Vectric Customer

This is a wooden gear clock I designed. Gears were designed with gearotic and I used Cut2D for generating g-code. Besides the gears, all of the frame, weight shell, etc were made using standard woodworking tools. It runs for about 2 1/2 days on a winding using about 4 lbs of weight. The clock has a tidal indicator which shows when tide is high, low and rising/falling. This was my first CNC project and I am pleased with the final result. Cut2D was perfect for generating toolpaths. Nice and simple to used

Wow - that is beautiful.

Phil

Very Nice!

Wow!! That is an awesome first project. I have always liked wooden clocks. I hope to take on that challenge some day. Nice job.

Thanks for all the feedback. I plan on offering this as a kit in the near future. Still have to finish writing the manual!!!

Hi I like the clock. Most of this type of clock takes much more weight to drive it. I have cut by cnc a no6 clock designed by Clayton Boyer, ran ok till i finishede with varnish. I tried to keep of the cogs and spindles but has caused problems. I am interested in size and how you finished it. My email is eodesign4@btinternet.com I have maybe a money earner if your interested.

Once again great clock.

Art

Hi Art,

I have since managed to get it to run with about 3 1/2 lbs of weight. I spend quite a bit of time making ti run more efficiently. I have several tricks. To minimize sanding I first mill the gears with some backlash. I do this by cheating. When creating my tool paths I set the diameter of my end mill to a little less than the actual diameter. Cut 2d then calculates the tool path for a tool with a smaller diameter but when I physically cut it I use an endmill with a diameter of 0.125 in. This usually gives me gears with some backlash and almost no binding right from the get go. The other trick I have is not to finish the gears at all. If you are using baltic birch for gears, it is so dimensionally stable that swings in humidity really don't matter and the backlash is enough so that the gears will not bind due to expansion of the wood. Some finishes do not completely cure. Oils and varnishes on the teeth can lead so a large friction issue. On a microscopic level they often make the wood "sticky". Bare wood is better. Another trick which I am sure you already know, is sand, sand, sand. I usually start with 220 grit belts on a scroll saw. Then sand by hand up to 600. Then I rub two pieces of 600 together to get another higher grit and then sand with that. My arbors are 1/8 brass rod. There are no bushings in the frame. I polish the brass starting with 600 grit up to steel wool. Every bit of polishing counts.

After the clock has been assembled, and working, I dissassemble and finish the frame, pendulum assembly, and weight with several coats of tung oil varnish. I stay away from the arbor holes and finish around them with a q-tip. I just picked up a nice tip from clayton boyers blog "clayton boyer tocks". If your clock is running but seems to stop every now and then, there is probably an issue with internal friction on the gear train somewhere. I marked the teeth and found it always stopped at the same position but couldnt seem to fix it. He mentioned using silicon spray in the problem area. I used a cotton sway to put some silicone spray on the problem teeth and viola, a clock that now runs around the clock 24 hours a day for 2 1/2 days.

Dave

Very impressive - the clock and your tips on getting them to run more efficiently.

Angie

Many thanks for the tips Dave I have already started to use them, The wealth of knowledge and help on this forum is to be commended.

Thanks