This is a departure from my usual electronics projects, but I want to share anyway. I read an article a while back about how clocks evolved into what we use today. The escapement mechanism is what makes them possible. In the middle of reading about escapements I came across webpages dedicated to building old-school wooden clocks. I’m an electrical engineer, but something about this fascinated me. The name Clayton Boyer came up many times for his clock designs. I found his site and thought it would be a fun project to buy one of his plans and build a wooden clock with nothing to drive it except a weight and pendulum. Not a single wire, battery, or motor.
I chose the Genesis clock plans because it was touted as the world’s easiest clock. I bought the CAD version because I have access to a plotter at work and knew I would screw up a few times along the way. I printed out the plans, bought some nice Baltic birch plywood, and started cutting out the parts. It’s easy enough to glue the plans onto the wood, but cutting out the individual gear teeth is a very tedious process. However, it’s very rewarding to start with a board and end up with a mechanical device that works. Below is the escape wheel and the winding pulley.
After cutting out the pieces I sanded and filed them into their final shapes. Then I assembled everything to test their fit. Only a little sanding and filing was needed to get it spinning nicely. The next step was assembling the weight and counter-weight. The main weight is just a glorified copper tube filled with lead shot. The counter-weight is just a hollow copper tube to keep the weight line taut. Once the weights were attached I spent quite a bit of time getting the escapement mechanism working correctly. I even scrapped one and made another because I sanded it down too much. I got it right eventually and the clock was running on its own.
Next, I cut out and applied the numbers to the gears. I didn’t bother staining anything because the natural white wood looks nice. I did paint the numbers with some tea to darken them a bit to match the wood. Here’s a shot of the final product.
I don’t plan on making another one, but it was a fun project. Plus, it’s a good excuse to buy some new power tools and cut some stuff up.
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