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SP13 clock, the gears are all running well - been ticking away for 4 days now.
The problem is that the hands aren't moving - and I believe that gear 4a is not driving gear 4b through the friction spring.
I have checked 4b is locked properly to the arbour with the M3 screw, so it seems it is 4a freely rotating and not driving the arbour (and 4b) through the spring.
Any tips for debugging this specific issue? Thanks!
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I've followed Steve's Clocks for a few years and downloaded (and paid for) a couple of his designs but this is the first one I've actually had time to build. Loving it - such a beautifully designed clock.
Right now I'm just testing the weight (2.7kg and running well) and as I have a some lead ingots but no lead shot, I need to design a new weight shell for my purposes.
Couple of comments - Steve's instructions use 3mm stainless bar, and 1.5mm music (piano) wire for the arbours. From my engineering understanding, brass is a better option as it's self-lubricating. I found both 1.5mm and 3mm brass rod for cheap on Amazon in the UK (search for Sourcing Map Brass Rod).
I also found some low cost low friction bearings on Amazon which I'm using successfully without flushing first (my pendulum has a free swing time of 9…
Looks good. This is an easy clock to get running.
I specify music wire for the 1.5mm rods because it is always hardened. The brass you linked is listed as high hardness, which should be good. Brass can also be listed as soft, half hard, ultra machinable, or unspecified. Some of these might be too soft for the smaller diameter arbors.
I saw a guy on YouTube melting lead ingot using a pot with a small hole drilled in it. He held the pot over a tray of water to cool the lead as it dripped out. Of course, do this outdoors and use other safety measures when working with lead.
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I'm pretty new to 3D printing but long time clock maker. I am printing the SP3B clock and have read in the assembly notes that if I want to change the colors of the numbers on the dial I need to pause and reload a different filament at a specific point during the print. The notes say to change the filament at 15.35mm. Unfortunately I'm not aware what that means. I am using a Bambu labs printer (X2D) and Bambu slicer. Can you shed some light on my dilemma?
Thank you for the advice. It worked perfectly and much easier than I anticipated.
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After my success with the SP2B I wanted to build another clock for a friend so decided to build the SP3B. I had trouble with the pallet striking the edge of some of the escape wheel teeth, but some filing took care of that over several filing sessions. I found that a weight of 5.5lbs was about the minimum that would keep it going with some of the teeth dragging along the pallet as I was working on that issue, but it ran great once I had them all 100% clear. After fixing the escape wheel issue I put together a simple pulley hanger so I could test the clock in 8 day mode before printing the weight shell, and have found to my surprise that it runs very reliably on the same 5.5lbs. The pendulum swings on average about 1” either side of dead bottom, so 2” swing total. …
It seems like you have everything running great. Not sure why the pendulum and pallet are interfering. Some designs have less clearance than others. I may take a look at it when I get a chance.
That clock has a 24.5" pendulum length measured from the pivot point to the center of mass. This likely gives around 28" to the pointer below the bob. 1" of swing works out to around 2 degrees, which should be enough. It doesn't hurt to add a bit more for additional margin. The frame can easily handle 10 pounds as long as the hanging procedure is followed to keep the top support beam from tilting downward.
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Hi,
I've designed a new bob, so it can be filled with bb gun snot as well, be about 100g heavier to improve Q, but most of all to look beautiful. And it does! :) here is free scad file if someone else finds it useful
Thank you
Slava
Looks good. Thanks for sharing the design.
Some of my clocks have an updated bob with more open space to fill with BBs.
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Last week I acquired SP16 from myminifactory, and promptly decided I wanted to put my own face on it: normal (arabic) numerals, but with the hour and minute markings round the outside edge as on the dials with the Roman numerals. Because.
Anyway, I messaged Steve about it, and he promptly and kindly uploaded the dial parts in .step format, making it far easier to hack my own dial onto it.
The deed was therefore done, I printed everything, and did a pendulum swing test; after 20 minutes it was still moving quite perceptibly, so I finished the build and started it up with 1.8kg of diving weights hanging directly off it. After an hour the pendulum amplitude had settled at about 4.8° each side, then it gradually increased overnight to about 5.5° after 12 hours. I assume this means it is being run in, and friction is still decreasing.…
Looks great. The dial has really nice proportions.
Mechanically, reducing the winding drum diameter should have the same effect as a block and tackle. Both provide longer runtimes if the weight is increased.
The winding drum on this clock is just slightly larger than the lower support post, so a smaller diameter would cause the string to rub. This would require a secondary pulley. Or similar to some of Brian Law's clocks, attach the far end of the cord to the wall off to the side. This change reduces the weight pulling down on the frame.
Steve
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The rest of the clock seems to be working perfectly, but the moon dial is FLYING compared to how fast it should be going. Honestly, closer to a quarter turn each day. I haven't had the time to check, but I'm guessing that clutch set is too tight or maybe I have too strong a spring in it or something. Is it possible to have too strong or too weak of a pen spring? What are the optimal specs of the springs that should be used in the clutches? I've been using 0.5x5x20mm in the past without any noticeable trouble, so I never thought that they might be putting too much friction into the system. Now with adding the additional gears for the moon phase, it's made me think about that potential. I also have 0.3x4x25mm that I use for ratchet assembly.
Edit: After pulling things apart and taking a closer…
The normal operation of the moon dial is powered by the hour hand gear. Two stages of gear reduction turns the moon dial with a 59 day cycle. The moon phase friction clutch passes through gear 5 where there is room for the spring. Gear 5 sits between gear 9 and the moon phase friction clutch. The moon dial sits between gear 6 and the front frame. There is a lot going on in a very small space.
If the moon phase is rotating too fast, then the moon phase friction clutch is slipping. That alone doesn't indicate if it is an issue with the friction clutch or the gears binding up.
The easiest way to debug this would be to remove all the gears except the central arbor and the gear 5/9 arbor. This allows you to only the gears of interest. Rotate gear 4 to move the minute hand while observing the rest of the gears. There should be minimal resistance if all the downstream gears move freely as intended. If there is any binding, then rotating gear 4 would need enough force to allow a friction clutch to slip.
Steve
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Does anyone have a picture of the back side of their reed switch after soldering? I've soldered before, but am basically a novice and having difficulties making sure I understand the intent.
Yes here's the file plus an optional file of a little cover to cover the wires if you want to use it you have to glue it on
Thanks for the tips, Steve - it's working now. I took the 4n assembly apart and discovered a small burr on the arbour I had missed, which was fouling in the hole on the back plate. Just the slightest of fouls at one point in the rotation!