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Escapment not moving.
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Moon phase
Not sure how to resolve this but the moon phase gear isn't turning. The clock runs and reliably. Any suggestions?
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SP4B will not stay running
Hello. I have assembled and tested all the gear assemblies per the instructions and still cannot get the clock to run. I have increases the weight to probably close to 20 lbs and the only way the pendlum will continue to stay running is if I apply pressure to gear 7 to create more force. The pendulum free swing test went for about 10 minutes so that seems okay. Where and why do I seem to have so much friction loss. All the gear assemblies spin freely on the shafts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Tim Jones
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SP7 in wood
Steve. I only have a CNC, but would like to make the SP7 clock in wood. I like the electronic pendulum concept. Do you have a dxf version of the plans. STL's aren't perfect for CNC, although they could work I suppose, but more complicated than 2D cutting with dxf files. Shat software do you use to design your gears?
thanks
Mark Jenkins
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Steve
Jan 19
Sorry, none of my clocks are CNC ready. There are many optimizations for 3D printing that would need to be re-designed to be strong enough in any other material. I am working on some wood gear conversions. The first is SP2 because I really like the classic design. The moon phase clock might be next. The desk clocks would likely be later.
Clayton Boyer's Toucan clock is CNC ready.
I use several gear design tools. Involute gears start in Gearotic, then get optimized for 3D printing in CAD. Cycloidal gears are completely drawn in CAD. The gear rim and spokes are always completely drawn in CAD. I use TurboCAD Platinum, but any 3D CAD program is capable of making the gears. Most of the work is simple 2D CAD. Adding thickness and converting to the final 3D shape is the last step.
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Clock runs for a few hours and stops..
Weight shell hanging.
Hi Folks, I just want to validate I did not mess up something simple on the SB14. My clock runs for a few hours and stops. I am going to take it down and check the fit in the frame of all the arbors I suspect some might be too tight.
For the few hours it runs it is pretty accurate and everything seems ok. Last night it ran for 10 hours. When it stops just moving the pendulim is not enough the escapement wheel seems to not be in the right position and the escapement just goes back and forth so I need to turn it just a little so it can start turning and then it goes again.
I just want to make sure I am not missing anything hanging the weight, the string is going from the spool through the pulley and hooked to…
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Steve
Jan 16
Just to clarify, are you saying that the escapement doesn't rotate when you manually move the pendulum back and forth?
This would tell you to look for friction in the gear train.
Start by looking for physical defects like blobs or elephant foot, focusing directly where the gears are meshing when the clock stops.
Look from the sides to see if any sideways interference is occurring.
Move each gear in and out to check for end shake. Also notice if the escapement starts spinning again as you touch each gear.
Check that the cord is not binding on itself.
The next steps involve taking the clock apart to double check that every gear spins freely on the arbor and within the frame. These steps are outlined in the assembly guide.
You can try greasing the pinion teeth to see if things improve. Very little grease is needed. It will work into the main gear teeth.
Remove the pallet and let the gears spin until the weight hits the floor. Sometimes this loosens things up.
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Need help with pendulum assembly
Steve,
I am working on the SP4B kit and have printed all the parts, I purchased the hardware kit from you also. I am working on the assembly checks and the shaft for the pendulum seems short. The distance between the bearing in the front and back is 3” and the shaft is only 3”. Also the stack up for the escapement and bushing is nearly 3” so it seems I need a longer shaft or something. Has anyone else noted this or did I do something wrong?
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tsj452
Jan 15
It seems I messed up and did not red that the shaft should be 3.5” and had inadvertently placed that shaft in the click and gear 7 aassembly. Sorry for the dumb question.
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Question
Steve - where can I get replacement cord for the pendulum? I botched the routing on my first effort and it's rubbing on the frame and will likely eventually wear it to the point of failure.
The good news is the clock is still running reliably after 3 days!
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Steve
Jan 12
Assuming you are asking about cord for hanging the weight shell.
I use 65lb braided microfilament fishing line. This gives a 10X safety margin above the heaviest weight shell hung using a pulley.
Heavy duty upholstery thread could also be used.
Can you re-route the cord to avoid rubbing on the frame? Fishing line is designed to tolerate rubbing through the fishing pole without wearing out within a few days.
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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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SP6 wood build
Hi Steve,
Now I have it complete I wanted to give you some feedback on a build variant of the SP6 Silent Desk Clock, the story being after building one of Clayton Boyer’s wooden design back in December I was eager to tackle another project ideally a small form factor and the SP6 ticked many of the boxes.
The only downside being I really wanted a wooden implementation, did see on your site that it was on your to do list and yet to come. Having learned a lot from building Clayton’s clock I figured why not have a stab it. I must say at the outset it’s a great design and fair play to you for doing all the hard work on the coding and sussing out the new CNC V4 shield variant which for sure achieves such a smooth and silent result.
Let me give you…
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mcshane.michael
Jan 11
Hi Steve, I had spotted that small gear clock on the website ok and I like the clean wood look impressive for sure. Indeed the SP12 would be a great candidate for wood its very gear symmetric, I imagine the challenge is in the frame methodology and support structures to prevent sagging. Look forward to seeing what you come up with. should present no problem for CNC with 1/8 end mills.
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10 minutes on the free swing test is good enough for the pendulum bearings. There must be too much friction in the gears somewhere. SP4B has a few double stacked gears and the escapement arbor also needs to spin freely in the frame.
The next thing to check is the characteristics of the escapement. Does it spin quickly each time the pallet teeth clear the escapement? This is the only way that energy can be given to the pendulum.
Also, slowly move the pendulum back and forth after the clock stops and describe the characteristics.
btw: what runtime option are you using?