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My SP13

Just completed my SP13 a few days ago.

Matt's SP13
Matt's SP13

One minor hiccup was that the heads of the #6 screws on the ratchet were running into the spokes of the ratchet wheel. I solved the problem by boring the countersunk holes on the clicks a bit deeper, just by manually applying an 8mm drill bit. Otherwise it went together without issues. Nice design! I did very little additional prep before hanging it up and testing. It ran OK for a few days with a 4lb 6oz temporary weight (no pulley). Then it stopped and refused to restart. So, now on to the tuning. The bearings I had on hand all had metal seals. I soaked them in a little cup of "Goo Gone" to try de-greasing, which seemed to mostly work... but I'm getting new bearings tomorrow with rubber seals, so I can do it by the book. Got some graphite lub…

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Steve
Steve
04 févr.

That is the first time hearing anything about the click screws rubbing. Flat head screws should sit nearly flush and have enough clearance. You have a solution that also works.


The pendulum support bearings are easy to check by running the free swing test. Anything greater than 10 minutes should be OK.


The escapement characteristics after the clock stops can tell you a lot about what to debug next. Does the escapement still spin? If not, then look for defects on the gear teeth where they are meshing. Also check for end shake on all the arbors. If the escapement is sluggish, then look for friction. Make sure every gear spins freely on its arbor.


You need to hold the clock level when running without the pulley. It is a simple way to double the effective weight, but the balance is off so the frame wants to tilt and the clock will be out of beat unless the clock is held vertical.


Your clock should be very close to running perfectly.

Slava Kuznetsov
Slava Kuznetsov

Large Silent Chess Edition

A slightly personalized gift to my chess grandmaster friend https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CWf3rLroMpE

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Steve
Steve
31 janv.

Looks great.

1st Clock is running :)

At first it would run for 5 minutes or so and then stop, I think I solved it by moving the stops on the gear 9 assembly closer together as it was touching the frame. I did also adjust the pendulum weight as initially it was too little.


Question (dumb one likely) but what is the draw back on being too aggressive on the drive weight? more wear and tear and noise? or am I missing something ?

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Epicyclic Gear Clock

Just finished making the epicyclic gear clock. I really think this pawl system would fix the SP7 clock. The second hand would not be able to jerk back and this ratchet and pawls are completely silent! As much as I do like the tic tocs, after a while they get to you especially when you have five or 10 clocks in the same room lol.... I'm going to see if I can create this pawl system for the SP7. I also want to create a base for this clock to have the coil and batteries and pendulum driver board out of sight.




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ksmietanski
ksmietanski
17 sept. 2025

Hi kicksnj2,

What happens when the battery voltage starts to decrease and the pendulum amplitude decreases. Do the pawls still work???


This is one of the things that I struggled with in the SP7.


Krys S

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