3D printed clock

[steve323]

Here is a picture of a 3D printed clock I am working on.  The gear profiles and escapement were designed using Gearotic with additional CAD work in TurboCAD.  

It is currently running with a 5 pound weight providing a 4 day run time with 4 feet of drop.  It appears to have an accuracy within a few minutes per hour.  The finial below the pendulum allows almost 2 inches of length adjustment.  I just got it assembled yesterday and it runs for a couple of hours before stopping.  When it stops, the energy at the escapement is completely gone, so there must be a burr on one of the gears.  The plan is to add a pulley to provide 8 days running with 10 pounds of weight.

The total print time of all the components is somewhere around 40 hours on a Prusa MK3.  Everything is PLA except the shafts, weights, and a few bearings.  It has bearings for the winding drum and pendulum support.

Steve

[Mooselake]

Looks good!

Kirk

[steve323]

Here is an update on the clock project.  I filed off the crows feet from the parts of the gears that touch the build plate and the clock runs great.  It has a lot more power and has been running continuously for about 3 days now.  I re-printed 2 gears to try for an 8 day run time, but it did not seem stable enough so I went back to the 4 day gear set.

The accuracy is about 1 minute per day, however it is speeding up slightly as everything breaks in.  I suspect that it should stabilize in a week or two.

I have a question for any clock experts.  Should the pivots be lubricated?  They are 1/8" stainless steel shafts running in 0.005" oversized PLA holes.  This seems to provide a fairly low friction surface.  I am worried that oil would attract dust and wear out faster than if they are kept dry.

thanks
Steve

[John T]

Hi Steve
I don?t consider myself an expert but I have some clock building experience with 34 clocks to my credit. The very first clock I built is all wood that is wooden gears, wooden plates, and wooden arbors. No bearings or anything like that, this clock has been ticking faithfully since 2005.  I have never used any lubrication of any kind.  As you noted wooden clocks do break in with time.

[ArtF]

Steve:

  Truly great. I know how much work went into designing and making that in a 3d printer, colour me impressed. Really nice job! .

  Generally, I try to stay away from lube in a clock, Im not a perfectionist though, if I need it Ill add it
depending on the situation..

Art

[Richard Cullin]

I have found graphite dust (locksmith stuff)  makes 3d printed sliding pieces glide smoothly and evenly,
hopefully not wearing the plastic away

[steve323]

Thanks for the feedback and kind words.  I will keep it dry for now and try a dry lube if it starts to wear. 

The great thing about a 3D printed clock is that it is easy to print another frame if the pivots wear out.

Steve