduino is overkill.


A nema17 stepper motor should have enough torque to lift a full screw. Power required is proportional to the number of balls. Half full can have the stepper driver set to a lower current setting.


I ran a table full of 7 clocks using a 10,000mAh battery pack for three 8-hour days without needing to recharge. It should run a single clock continuous for more than a week. I suspect a few 18650 batteries would be longer, possibly around a month before needing to recharge.

Joy Loxton
Joy Loxton

SP17 Clock

I have started printing this, all going well. I had to print the base as split pieces, as when I tried it as one piece it would not print for me, got 8 hours into the print and stopped.


I printed it in two pieces not sure how to join them. What are the two tags on each piece.


Do I glue them together?


Thanks in advance.

59 Views
woodwaker_dave
2 days ago

Those are like brims. I ended up using a real brim, as I had problems with warping.

i can print the one piece base, but it always has an error about mid way through.

That is why I printed the two half version. The ball ramp lower left and right will serve to attache the two sections. There are alignment dimples to make sure they fit correctly.

Michael Billington
Michael Billington

Rolling ball Clock

Awesome clock Thanks Steve for making this available on MyMinifactory. The process went fairly smoothly> My printer - Creality K2. Used PETG filament (steel grey) and gears sky blue - silk gold PLA for pendum, winding handle and hands). The most critical issue in getting the clock running for me was adjusting the pallet height with the adjusting screws. I live in New Zealand and had a few problems finding reasonably priced chrome steel balls - eventually buying them from Amazon Australia.

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woodwaker_dave
2 days ago

NICELY DONE!

How did you adjust the pallet height -to what level?

Edited
Craig Baker
Craig Baker

Rolling Ball Clock

Just starting the Rolling Ball Clock. Couple of questions:


  1. Purchased the build kit from Etsy. Will it have the proper arbor lengths to use the new clock face in the revised files?


  1. The pin holes in the spiral auger are too tight for the pins. Using the 1/8" drill bit to widen them as suggested allows the pins to slide in but be a bit "loose". Once assembled will this looseness be an issue?

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edkirk1
5 days ago

I mistakenly ordered M3X25 threaded rod, I chuck them into my drill and screw them into one side, only drill the other part. Very little play and they don't fall out. I also got some carbon fiber tube which is a very tight fit. turned out very snug with no play.

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