I have been fascinated by clocks for a long time and finally took the time to build a wooden clock myself.
The clock is based on Brian Law’s plans for his clock 22. I chose it for its fascinating and novel gravity escapement that Brian Law designed (for more details see his blog post with precursor post).
The action of the escapement is best seen in the videos of the running clock.
The wood (cherry for the gears, hard maple for the lighter color parts) was cut on my CNC router. The need for accurate round parts was a great excuse to finally acquire a mini lathe and learn how to use it. The gears have been finished with multiple coats of thin CA glue with a final scuffing of the surface with 0000 steel wool for a semi gloss finish (see Chris Wrong’s article for a description of the process).
Here a few snapshots covering the build.
Very nice indeed!
Since you’ve done it once on a CNC, would you be willing to reproduce it as a kit with all the wooden parts pre-cut?
The clock is beautiful. How long did it take to make? I have access to a CNC router so I am dreaming now..
The link points to clock 20, which doesn’t exist. here is the proper link. https://www.woodenclocks.co.uk/clock-22/
Thanks for the kind words. I updated the link. Quite frankly I don’t know how long it took me to build the clock since I worked on it off and on. But it was very rewarding.
Hi Rainer,
Thank you for providing the very useful Involute Spur Gear Builder, which I am now using in the design of some addendum modified pinions.
While I was on the website, I noticed that you had built a wooden clock, so I looked more closely. I worked with Brian Law, who designs these wooden clocks, some years ago. We were working for a design consultancy in Leicester, England, in the same small office. We would take it in turns to make the tea or coffee.
A really nice guy.
Best Regards.
Hi David,
Thanks for the kind works. I chatted a bit with Brian Law when I was done with the clock and enjoyed his insights a lot.