When I started this project, I really had no idea how long it would take. Without a master plan or not having made one before just like this, I just took it as it came. That and also having to make a living in between, opportunities to work on it extended the project beyond the 2 year window I had in mind when I started this in February of 2015.
One cannot rush a project like this as you just have to deal with things as they come along. Kind of like life when you think about it. So, today it is running and has been for a while. I think I have gotten most of the bugs out of it since June of last year, which was my last post.
Changes I made since last posting:
- Replaced 15-30-45 minute bell with a larger one which sounded better.
- Added a latch to the hour strike to give it a more paced and consistent ring.
- Modified the ball diverter that replenishes balls used for the hour strike. I did this three times before coming up with a design the worked every time.
- Added dampeners to the weights used for the hour selector and 15 minute reset to cushion the drop at the end of the cycle.
- Replaced some vertical links with chain for aesthetic reasons.
Because these things were not part of the main construction, I did not photograph them.
In October 2017, I started building a model 2 cylinder steam engine. As I worked on the little engine, the clock was still on the bench so I could keep an eye on it for anomalies. When one would show up, I would turn my attention to the clock and work to find a remedy for issue. With each incident things got better and it ran for a longer interval without needing attention. That may sound funny, but remember these mechanisms were built from theory and not for a set of proven plans. My ideas did not always work as intended and had to be modified or in some cases re-engineered.
Like most ball clock, you tell the time by counting the balls. Bottom row is hours. Middle row is 10s of minutes. Top row is minutes. So on the photo, the time would be 3:06.
The clock will strike the smaller bell once for quarter hour, twice for half hour and three times for three quarter hour.
The large bell on the top is struck the number of times for the hour.
Both bells are from old National Cash Registers that I salvaged many years ago in the later 1960s.
I have attached a set of recent photos to this posting. 4 without the dome and 2 with.
Hope you like them. Jon (longjon582@gmail.com)
