Mechanical Clock – Finalized Design & Fabrication

9 years ago

2016, Student Work

This week I completed my project design – the clock consists of 4 laser cut sheets of plywood that are held a fixed distance from each other by two bolts and spacers. The gearing is suspended between two plywood sheets and held in place by small bearings. The for simplicity, the gears will be 3-d printed out of PLA plastic and glued together. Overall, I tried to design the clock so it would be easy to fabricate and assemble. However, one area of uncertainty is in the 3D printed parts. I’m unsure what tolerances will be acceptable for the gearing escapement mechanism to work properly. Fortunately, I should be able to alter my design quickly if needed or file down parts if they’re too large. I’m looking forward to having the clock fully running!

Nick Ortiz

2 Comments. Leave new

Nicholas Flood
April 11, 2016 8:54 pm

I like the look of the design. I wonder if the finish on the printed parts will be an issue, especially where the gear teeth contact each other. You might want to sand them anyways.
Also, if you decide to paint the wood, I would choose a color that contrasts the color of the gears.

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Anfal Abdulrahman
April 10, 2016 10:23 pm

What a great news!
wish we had more views of the design, maybe next post?
are thinking of using color at all?
Also, I wish I could give more advice about the 3D printing, but I’ve never work in depth with such printer. So, I’m looking forward to see your results and trouble shooting process!

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