3D Printing a working mechanical Clock

[@Dopeydavoid298]

This is a beautiful addition to the internet! It's hard to appreciate designs like this as you don't see the failed parts that are slightly misaligned or simply don't fit. The box of waste is what really demonstrates the frustration of the process. Thanks for the clock!

[@raymondo162]

Very nice job (finally). And the speed the printer churns out parts, that box of 'duds' must represent a mass of time expended; blood; sweat; and tears. I salute your dedication

[@RimstarOrg]

Nice job. Must have taken many hours, both in Blender and afterword. I like the pulley mechanism that the weight hangs from, much better than having the weight hanging down one side with a counterweight hanging down the other side. I'm going to have to remember that trick. Thanks!

[@mathsmagician6949]

Is it possible to create a mechanical clock without using the spring.

[@robertpelland5649]

Where does one find the sizes and lengths of the pins that are needed for assembly?

[@gavincurtis]

Building this beauty as we speak. Robox Dual making larger parts and FormLabs 1+ for the smaller components. Interesting little engineering project to see if I can add my own ultra low power micro-controller POWERED by the escapement mechanism (no battery, just charging a capacitor) to dampen the balance wheel to keep it synchronized to the crystal reference it is powering. Gravity powered by the weights, the balance spring is the main oscillator kept in check by a quartz crystal reference and no battery of any kind. Lots of little precision ball bearings to minimize friction and hopefully have a real conversation piece and plastic heirloom functional clock as well. Kudos to this gorgeous design and thanks for making it available.

[@CorvusNumber6]

Wow, absolutely amazing! A lovely timepiece!

[@patrickmcbride8959]

wow this is the coolest design i have seen

[@melmarshall8176]

Hi Christoph, are you still available to give advice on your clock.?

[@RickAdams007]

I am still in process of printing mine and hope to be done today or tomorrow. Thanks so much for providing this! I have always wanted to build a mechanical clock. This is the most awesome thing I have printed with my 3D printer, thus far.

[@cfgosnell]

Christoph, thanks very much for this model. I am currently about 1/2 way printing this on my mendel prusa and I am delighted by your attention to detail, and design-for-3D-printing details. I look forward to designs in the near future that have snap-fit details similar to injection molded parts, and minimal use of fasteners.

[@luke.perkin.online]

This is fantastic, and a 3D printing milestone I will remember. The next one will be when I see a working 3D printed wrist or pocket watch!

[@hugedickerinokripperino5299]

Luke Perkin not to mention a lot of money from wasted pla

[@francoiskern9904]

Hi Christoph, Just realized that you made the files available, but I still would be pleased to pay you for them and sell them for you. People don't understand the incredible amount of work and engineering that goes into a product like this, not to mention debugging and jigging things. Great Job!

[@ChristophLaimer]

Hi Francois. I don't intend to earn money with selling that clock model, because I wouldn't be able to provide appropriate support if there are issues. I'm happy with glory and honor. Feel free to sell the files or any printed parts, if the general clock design remains my intellectual property.

[@Coolarj10]

This clock is amazing! Very well done! But I must commend you on the video as well. Your video is really well made. I like how you demonstrated the clock, showed the blender software, and also a time lapse of the assembly. Thank you for explaining how the whole thing works. And lastly, I can say I fully appreciate the very end where you showed how many iterations of pieces you had to go through to arrive at a working product. Awesome!!!!

[@VladFTA.]

What an amazing project! I'm so glad you got it working after all those failed experiments!

[@JulianMakes]

this is incredible! love that 1940's style face too.

[@luigivitali7161]

can you tell me where i can buy PINS: 1 x Balance wheel: 1.5mm diameter, 40mm length 1 x Escape wheel: 2.0mm diameter, 28mm length 1 x Reduction gears: 2.0mm diameter, 60mm length 1 x Drum Transmission: 3.0mm diameter, 60mm length 1 x Drum Axis: 3.0mm diameter, 60mm length 1 x Crank transmission: 3.0mm diameter, 30mm length 4 x Planets Axis: 3.0mm diameter, 39mm length 1 x Weight Axis: 3.0mm diameter, 15mm length

[@DavidWoodrum]

You can make the time last longer with 70 cm if you run the string back up to a smaller spool on the same axis. Allowing the string already used to come back up and give the weight more space.

[@valdolandar534]

I suppose that before you have had experience doing wooden gears with a CNC machine, if so please tell me in your experience with which you got better results.

[@ISeeFurther]

I can't believe you used Blender for this! Must've taken ages, and would have been a lot easier in a CAD software like Inventor or Solidworks. Nonetheless, this is an amazing design :)

[@MrHolozip]

+ISeeFurther when I saw the blender clip, I mouthed "wow" to myself. I've made very basic 3d printed designs in Blender (little figures and such), but getting precise mechanical parts modelled up must have been an absolute nightmare. Using OpenSCAD to "program" gears is the easiest way I've found so far

[@ChristophLaimer]

+Gareth Crispin (MrHolozip) initially I found it indeed painful with Blender. But finally I got the "trick" how to use the array-modifier for gear-teeth. Now I'm using Fusion 360 - it has a very convenient script to generate involute gears, however if you need to tune the tooth shape, it is equally clumsy like Blender.

[@mothereric8774]

If you want to use Open source software like "Blender", you can use "FreeCAD". Also I think there are mods for blender that make it better for CAD with things like dimensioning being added. Anyways thanks for sharing this wonderful project with us!

[@andrewrolfson794]

Astounded, that you pulled it off with blender!

[@RobertsBiezais]

@@ChristophLaimer if you add a planetary gears to slow down the soeed at what the weight drops cant you increase the clocks runtime between winds?

[@pauljs75]

That's pretty neat. If you had a regular pendulum, you could get more accurate timing with a sliding weight to help adjust the escapement period. Looks like this one uses a balance wheel, so the method of correcting that doesn't seem so obvious. (Maybe an adjustable friction brake perhaps?)

[@ChristophLaimer]

Friction has not much influence on the timing. The combination of spring strength and the mass distribution from the balance wheel are relevant: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_wheel#Period_of_oscillation

[@raymondo162]

On some watches I've looked at, they seem to have a rotatable lever thingy to alter the effective working length of the balance-wheel spring ??

[@ir0nm8n]

amazing, you did that in blender, I used blender for animation, video editing, rendering and some simple 3D printing stuff, but never something that complicated, nice work!

[@Zeldachief128]

I still can't get mine running. Have tried multiple different weights but the darn thing doesn't kick up any near as perfect as it does in the video.

[@suharsh96]

beautiful work mate

[@jonathanlunger2775]

I'm curious on the 2 hr run time, could it be extended with a heavier weight and a more sophisticated block and tackle setup?

[@rochalima40]

Fantastic, I want to printed your clock

[@MorineKoto]

I was tested rotate gear o use hand but its sometime stuck and gears waste What will i doing now?

[@GauravSingh-ev4zy]

It is beautiful. I plan to print this clock What part can i tune if the clock speed is not accurate? Any ideas on storing more energy to let it run little over 24 hrs?

[@francescobartelloni8532]

i'm printing right now your clock, really a great project, thank you!

[@stefanobruni2535]

Ottimo lavoro. Ho costruito l' orologio grazie ai modelli riportati in rete. Alla fine mi sono però accorto che la molla di 'SCAPPAMENTO' non può essere realizzata in PLA perchè troppo flessibile e a conti fatti i componenti dello scappamento (molla e bilanciere) sono stati progettati in materiale PLA. Sono al momento allo studio di una modifica da apportare per far funzionare l' Orologio. Grazie comunque per i modelli che sono per me stati uno stimolo a costruire un orologio e anche capire il funzionamento dal punto di vista fisico.

[@sleeplessengineer1450]

I tried making this years ago, and could never get it to work. The lack of a safety roller in the escapement makes troubleshooting very frustrating. I would recommend you designing a pendulum clock next time, a pin pallet escapement is just more complicated than it needs to be, especially with the limitations of 3D printing.

[@sambrewer2306]

I can't even make a milkshake in blender. A clock . amazing build

[@zibbezabba2491]

Beautiful. A work of art.

[@isicohen2350]

NOT-WORKING !!! All the people who wrote "wonderful" comments, did-not try to print it !!! I printed it (about 2 weeks of work !!!) but this clock is-not-working . i watched the mounting instructions very carefully, many times, second-after-second, but the assembled clock doesn't work. the video is too fast , i had to stop it many times, but the worse is that 16 printed parts are not in the video !!!

[@melmarshall8176]

I have spent many hours printing this clock, but I have a problem with the balance wheel. it appears that this has some kind of weight in this part. I have no experience with clocks but understand the assembly. Any help with this would be much appreciated.

[@badwolf5245]

This is a great clock and i have had fun building it but, i have ran into a problem. Everything is together and the weight is on but its not turning the gears. I was wondering if this is a problem with the spring or if 600g isn't enough for the simple ratchet mechanism

[@emaglott]

Great project! Very good to learn how a clock mechanism functions.

[@mjstow]

All successes come with a box of failures. Great work. I always use Blender....does everything I need and more.

[@HeartOfAiurZad]

I'm geeking out so hard to this. Awesome video!

[@twistedyogert]

I like your clock, have you ever thought about using a pendulum? It seems like the spring in your lever escapement would wear out.

[@ChristophLaimer]

+twistedyogert Initially I wanted to design a pendulum, but then I was attracted by the challenge of the more sophisticated escapement.

[@twistedyogert]

Christoph Laimer I'm actually thinking about buying a 3-D printer, but I'm worried about a breakdown, do you know of any makes or models that are very reliable? It would not be very fun or useful to wrestle with the wrench every time I want to print a gear.

[@ChristophLaimer]

+twistedyogert I recently bought an Ultimaker 2. It seems to work very reliable. Anyway I recommend to choose a location with little temperature and humidity change, if you want to avoid permanently adjusting the print bed.

[@TheGzumD]

really a very nicely designed mechanical part! I was really looking forward to it and invested many hours in printing and post-processing...I don't know what I'm doing wrong, because unfortunately the escapement mechanism just doesn't work for me! the spring doesn't fit either, has hardly any tension and looks different than in your video...a shame :( still a great job because it worked for you.

[@502deth]

just found the clock on thingivers and am planning on trying it. question: how to make adjustments if the timing is off?? im used to these types of escapement clocks having pendulums to adjust up and down to speed or slow the escapement. if this one comes off the printer not accurate, how would you adjust it? preload on the spring, maybe? idk

[@hargoul]

I have made it. It works with planetary drum V1 and 2 kilos of weight but when it counts 1 minute the real time is 1minute and 20 seconds. I change weight to 1,5 kilo until 3 kilos but the loss of time is the same. I think I have to change the spring of the balance wheel, but I dont know what to do exactly. Any ideas?

[@all4thelordheisrisen6]

How do you set the time? Do you just set it before you add the weight?

[@Vohasiiv]

Try to put painters tape on the platform the gears where printed on, it will make it alot easier to take the gear off.

[@liamsbargains6129]

I've had horrible experience with tape. I get my best results using good old Pritt Stick. I really need to get shares in this company because I use a lot, but get no more warping :-)

[@Vohasiiv]

@@liamsbargains6129 wow my comment was 6 years ago. I dont even remember saying that

[@xgodly22]

i am in the process of making this but i dont know what kind of axis and screws i need, can anyone help me with getting the right ones for the print? i would really appreciate it.

[@maarkaus48]

this needs more views. excellent job! I have wanted to do something like this for some time, and possibly cast the parts in aluminum. This is inspiring and helpful. Thank you.

[@jyjy163]

jai fini d'imprimer l'horloge pourriez vous svp faire un schema pour les tiges merci

[@jakubfabian8384]

please how many axles are needed, how long they are and what is their diameter

[@jakubfabian8384]

I'm sorry to see that

[@nicoprezio3696]

Hi, I really like the design and would like to 3d print and use the clock. However I would like to know how I could enhance the runtime. Maybe with a different pully system?

[@alaingrenier663]

nice work my friend👍👍

[@i-make-robots]

2:56 for start of assembly

[@agr00m]

Is there a more detailed set of assembly instructions? I'm trying to follow, but some parts go to fast and I can't quite catch what part goes where.

[@ChristophLaimer]

+agr00m On Thingiverse there is an image with all parts exploded: www.thingiverse.com/thing:328569

[@agr00m]

+Christoph Laimer Thanks, apparently I downloaded the parts from another user who did not have those photos. Actually, all the part names were in German too. English names definitely help!

[@fred98321]

Wicked skills all around. Impressive! Thanks for posting this.

[@levin_levsmo]

Thanks for such a great project.🥰 It will be a great birthday present, but I can print all parts 50% smaller so that the model has shrunk by half ? Sorry my english is not that good (Germany) 😅

[@dallatorretdu]

how do you adjust the spring rate to amke it tick in time?

[@ChristophLaimer]

The accuracy of the spring isn't as relevant. There are small screws in the balance wheel, which allow fine-tuning the frequency.

[@BharathwajK]

Wow what's the 3D printer your use for after fusion 360

[@pvs5830]

I'm very curious to know where I can buy the dowel pins. I've chosen to build this clock as a project for my class and was wondering where I can find the pins.

[@liamsbargains6129]

I'm in the process now gathering the parts, I've ordered some from eBay and will cut to size. The hollow ones I'm still looking for....

[@waynetudor3247]

i have printed and built the clock, looks wonderful but, am having trouble making it tick. Any idea how much weight you added to the escapement balance? and what positions. looks like something at top, bottom, left and right?

[@domdomgin]

Can anyone help with the gears and pins. I think there are extra gears. The video is fast and can not understand.

[@Hoss_1966]

this is very cool. i'm looking at getting a printer this week, might have to try this out, thanks for sharing your hard work.

[@evanareese]

Christoph! this is amazing work! keep it up.

[@33Jfast]

Hey what if the gear ratio from the weight to clock would be greater and the weight heavier? Im thinking of building this but i want it to last longer. Like 12h or so on 2m...

[@ChristophLaimer]

theoretically, it could work, but I guess the plastique pieces (esp. the frame) will bend, and friction therefore increases. in order to overcome additional friction, you would need to make the weight again heavier ... 10kg is certainly too heavy, and 100g too light - there must be an optimum in between.

[@aloisbraun]

Hallo, habe auch die Uhr gedruckt sieht wirklich tolle aus. Nur die Feder ist zu schwach, hat dünnere Linien als die im Video zu sehen. Gibt es da eine Einstellung die ich falsch habe? Bitte um einen Tip!

[@metzgerdan]

Great work! simply amazing i'm thinking maybe can a motor be added to the system in order to make it run longer?

[@duleking01]

Super cool design. Have you thought of using fusion 360 seems like it would allow for a more precise design? I’m trying to make my own clock and was wondering how did you go about designing the mainspring and hairspring? Any help would be greatly appreciated

[@luisrenato1109]

I really liked it, beautiful design, does it work for 12 hours?

[@b03tz]

So, next up design a pulley with a good ratio so that it can pull a few meters of string in the same distance with a heavier weight and run the clock for more then a day :)

[@Abracadaniel-l3e]

My anchor mechanism does not start :(

[@javiverson.3]

Hi, could you give me information about the axes? in the video you use 3 thick and 3 thin.

[@biodegridable123]

Amazing work Sir! is it possible to install a tourbillon or any kind of complication in that clock?

[@PatrickKansa]

Wow, this is a great project - thanks for showing it!

[@Funnysterste]

Could it be possible to print something like this in one session without having part you need to put together?

[@coolbeanz212]

Funnysterste hypothetically yes, with a large enough 3d printer, dual extrusion, one with the permanent plastic and the other with dissolving plastic (just to form the structure and hold everything together while printing). but as far as I know, there isn't a printer precise enough to do that kind of work yet(and I put a lot of emphasis on the yet part). but I'm certain that as the tech evolves it will definitely be possible in the near future.

[@adinjahic8616]

Hi. First of all I want to tell that this is one of the best project that I've seen. I just want to ask you, what is the diameter and lenght of shaft thaht you been using ?

[@mheermance]

Really impressive.

[@tungym]

Proud of you for your great work !

[@wpegley]

Liked & Subscribed. Blender? Why not CAD?

[@NoahSpurrier]

Why did you choose a balance spring regulated clock instead of a pendulum regulated clock?

[@evening6311]

That occurred to me , but I suppose it keeps the weight down.

[@Saishokara]

how much does the weight weigh. i'm thinking about making a smaller version of this for a gift

[@ChristophLaimer]

The weight is 1.2 kg. But this doesn't influence the clock speed - the weight needs to be heavy enough to overcome the friction of all the wheels (or the friction needs to be small enough for the weight)

[@Saishokara]

ok, thanks! keep up with the good work!

[@heathergreylive]

This is probably the coolest thing I have seen 3D printed. And you did a great job putting the video together. Thanks so much for sharing. What are the chances a novice 3D printer could replicate the clock?

[@printedrobot8904]

Fantastic project

[@PeteLaric]

Wow. Very nice work! So... People were printing clocks before they were printing Glocks?? Who knew?!! XD

[@werner1]

Beautiful! Mechanical art? Amazing, thank you for sharing!

[@wolfe1970]

Printed all parts, but curious to know why all the holes are the same size, yet require 3 different sized rods ? its hard to open up holes without drilling into the part, specially the second hand BTW the box of garbage would be gold to some artist ;)

[@dxhacksaw]

i Love this! im down loading blender as we speak to attempt to export it out to STL so i can try and print it, ill keep you posted on how i go.

[@ChristophLaimer]

Any success? Did you see "tbbroder"s recent comment? He was finally able to make it running.

[@dxhacksaw]

so i had to scale it 10% smaller to allow it to fit on the UP plus 2 printer im using ive printed out 90% of it im having issues with the clock face though i might have to redraw it, which is no big issue, so i hope with in the next few days ill start assembly every thing looks ok im slightly worried the parts might be too thin, but time will tell :)

[@dxhacksaw]

also im starting to mock assemble it why i print out the trommel and im finding your bleander cad is slightly differnt to the one you are assembling in the vid

[@ChristophLaimer]

***** The blender file contains also the ratchet version (actually there are even two ratchet versions with a different transmission ratio to play with different wheigths). The pieces are just invisible. You will them find all in the Scene-Tree containing "Trommel" in their name. You can make them visible by clicking on the little eye-symbol.

[@ChristophLaimer]

***** Cool, thingiverse! Didn't know. I've uploaded the blender files there, but not yet STL. If I find some time, I'll maybe create a "clean" project.

[@mlandes2008]

Hi. Please share where did you purchase the dowel pin 1.5mmX40mm Thanks

[@kedarprabhudessai]

the best ever 3d print i have seen😘

[@uniukuyu1295]

Brilliant!, you are a master designer.

[@karlh5645]

Wow, so cool! Great work!

[@SpanasyukO]

how much do you think i can scale this down before the clock wont work?

[@kruppstahl1686]

Spanasyuk the main component here is the spring. it's physical dimensions will determine the frequency the system oscillates. by scaling down, you change these values (torsion springs are complicated, maybe there is some non linear factor , so scaling down 50% does not equal 50% change in frequency). if you scale down all the gear wheels with the same factor, there shouldn't be any problems. the ratio is determined by the circumference/ radius. in theory, if you have some CAD/... experience, you could change the frame , so that it can accept a pendulum (could be tricky)a pendulum can be changed​ easily, when it comes to frequency.

[@HansRamzan]

does it need a pendulum if it has a spring...?

[@ChristophLaimer]

No. Watch this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioLHXmOPjdagiJI#t=403

[@donsilva419]

Superb video! The clock is impressive, but I am also impressed with your video editing.

[@inversereaction5371]

this is amazing

[@jamesv4463]

omg i found the files on thingyverse and started prining and found this video

[@bagusshuda5838]

Dear Christopher, I have printed your 3d print file with normal PLA material, but the clock can't work, do you have to use special materials or what is the solution? Thanks

[@noelaruldas1152]

Thank you very much for your demonstration and explanation!

[@beatgerber8895]

Excellent work!

[@LWJCarroll]

Really pleased I found your channel today! But I see the "garbage" as pieces for a sculptural moving mecanism imo Laurie

[@DrSamba1]

Do you have a source for the pins?

[@badrahmed9591]

creative you are , good job