Menu

3D Printed Pendulum Clock

A 3D printed clock in PLA. It has an 8 day runtime with an accuracy of 1-2 minutes
per week.

Steve

Follow project Like project

Join this project

13.2k 26 109 75
views comments followers likes

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 View Gallery

13.2k 26 109 75

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 TEAM (1)

Steve
Join this project's team

HARDWARE

ONGOING PROJECT

3D PRINTED CLOCK PENDULUM CLOCK 3D PRINTED GEAR CONTEST CLOCK

RELATED LISTS

Ideas
Cool project Ideas found on hackaday that I would like to look into one…

THIS PROJECT IS SUBMITTED FOR

3D Printed Gears, Pulleys, and Cams Contest

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 This project was created on 02/09/2019 and last updated a year ago.

DESCRIPTION

I have always had a fascination with mechanical pendulum clocks so I designed one to be printed on my Prusa MK3. There are a few
other 3D printed clock designs on the web, but most seem to have runtimes of 12 hours or less. I wanted to see if it was possible to
extend the runtime to several days with the ultimate goal of 8 days per wind. This design evolved over a six month period to achieve that
goal. A video is at https://youtu.be/imYTm0Vh5TA

The design has been posted to https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3524448 along with a complete set of build notes.

DETAILS

A pendulum clock is conceptually very simple.  A spring or falling weight provides energy to a swinging pendulum that swings at a
constant rate.  A series of gears convert the pendulum motion into a display for the hours and minutes.  The challenge is to make
everything work elegantly and accurately.  Designing this clock has been a spare time hobby of mine for the past 6-8 months.  I started
with a basic sketch of the clock, then fit the gears so they would be relatively symmetrical.  

Involute gear profiles were designed using Gearotic and imported into TurboCAD for final adjustments.  One of the first experiments was
to determine a good gear tooth size.  They needed to be large enough to print accurately, but not so large to exceed the capabilities of
my printer.  I printed an assortment of gear sizes ranging from 10 dot pitch down to 40 DP and selected 20 DP as my favorite.  A 20 DP

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 gear with 60 teeth will be 3" in diameter.  Smaller pitches were possible, but some of the teeth were slightly distorted.  I printed the gears
in gold colored filament to get them to look like brass.

The next step was to design the overall gear train.  Most pendulum clocks share the same basic structure with slight differences in the
gear ratios.  The basic requirement is that the minute hand should rotate once per hour and the hour hand should rotate once per 12
hours.  I used a traditional Roman numeral dial for this clock.

A pendulum swings at a constant rate depending on its length.  The constant rate is what helps the clock keep accurate time.  This clock
uses a deadbeat escapement designed in Gearotic.  A traditional clock design with 60:8 and 64:8 gear ratios would need a 39"
pendulum rod which seemed too long for this design, so I changed the gear ratios to allow for a shorter pendulum.  Three sets of gears
with 54:12 ratios drive a 30 tooth escapement and a 17" pendulum with 5467.5 beats per hour.  This gives a balanced look but loses the
ability to add a second hand.

The final component of the gear train is the weights.  A falling weight provides power to the minute hand which in turn pushes the
pendulum.  An 8 day run time with 52" of drop means that the weight will drop 6.5" per day.  A pulley doubles the length to unwind 13" of
cord per day.  A 1" winding drum will only rotate once every 6 hours.  Two gear sets divide this down to one rotation per hour of the
minute hand.  The weight shell holds 4.5 pounds of lead shot to provide just enough power to keep the clock running.  Some of my
initial experiments used a larger weight shell and a 3:1 divide ratio with only a 4 day run time.  I added steel bushings at several critical
locations to reduce friction enough to use the 8 day gear set.

The clock frame consists of two major components.  The back frame integrates a metal keyhole hanger to hang the clock on the wall. 
Standoffs push the clock body away from the wall for pendulum clearance.  The top of the frame has a robust support bar to prevent
frame sag from the heavy weight shell.  This design could easily handle double the weight with no visible sagging.  The support bar also
includes a convenient location to store the winding key.

The front frame integrates the dial and numbers into a single 3D print.  The first few layers are printed tan colored with pauses for the
ivory colored dial and black numbers.  The same multi-layer technique is used to add gold highlights to the clock hands.  The front and
back frame sections just barely fit diagonally on the MK3 print bed.  The pendulum is a two piece clamshell with a few pennies added for

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 weights.  It pivots on two small ball bearings with the grease removed to lower the friction.  The pendulum rod was printed in two
sections and epoxied together with a threaded rod sticking...

Read more »

View all details

FILES

SP1_Build_Notes_2019_Mar.pdf
Build Notes Preview Download
Adobe Portable Document Format - 1.86 MB - 03/29/2019 at 04:53

COMPONENTS

12 × 6x3/4" wood screws

McMC 90031A151

10 × 4x1/2" wood screws

McMC 90031A110

2 × 1/8x3/8x5/32 R2 bearing for pallet

McMC 57155K349

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 1 × 5/16" brass shaft for weight drum 2.7" length
McMC 8953K138

1 × 1/8" stainless rod 16" total length

McMC 89535K16

View all 17 components

BUILD INSTRUCTIONS

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 Design Details
Here are some details about the clock design and gear ratios used.  Let's start with the naming convention used when
designing the clock.  There are eight gear sets labeled mostly starting with the escapement labeled as gear 1.  I suppose
the pallet could have been called gear 0, but I simply call it the pallet.  The rest of the gears are labeled sequentially
towards the weight drum.
Here is a diagram showing the clock gear connectivity and speed.  The weight shell has a pulley, so a 52" drop unwinds
104" of cord.  Gear 8 rotates once every 6 hours.  Each gear in the train rotates slightly faster, until it gets to the
escapement rotating every 39.5 seconds.  Gear 5 and 6 form a secondary path for the minute hand to drive the hour
hand.  There are two 18 tooth pinions on gear 4 with a friction fit to allow setting the time.  

The gear thicknesses and clearances were defined using the following mockup.  Most gears are 0.2" thick.  Gears 7 and
8 have the most weight on them, so they were made thicker.  There are two 608 skateboard bearings supporting the
weight of gear 8.  The escapement and pallet were also made slightly thicker to provide a larger wear surface.  The pallet
has tiny ball bearings to support the weight of the pendulum.  I experimented with several different sized bearings and
picked a size that allowed a pendulum to "free swing" the longest.  The load is significantly below their design limit so I
am expecting them to last a long time.

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 Power Gear Assembly
This section shows the process of assembling the gears into the frame.  There are a few preparation steps that need to
be completed before assembly.  For now I will just leave it as "print everything and cut the axles to length".  More details
to will be added later.
The build in the next few sections shows a rough rendering of the clock in 3D form.  One of my long term goals is to learn
photo-realistic rendering in TurboCAD to make the diagrams even better.
Start with the back frame.  The standoffs and keyhole hanger should be attached to the back of the frame as the first
step.  The picture below shows all of the axles in place, although they will get placed as each gear get added.  The
standoffs are not shown, but they would position the frame 1" away from the wall to provide clearance for the pendulum.

The gears should be assembled starting from the bottom gear to the highest to allow clearance.  Gear 4 with two 18 tooth
pinions is the first one, followed by the ratchets, and the weight drum (after inserting a 608 bearing into the pocket).

Oops, I just realized that the image above shows the 4-day weight train with a 44:34 gear ratio and a 1.1" winding drum. 
After fine tuning the design, I was able to switch the gears to a 54:24 gear ratio and a 1" winding drum to provide an 8 day
run time.  Swapping out the two gears is all that is needed to switch between modes.  The assembly instructions are the
same.

Escapement Assembly
The next step is to work towards the escapement.  Add gear 3, gear 2, the escapement, and the pallet.  The pallet shaft
sticks out the back of the frame to attach the pendulum.  It also has two 1/8x3/8x5/32 bearings.  

View all 4 instructions

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 ENJOY THIS PROJECT?

Share

DISCUSSIONS

Log In or become a member to leave your comment

Log In/Sign up to comment

frank.m.russo wrote 4 days ago

Would it be possible to get the 3d files Ia am using Solid works 2018

neiljenko47 wrote 09/05/2019 at 05:39

Just finished building it.

At the moment it is just a wall hanging because it doesn't work??

something seems to be wrong with the Pallet & escarpment.

Steve wrote 09/28/2019 at 15:57

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 Hopefully you have your clock working by now. The pallet and escapement are the most critical components. I
have built three working versions of the clock, but all were printed on the same printer. It is possible that other
printers have different characteristics. I recall that one of my clocks had a small amount of rubbing that was
solved by gently moving the pallet arms apart. I may have also filed the pallet arms slightly. Another builder said
that he printed the pallet and escapement at 99% scale for his clock. Only one side of the pallet should ever
touch the escapement at any given time.

The other things to check for are excess friction in the drive train and pendulum. Remove the pallet and check
that everything spins freely. My clock needs about 8.5 ounces on a single string (no pulley). It takes several
minutes for the weight to drop to the floor in this mode. Also, check that the pendulum swings freely without the
escapement. I think my pendulum swings for almost 20 minutes while the amplitude degrades from +/-5
degrees to nearly nothing.

Steve

neiljenko47 wrote 09/28/2019 at 20:48

Still only a wall hanging.

I think it is all in the drive train but finding exactly what it is, is the problem?

Do you mean instead of Pallet & weight & only about 8.5 ozs on line it should work its way down??

neiljenko47 wrote 10/26/2019 at 20:54

10 oz takes 35 min to drop 5ft all gears without pallet. What weight have you in pendulum at the moment i have
about 4.5 oz & it stops swinging before 1 min.

witc wrote 05/12/2019 at 16:39

Hi,

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 I have just built it and replaced the stainless tubes for ball-bearing. Unfortunately there is still enough friction,
because clock stops after 15 -30 seconds (even if I used 1.4 kg weight without pulley). Hope I will solve it soon :-) 

Steve wrote 03/29/2019 at 04:48

I just posted the design to 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3524448

I reworked a few of the components and added some build notes.  The complete print time is almost 90 hours.

Saddamik_1 wrote 03/09/2019 at 21:49

Beautiful work. 

Alex Hammer wrote 03/02/2019 at 15:02

This is a wonderful design! I'd love to take up the challenge of making one for my school. I read the wonderfully
detailed descriptions. Forgive me if I've missed it, but are the STL files available?

Steve wrote 03/02/2019 at 15:38

I am hoping to get the STL files posted in the next few weeks. They need a bit of cleanup and completion of the
build notes.

Alex Hammer wrote 03/28/2019 at 17:52

Thanks! I'll keep an eye on this thread. I finally have my Prusa dialed-in and ready to go :)

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
  

jjohnson873 wrote 02/27/2019 at 19:37

I'm very interested in downloading the STL files so I can begin to make the gears.  Will you have several gears
made with one STL file?

Steve wrote 02/27/2019 at 20:10

Each gear will be a separate STL file.  I could pack them all in a single STL to fit my Prusa MK3, but then it might
not fit a Creality Ender 3.  Separate files gives the user the most flexibility.  And each gear is slightly different. 
Multiple gears have 54 teeth with 12 tooth pinions, but the pinion is at a different height.  It becomes a different
file.

raiderj wrote 02/27/2019 at 16:09

I'd love to see a kit that you could buy for this!

Steve wrote 02/27/2019 at 17:50

That is an interesting idea.  I might put a hardware kit on Tindie, since it is cheaper to buy parts in bulk and the
clock only uses 1-2 pieces of a few components.  I have great intentions to get the STL files posted soon.

raiderj wrote 02/27/2019 at 18:30

I don't have a printer (although would like to get one in the future). I suppose another option would be to get
them printed through a service too. Either way, clock mechanisms are really cool. Props to you for all the
hard work that you're sharing!

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 If you could make an Antikythera machine THAT would be really cool :-)

Sophi Kravitz wrote 02/21/2019 at 13:57

Gorgeous design, love that you showed us the gear ratios!

arobertson6 wrote 02/18/2019 at 19:17

Wow - Nice work!!!  I love this.  I would love the opportunity to print it.  

fabian wrote 02/17/2019 at 14:08

What You thing about https://www.deciwatt.global/gravitylight 

Is possible run arduino or esp with e-ink screen in this same idea? 

Imagine router only using gravity ;)

ericcherry wrote 02/13/2019 at 23:26

Awesome looking work! I look forwards to getting the chance to print one of my own once you've shared with us.

Steve wrote 02/13/2019 at 23:57

Thanks for the positive comments.  I can't make any promises on the time frame for posting the design.  It is a
bit too complex to just throw out some STL files and say "good luck".  I want to write up some assembly notes
and clean up a few minor design details first.

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
  

ericcherry wrote 02/14/2019 at 01:48

I'll be waiting and watching! I've been casually (really casual) researching how to make the anchor and
escapement. Biggest hurdle I've come across is finding some decent documentation on the geometry of
drawing them. Been fun, some mild trial and error, mostly error. For a 700+ year old invention they are still
difficult guarded castles to get into!

Steve wrote 02/14/2019 at 03:18

I know what you mean about the hidden info, Ericcherry.  I let Gearotic handle the escapement design, but still
ended up modifying it slightly.  The pallet arms worked better when they were lengthened slightly.  At least a 3D
printer makes is easy to do iterative experiments.

Lee Wilkins wrote 02/13/2019 at 17:11

Great aesthetic! 

Steve wrote 02/11/2019 at 16:45

Thanks, it has been keeping me busy for a while.

Lutetium wrote 02/11/2019 at 15:58

Nicely done!

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 SIMILAR PROJECTS

1.6k 789 10 1.8k 238 29

The Moiré Clock Spiral Clock

Tamarisk Labs Thomas Heiser

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD
 558 10 12

The dual laser clock

Stefan

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates

Your email address Password Become a member

Going up?

About Us Contact Hackaday.io Give Feedback Terms of Use Privacy Policy Hackaday API

© 2020 Hackaday

Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD