instructables

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism

by DickB1

Synchronicity is a unique exposed wood gear pendulum wall clock, with a combination of old and new tech.

Many wood gear clocks are driven by weights. These clocks need to be wound periodically, as often as every day. I
wanted to build a wood gear clock that did not require that frequent winding.

Some designers use an electromagnetic pendulum to drive their clocks. The pendulum contains a rare earth
magnet which passes by a coil or two. As the magnet passes the coil, it induces a current in the coil. This triggers
electronics to put a pulse of current into the coil (or a second coil) and repel the magnet, giving the pendulum a
push and powering the clock. I chose this method to power my clock.

Often times wood clocks of this type are not very accurate. Wood expands and contracts with changes in
temperature and humidity. I wanted my clock to be accurate, so I use a microcontroller in my electromagnetic
pendulum drive so that the clock keeps perfect time. My circuit is powered by 4 D cells, which will operate the clock
for up to three months.

Here is a video on the design and construction of the clock: Synchronicity

Files are available to machine the wood parts of this clock on a Carvewright CNC. Visit the Carvewright Pattern
Depot. (Sorry; Carvewright uses a proprietary le format; no les are available for other CNC machines). A hardware
kit of all the non-wood parts, including the electronics, is also available at carveshop.com.

Materials

1/4" Baltic birch plywood

1/2" hardwood
3/4" hardwood
hardware (see list in image)
brass tubing (see list in image)
electronics

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 1

Step 1: Theory

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 2

In most pendulum clocks, the swing angle of the by over a half percent.
pendulum is very small, and so the actual swing angle
has no bearing on the period of the pendulum. The Synchronicity software and electronics vary the
However, the period of a pendulum does increase swing angle of the clock's pendulum to slightly speed
gradually with increased swing angle. If the swing it up or slow it down as needed to keep perfect time.
angle is relatively large, and is varied between about
15 to 25 degrees, the pendulum period can be altered

Step 2: Electronics

The heart of the electronics for this clock is a Texas a resistance of about 50 ohms.
Instruments MSP430 microcontroller. It is a low-power
device, - in fact, most of the time it is in "sleep" mode, When the magnet passes the coil, it induces a
drawing virtually no power. A 32.768 kHz watch negative then a positive current and voltage. A simple
crystal provides a timebase for the microcontroller. lter limits the voltage of the signal from the coil
when the magnet swings by. This voltage is fed into a
The electronics are powered by four D cells supplying comparator on the microcontroller. When the voltage
6 volts. A 3.3 volt voltage regulator supplies the exceeds a threshold, it "wakes up" the microcontroller.
microcontroller. The regulator has a very low An output port drives a transistor pair that injects
quiescent current. current into the coil. The current pulse is typically 25
mS long.
A single coil is used to detect the magnet passing by
and to repel it. The coil is wound on a bobbin made up A bicolor LED provides a visual signal to help set up
of two 1.25" nylon washers with a 1/2" long x 1/4" the clock. It is connected to two output ports of the
diameter nylon post glued to the washers. The nylon microcontroller. The LED lights red with one port high
parts came from my local Ace hardware. It is wound and one low; green with the port levels reversed.
with about 100 feet of 32 gauge magnet wire, yielding

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 3

Step 3: Software

The software was developed using an inexpensive MSP 430 LaunchPad development kit from Texas Instruments.
The LaunchPad connects to a host Windows computer via USB. A few components such as the transistor drivers
were add via a breadboard during circuit and software development.

There are other Instructables showing how to use the MSP 430 LaunchPad with TI's supplied Code Composer Studio
to develop code, so I will not duplicate that here. I'm still using a quite old version of Code Composer Studio,
Version 5.1.0.09000. The reason is that I used a plug-in tool called GRACE to con gure the peripherals, and this tool
was dropped in later versions. Version 5.1.0.09000 is still available from TI. The attached le main.cfg contains the
Grace setup, and main.c is the C source code. Code listings are also provided in pdf form if you just want to look at
the code without installing Code Composer Studio.

The software is interrupt driven. Once the microcontroller is set up, it is put into "sleep" mode. It is awakened when
one of the interrupt conditions are met.

A timer driven by the watch crystal over ows and generates an interrupt every two seconds. This is used as the
basic timekeeping for the clock.

The comparator generates an interrupt when the positive voltage pulse from the coil is generated. An interrupt
timer routine set up in state machine fashion

1. delays an amount of time for the magnet to move slightly past the coil for optimal push
2. turns the coil on
3. turns the coil o and allow it to quiesce so that a second false trigger is not detected.

For each state, a interrupt is generated, the action taken, and the microcontroller put back to sleep to await the
next step.

The software measures each and every swing of the pendulum, and compares the actual swing time to the desired
1 second, generating an error number. A modi ed PID (proportional - integral - di erential) control algorithm uses
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 4
the error signal to adjust the pulse duration to the coil. This modi es the swing angle of the pendulum to speed up
or slow down the pendulum and therefore the clock. The actual C code is

pulse = NominalPulse - (Kp*error + Ki*i_error);

Where Kp and Ki are empirically-derived constants and error and i_error are the proportional and integrated error
respectively (no di erential term is needed or used).

A National Instruments data logger was used to help derive the constant values and tune the system. A software
routine set up a pulse width modulated (PWM) output port connected to a simple low pass lter and the
datalogger. The routine generated a voltage proportional to the pulse width to the coil or the error signal of the
PID algorithm. Shown is a log of the error signal closing and locking on on zero.

The software lights a bicolor LED red or green to indicate if the pendulum is moving too fast or too slow. This allows
the bob to be adjusted up or down in just a few minutes to set up the pendulum. Once it is set close enough, the
microcontroller regulates the pendulum to keep accurate time.

Circuit boards were designed and built after the hardware and software were nished.

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FGB/5WH6/I4IXCJU9/FGB5WH6I4IXCJU9.pdf
…

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FV7/XAHL/I4IXCK56/FV7XAHLI4IXCK56.cfg
…

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQI/DHX8/I4IXCK9F/FQIDHX8I4IXCK9F.c
…

Step 4: Ratchet and Pawls Design

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 5

Weight-driven wood clocks with a regulating
pendulum use an escapement. Because our
pendulum not only regulates, but drives, the clock,
we use a ratchet and pawl arrangement. A moving
pawl moves back and forth with motion by the
pendulum, and a locking pawl allows the ratchet
wheel to turn in only one direction. Our pendulum
has a one second period, so for our ratchet wheel to
drive a second hand, we put 60 teeth on our ratchet
wheel.
I used a Radial Vector Generator program to generate
vectors for the ratchet wheel and gears. It's available
for free on the Carvewright user forum. It's pretty
Step 5: Pendulum Design
For the ratchet to operate properly, the moving pawl's
movement must be controlled. If it moves too little, it
won't advance the ratchet wheel. If it moves too
much, it will advance the wheel by more than one
tooth at a time. To control my moving pawl, I
designed a cam for my pendulum.
The cam is at the pendulum pivot. It uses a larger and
a smaller radius, with a smooth transition between
the two. A weighted lever with a wheel rests against
the cam. As the pendulum swings, the cam moves the
lever, but only so far. Even when the pendulum
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 6
easy to use. You just enter a few parameters and the
vectors are generated to your speci cations. The
illustration is an example of a ratchet wheel.
I used the Carvewright Designer software to design
all of the parts for my clock. The vectors from the
Radial Vector Generator were imported into Designer,
and then center holes and spokes and the like added
with Designer. Parts such as the ratchet wheel were
cut out of 1/4" Baltic birch plywood using a 1/8"
cutting bit on my Carvewright CNC machine. Baltic
birch is made up of many thin layers of wood with no
voids, and is very stable.
swings a great deal, the cam pushes the lever only so
far.
At about the middle of the pendulum, a recess is
placed that will hold and hide a rare earth magnet.
The lower part of the pendulum uses a brass
threaded rod. A wood bob slides over the rod and is
secured by a pair of brass knurled nuts. The bob can
be moved up and down to adjust the e ective length
of the pendulum, and therefore its period.
Step 6: Gears Design

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 7

The second hand is driven directly by the ratchet
wheel. To drive the minute hand, we need a set of
gears that divides movement by 60. We need an even
number of gear pairs so that the second and minute
hands turn in the same direction. I used four pairs of
gears, each with a smaller pinion and larger wheel. I
used a simple spreadsheet to enter the number of
teeth of each wheel and pinion pair and compute the
gear ratio to get the desired result. These numbers
were then input into the Radial Vector Generator to
produce vectors for the wheels and pinions.
Step 7: Clutch Design
To allow the time to be set, a clutch is used on one of
the gear sets. This allows the minute hand to be
moved manually without disturbing the rest of the
mechanism. I used a ratchet on the face of one of the
pinions, and the same mating surface on the wheel.
The pinion is pressed towards the wheel with a light
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 8
(One of the program's inputs is the "module", which is
the arbor distance * 2 / (no. of wheel teeth + no. of
pinion teeth). I let the spreadsheet compute the
module necessary to space the gears on shafts exactly
3" apart.)
The hour hand requires a gear set that divides by
twelve. Only two sets of wheels and pinions are
needed.
spring. This allows the wheel to maintain contact with
the pinion to drive the minute hand, but the pinion
can slide over the wheel when the minute hand is
rotated clockwise.
Step 8: Frame Design

The frame of course holds it all together. The pinions
and wheels were designed to t onto shafts 3" apart,
so the frame has a central shaft with three others 3"
from the center. The bottom two shafts are also 3"
apart. There is a front and rear frame, the front frame
integrated with the clock face. Lots of open space
ensures that the gears remain visible.
The gears are layered on the shafts so that the
respective wheels and pinions mate while not
interfering with other gear sets.

Step 9: Base Design

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The base or back of the clock houses the batteries, coil, and electronics. The base is made of two peices that get
screwed together. The coil is inserted from the back in a recess such that the coil is only a fraction of an inch from
the front surface of the base.

Step 10: Machine the Parts

The wheels are machined from 1/4" Baltic birch. Holes
must be precisely drilled so that brass tubing may be
press t and used as arbors. Most of the wheels use
1/4" diameter brass tubing for arbors that will ride
over 7/32" brass tubing shafts.
The frames, face, base, pendulum, and bob are
machined from 1" nominal (3/4" actual) hardwoods.
Some of the moving parts, such as the pendulum
pivot, ride on ball bearings. 3/8" recesses are cut into
these parts to hold the bearings.

The pinions and other parts are machined from 1/2"

hardwood such as oak.

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Step 11: Drill the Frame and Other Parts

Three holes at the top of the frame are drilled have recesses for the bearings drilled.
through as illustrated. Two holes are drilled with a
3/8" bit 1/2" deep. Start with 1/16" pilot holes for these parts. In the case
of the pendulum and lever, which will have two
From the front of the frame, drill 1/16" holes through bearings each, one on each side front and back, drill
the frame with a drill press at the red circled locations. these pilot holes through to the other side the part.

From the back of the frame, using the 1/16” pilot Using a 3/8" Forstner bit, drill recess holes in each part
holes that you just drilled through from the front 1/8" deep. Drill both sides of the pendulum and lever.
(circled), drill recesses for the three shaft retaining rod Drill the front ( at) side of the minute hand, hub, and
nuts using a ½” Forstner bit and drilling only ¼” deep. frame.

From the front, at the same positions, drill 7/32” holes Next, drill a ¼” diameter hole through the center of
¼” deep. Finally, drill these holes through with an each these recesses. Drill about ½" deep on the frame;
11/64” bit. drill through to the other side of the other parts.

Several parts hold bearings, and these parts need to

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Step 12: Assemble Gear Set One

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The shaft for Gear Set 1 is a ¼" diameter tube that is 1-
3/16" long. Insert the shaft into the 12-tooth pinion
that does not have the clutch face carved into it and
secure with superglue. Set the shaft ush with the
face of the pinion. (I put a couple of drops of
superglue inside the pinion hole - the wood will
absorb some - and a drop around the end of the shaft.
You must assemble quickly and accurately. I insert the
shaft by hand a bit, set the pinion down on the bench
with the shaft sticking up, use a wood block on top of
Step 13: Assemble Gear Set Two
Part A
The shaft for Gear Set 2 is a ¼" diameter tube that is
1½" long. Insert the shaft into the one-way round
clutch as shown, so that the end of the shaft
protrudes from the wheel exactly 7/8". Secure with
superglue.
Next, slide the 32T12 four-armed wheel onto the
shaft. (Note that the 32T12 four-armed wheel is
smaller in diameter than the 32T8 wheel - use the
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 13
the shaft and drive the shaft home with a hammer.)
Slide one of the 5-arm 30-tooth wheels on, and secure
to the shaft and pinion with superglue. (I put a couple
drops of superglue on the face of the pinion and a
drop around the shaft, assemble, then clamp the
wheel to the pinion with two Irwin Quick-grip
clamps.)
correct one!) Secure it to the shaft and hub with
superglue.
Part B
The 12-tooth pinion with the one-way clutch face is
the mate to this gear set. The shaft for this pinion is a
¼" diameter tube that is 5/8" long. Insert it into the
pinion so that the end of the shaft is ush with the
clutch face.
Step 14: Assemble Gear Set Three

The shaft for Gear Set 3 is a ¼" diameter tube that is 2" long. Insert the shaft into a 10-tooth pinion so that 1/16" of
the shaft protrudes from the pinion. Secure with superglue. next, slide the 3-arm 30-tooth wheel onto the shaft,
and secure it to the shaft and pinion with superglue.

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Step 15: Assemble Gear Set Four

The shaft for Gear Set 4 is a ¼" diameter tube that is 3-1/8" long. Insert the shaft into the 8-tooth pinion so that the
shaft protrudes ¼" from the face of pinion. Secure with superglue. Next, slide a 5-arm 30-tooth wheel onto the
shaft and secure it to the shaft and pinion with superglue.

Step 16: Assemble the Seconds Shaft and Gears

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The second hand shaft is a 3/16" diameter tube that is
5½" long. It is supported by three bearings. Start by
test tting bearings on both ends of the shaft. If the
bearings don't slide on, reduce the diameter of the
shaft slightly. I use ne sandpaper or emery cloth with
the shaft inserted into my drill press. You don't need
to worry about the center of the shaft, just the ends.
Slide a bearing onto one end of the shaft so that it is
at least 1¼” from the end of the shaft. Slide a 7/16"
diameter, 1/8" long brass spacer on next. Slide the 10-
tooth pinion with the 3/16" hole on next, so that
exactly ½” of the shaft protrudes from the pinion.
Secure with superglue.
Finally, slide the ratchet wheel on, paying attention to
the direction of the teeth. Secure to the shaft and the
pinion with superglue.

Step 17: Assemble the Minutes Shaft and Gears

The minute hand shaft is a ¼" diameter tube that is the wheel to the hub and to the shaft with superglue.
3¾" long. Start the assembly by attaching the 7/16"
thick by 1" diameter hub to one end of the shaft. The Next, assemble and fasten two ¼" thick by 1" diameter
bearing recess faces outward from the shaft, and the plywood hubs.
shaft itself is inserted up to the bottom of the bearing
recess. Secure these parts with superglue. Finally, assemble and fasten a 10-tooth pinion as
shown.
Next, take one of the 5-arm 30-tooth wheels and slide
it onto the shaft all the way down to the hub. Secure

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Step 18: Assemble the Hours Shaft and Wheel

The hour hand shaft is a 9/32" diameter tube that is 1-7/8" long. Attach the 4-arm 32-tooth wheel to one end of the
shaft. Set the shaft so that the end protrudes 1/8” from the back face of the wheel.

Next slide a ¼" thick by 1" diameter plywood hub onto the shaft. Secure these parts to each other and the shaft
with superglue as you assemble them.

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Step 19: Assemble the Frame
Insert a bearing into the center of the frame.
Insert the three 7/32" diameter, 3½" long gear set
shafts as shown. When fully seated, 3¼" should be
exposed.
At the top right of the frame, insert a 3/16" diameter,
Step 20: Assemble the Moving Pawl
Insert a 7/23" diameter/ ½" long brass tube pawl
bearing onto the moving pawl, with equal lengths
protruding from either side.
Insert ball bearings front and back into the lever.
On the back of the lever, insert a 3/16" diameter, 2"
long lever-to-pendulum bearing shaft. Before
installation, check to see that a ball bearing will slide
at least 5/8" onto the end of the shaft, and remove
some material from the shaft if necessary. Secure the
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 18
1½" long lever shaft. Before installation, check that a
ball bearing will slide all the way from one end to
within ½" of the other end. Remove some material
from the shaft if necessary. I put the shaft in my drill
press and use emery cloth or ne sandpaper.
shaft to the lever with superglue if necessary.
On the front of the lever, insert a 3/16" diameter, 1-
15/16" moving pawl shaft. Secure with superglue if
necessary. Slide the moving pawl onto the shaft as
shown. Secure with a cap and superglue. Make sure
that the pawl moves freely on the shaft. You may
need to le the inside of the brass tubing with a small
needle le to deburr the inside edge.
Step 21: Assemble the Fixed Pawl

Fasten the xed pawl tip to the pawl arm using a #6 3/4" brass round head wood screw. Insert a 7/32" diameter, 1"
long xed pawl bushing, leaving 1/16" protruding from the front of the arm.

Step 22: Assemble the Pawls to the Frame

Slide a 1/16" spacer (a 7/32" diameter brass tube 1/16" long) onto the lever shaft at the top of the frame. Slide the
lever (bearings) onto the shaft. Slide a 1/8" spacer on next. Secure a cap to the end of the shaft with superglue.
Make sure the lever moves freely.

Slide the xed pawl assembly onto its shaft as shown. Make sure that it moves freely. Secure a cap to the end of the

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 19

shaft with superglue.

Step 23: Assemble the Lever to Pendulum Bearing

Slide a 7/32" diameter, 1-1/8" long brass tube bearing spacer onto the lever-pendulum bearing shaft. Slide a ball
bearing on next. Finally, slide a small piece of vinyl tube on to secure the bearing.

Step 24: Install the Second Hand Assembly

Slide a 1/8" long spacer onto the shaft as shown.

Insert the assembly into the bearing in the frame.

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 20

Step 25: Install the Gear Sets

Install gear set one, then two. washer over the shaft.

Install the minute hand assembly, pressing the arbor Install the face. Secure the face to the frame using the
onto the bearing tat is on the second hand shaft. three threaded rods, acorn nuts on front, and nuts in
the back.
Install gear set three. Install the 12-tooth pinion with
clutch, clutch face down. Slide a spring onto the shaft. Place washers on both sides of the face - that is,
between acorn nuts and face front, and between face
Install gear set four. back and gear shafts. Do not over tighten.

Install the hour hand assembly, placing a nylon

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A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 22
Step 26: Check Alignment

Check the alignment of the assembly, making sure that there is su cient clearance between wheels and pinions.
Make sure that the pawls are centered on the ratchet wheel. Operate the gears manually. Make adjustments if
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 23
necessary.

Step 27: Install the Hands

Install the hour hand on its shaft, securing with superglue as needed. Point the hand to the 12 o'clock position
when gluing.

Insert a ball bearing in the minute hand. Install the hand on its shaft, slipping the bearing over the second hand
shaft. Again align in the 12 o'clock position while gluing.

Install the second hand.

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 24

Step 28: Assemble the Pendulum

Press ball bearings into the pendulum front and back. Install the magnet with superglue. Install and secure the
brass threaded rod.

Screw a 10-32 brass knurled nut onto the threaded rod, followed by the bob and another knurled nut. Locate the
bob halfway up the threaded rod. Cap the threaded rod with a 10-32 acorn nut.

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 25

Step 29: Install Frame Mounting Posts

Insert three 3/8" diameter brass tubing frame mounting posts into their respective holes. Ball bearings slide onto
the center post, so reduce the diameter if necessary. Exactly 1" of the posts should protrude, and they must be all
exactly the same height.

Step 30: Install the Pendulum

Slide a 1/8" spacer onto the center post.

Slide the pendulum bearings onto the center post. Follow with a 1/16" spacer.

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 26

Step 31: Assemble the Base to the Frame

Insert three #6 2½" machine screws into the back of the base. Place one brass washer each onto the screws.

Slide the screws into the posts. Secure with #6 brass acorn nuts on the face, placing washers under the acorn nuts.
Tighten securely.

Step 32: Adjust the Pawl

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Manually swing and hold the pendulum to the left.
The driving pawl should rotate the ratchet wheel
clockwise. Look at the locking pawl and ratchet wheel
interface. The locking pawl should clear a tooth on
the ratchet wheel and land about halfway onto the
next tooth with the pendulum swung well to the left.
Adjust the angle of the locking pawl on its arm until
this is the case.
Next, swing the pendulum and hold to the right. The
ratchet wheel should freeze movement, and the
Step 33: Install the Electronics
Install the battery box with double-sided tape Place
the coil in its recess. The side of the coil with the wire
exiting near the center faces the front of the clock.
Place the circuit board in its recess with the LED in its
slot. (I secured by circuit board with hot melt glue.)
Rout the wires in the channels, and secure with tape if
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 28
driving pawl should skip onto the next tooth. The
driving pawl should land about halfway onto the
tooth as shown. Adjust the angle of the locking pawl
on its arm as needed.
Move the pendulum back and forth several times,
and check both the driving and locking pawl for
proper action. When satis ed, tighten the screw
securing the locking pawl to the arm.
need be. (The battery box wires run straight across the
top of the coil, not to the side as in this earlier photo.)
Place a square of foam on top of the coil to hold it
against the face of the base. Install the back of the
base and secure with four #6 wood screws.
Step 34: Setup and Adjust

Install batteries in your clock. When power is rst applied, the LED will blink red and then green as a check. A pulse
of current will then be delivered to the coil. If the magnet and coil are oriented in the correct polarity, the
pendulum will be repulsed and may start swinging on its own. If not, the pendulum will be attracted to the coil
and may just shudder. In that case, ip the coil over.

There is no on-o switch to the clock. As long as the pendulum is not swinging, the circuit draws only minimal
current. The swinging pendulum triggers the circuit.

Adjust the bob to the center of its travel, and lock it in place with the knurled nuts. Give the pendulum a gentle
swing. If it doesn't start and run, consult the Troubleshooting section below.

Check the LED after a minute or so. If it is consistently blinking red, the pendulum is swinging too slowly. Raise the
bob to speed up the pendulum by loosening the top knurled nut and then tightening the bottom one, and then
try again. Conversely, if the LED is consistently blinking green, the pendulum is too fast. Lower the bob a bit. Keep
the pendulum stopped for at least 3 seconds between adjustments to allow the electronics to reset itself.

When the LED no longer consistently lights, the pendulum is initially set using short-term measurement. (It’s OK if
the LED occasionally ashes red or green, as long as it is o most of the time.) The LED is disabled after 5 minutes.
However, the pendulum speed is then measured with a more dependable long-term measurement. The LED may
A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 29
start blinking again after a period of time. If so, adjust the pendulum slightly, using as little as one turn of the
knurled nuts. Keep the pendulum stopped for at least three seconds after adjusting, and restart it. It’s probably
best to ignore the short-term measurement blinking of the rst 5 minutes after this adjustment. But watch for
additional long-term warnings and then adjust again if needed.

Once the LED stays o for an extended period, the electronics will generally compensate, and no further
adjustment will be needed.

To set the time, just rotate the minute hand in the clockwise direction.

Troubleshooting

If you can't get your clock to run or keep running, check the following possible causes:

Improper magnet or coil polarity

Weak batteries
Pendulum contacting frame or base
Pendulum pivot contacting frame to base posts at large swing angles
Gears not meshing properly
Rough or misshaped gear teeth
Faces of wheels rubbing on another gear or the frame
Bearings or shafts binding

(How do I know what to troubleshoot? I've built several clocks, and I've had each of these problems at one time or
another!)

You may nd it helpful to temporarily disassemble parts of the clock to isolate problems. For example, remove the
driving pawl to see if the pendulum will operate on its own. If it does, the gear train is probably binding
somewhere.

If your clock runs but then stops, carefully examine the clock at the stopping point. It may be helpful to release the
pawls and move the ratchet wheel or gears back and forth to locate the source of binding, rubbing, etc.

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 30

I found the nice Wood Wall Clocks https://www.amazon.co.uk/Giftgarden-Friends-gifts-Clocks-
Dcorations/dp/B01GFGZJWG

Dear DickB1 I want to build a pendulum clock 50 cm. What should be changed in the code?

Dear DickB1 your excellent electrical control works well

Thank you very much for your work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th0GaU-oFXg&feature=youtu.be
You're welcome. Nice clock you built!

Dear DickB1 can be replaced with a chip MSP430G2211 on chip MSP430G2553 MSP430G2452?

Any of those will work. As long as they have a timer/counter and comparator; minimal memory is
used.
I found dxf for other clock from wood. Thanks for your show dear DickB1.
Here it is
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:138505
Dear DickB1,
as far as gears asking sharp execution it is not possible to use foto to convert them to vector file,
sorry. Are you able to share your software project files here for try?
I can support mentioned below file types.
Thank you in advance!

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 31

Sorry, the clock was designed using Carvewright's Designer software which uses a proprietary file
format. There is no tool to export to DXF or other formats. While many of the parts are vector cut,
some parts such as the gear with the clutch are also carved and not straight vectors, and would
need more than just DXF to define them.
I did describe how I designed the gears using the free Radial Vector Generator program. While I
have not done it, I understand it can output in SVG format, and this can be converted to DXF via a
program line the free Inkscape. So if you're willing to do some design work, you can use my
Inscrutable's spreadsheet to design your own gears in DXF format.
I'd love DXF's (or similar files) for cutting all the wood parts using a laser. I'm an electronics and
mechanical guy...not so much a wood worker. ;) Is this a possibility?
Unfortunately this instructable will not be very useful for the 99.9% of people on this site who don't
own a carvewright.... Please could someone try converting the files to generic stl or dxf? I've
ordered the hardware kit on your store but now realize it will be quite useless..
Cheers and great work ;)
Hello dear
DickB1, nice desine Sir! Woud you be so kind to upload all wood parts in DXF 2d format, is it
possible? Thanks!
I love this clock - simply beautiful! I wish it were available in a kit. Thank you for a great
instructable.
I have made up a couple of kits on special request. Contact me at dick@carveshop.com.

I wonder if you could use a Li-Ion battery pack, and a set of solar panels to keep it charged?
I found a marine beacon in the river that contained a solar cell and a D lead-acid gel cell that
blinked in my back yard for about 5 years before the battery wore out.
Just a thought.
I'm sure that could be made to work. I may give it a try myself. Thanks for the suggestion.

It's good to see someone who understands that "no license" means that all rights are retained by
the licensor. It does not mean that it goes into the public domain, where it may be used freely and
for any purpose, even if this is what the author wished.
Very nice design.

Any pattern you create in the CarveWright Software can be exported as STL as long as you own
the CarveWright Pattern Editor and STL Importer software. I do not have that but perhaps
someone else does and can post the STL file for others.
I'm quite sure it's not that simple. The STL add-on software only exports what Carvewright calls
"patterns". There are actually very few patterns in Synchronicity. The clutch face on one of the
pinion gears is an example. Most of the parts consist of vector cut paths, cutouts, and drilling
operations. The wheels are all vector cutouts and drilling operastions only. These cannot be
exported as a STL. I wish it were possible to export the design, but it is just not possible.
STL files would be great to have, as I could create a 3D model of the clock and then customise the
face and chassis for a project.

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 32

Where you can see the program code?

I have attached code listings and source files to the Software step.

Can make one for me?

Contact me through my web site: dick@carveshop.com

I'm not sure of the rated mAh current capacity on D cells. It seems D cells aren't very common any
more. I tend to stick to rechargeable AA and AAA batteries because they list the mAh current
capacity on them. You can also fit three or four AA batteries in the space of a D cell battery. I've
read that some companies actually put AA batteries into their D cell batteries now with a metal
spacer. It takes some battery research, though I've found that AA batteries last much longer than D
batteries for the same purposes. I have yet to find a rechargeable D battery that holds more mAh
than a single AA battery. Maybe they are out there. I haven't found them yet. An alternative though
is a AA to D adapter and I have seen those before. Nice work on this instructable.
Alkaline D cells have a capacity of over 20,000 mAh at low current draw such as this application:
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/e95.pdf
AA cells will be 3000 mAh at best: http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/E91.pdf
You would need 6-7 times as many AA cells to power the clock for the same period of time. An AA
to D converter would work but run the clock for less than two weeks.
Tenergy makes a rechargeable D cell at 10,000 mAh.
Wow, another fantastic build! Great instructable. Great photos, great step-by-step. Nice work!

Amazing project. It's a masterpiece I'm going to try make..Great

I'm not sure whether to call this a clock or a piece of art! It's a true masterpiece.

Extremely impressed, this is truly a masterpiece of work.

Very impressive and well documented!

Mind Boggling!

Nice build! Good instructions. Thank you!

A Wood Gear Clock With a Unique Drive Mechanism: Page 33