How Tower Clocks Work

[@davemclean7798]

I never thought that with 4 dials you would need a gearbox and 4 driveshafts. And a smaller clock inside mated to the big clocks so you can set the time. May this beauty live forever...love it!

[@cw6954]

I’m twenty-nine years old now and it’s hard to believe I haven’t thought about this before, but the various pre-clock methods of timekeeping are much more easily described in writing. If it weren’t for the video I’d have been left behind at the graduated oil lamp! Thank you so much.

[@carmelpule6954]

Sir, with great respect, may I point out a slight misconception. At 3:08 it is said that each axle turns faster than its predecessor with less "power". Well, if one considers the losses as one moves through the gears, that is correct, but neglecting losses the power transmitted at any stage is the same. Power is Force multiplied by velocity. It is the force that changes or shall we say torque. All the "energy" is stored in the lifted weight and the rate at which this is used is "power". Apart from that, this is an excellent video, my congratulations. It is a beautiful elegant machine.

[@uTube486]

Good call... Motor heads with cars always talk about torque. As you, and I know, HP, or weights for a tower clock, make the world go round.

[@abuteague]

Thanks

[@sealsvideos5545]

Thank you - this was very educational! Watched with my 6 year old who is very interested right now in clockworks. Much appreciated!

[@theoverseer393]

2:50 3:57 the top one is exactly what I was curious about. I had this unending curiosity about how the motion of the pendulum could be turned into a 2-tick sound a clock is known for. I had recently stumbled upon a rough idea for a 1-way gear that just so happened to contain the input as a back & forth motion, so I’m glad to see a practical example :)

[@carwashslayer4235]

This clock is great and I loved watching you wind up the weight. 1:28

[@paulcrowe6586]

Correction...the axle shafts have about the same amount of power each...except for friction loss. The power goes as Torgue x Angular Speed. Each shaft has differing torques and speeds. In inverse proportions.

[@corp4444]

WOW!! & THANKS!!! I stumbled upon this GREAT video and realized that I had never asked myself this question. Now our entire family is wiser. Thanks for an engaging & easy-to-understand tutorial. The Keenans in Austin, Texas

So superlative and educative video. Thank you from Patagonia, Argentina!!!

[@robbie77300]

I`ve made a few wooden clocks in the last year or so, its amazing the similarities in the mechanisms of mechanical clocks, right up to tower clocks,

[@martinmartinmartin2996]

Thank you for showing the workings of a pendulum clock. Amazing that it is so simple.

[@TheProfessionalMom]

Wow! My son has a recent fascination with gears, and he was riveted by this video. I was too! Thank you for a wonderful KZbin field trip.

[@abuteague]

@TheProfessionalMom I'm glad you liked it. I checked out some of your music education videos and I'm impressed with your work as well. My son is interested in violin. Having seen your video, we are inspired to press forward boldly.

[@anilsharma-ev2my]

1.34 By a hand crank you lift many kilo so by using hydraulic we can lift many tonnes of load We use the hydraulic to turn the hand crank 😅😅😅😅😅😅 So we got our hand powered power house Keep talking

[@moizeng2909]

I am repair my city jagtial Towar clock Moiz eng my chanal

[@Tricyklist]

An excellent video on all counts. Beautifully photographed and described. Congratulations to all concerned.

[@abuteague]

@OldTimerGuy58 I'll check on the escapement. It was due for oiling when we made the video. Thanks.

[@seawyatt]

A very interesting video. I am fascinated with mechanical clocks of many varieties. It was a treat to see inside a large-scale work of art such as this. Thanks for posting!!

[@MarkSWilliams27]

Very cool. And I like the music you made for it. A man of many talents! The only tower clock I was ever in was the one at the Potter County courthouse in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. I went up with the fellow who winds it once a week (cold that day!) and I got to speak with the old gentleman in town who restored the clock. Fascinating! And addicting!

[@abuteague]

@NativePrairieWolf Thanks for your comment. I'm thinking about doing more. I like your videos about leg traps. I enjoy hiking off trail and I'm always worried about these things.

[@SonnetGomes]

Thank you so much for posting this amazing video of such a wonderful and marvelous machine, which we take for granted. This video was very educational indeed.

[@PhalosSouthpawsBastelstube]

At 1:22 I can clearly see the maintaining power 'funktion' on the weight wheel. If the 'small' spring on this wheel is missing then the clock will run backwards when you wind it up for sure. But a maintaining power is created therefore, that the clock coninues running further while the winding progress.

[@abuteague]

@murfffster Thanks! The youtube video was completed by a few people. Video filming was done by Tamra Hjermstad and the editing was done by Allison Graebner. Tending to the clock is an intriguing part of my week. I usually bring someone up with me to wind it. Annual maintenance is a big deal and daylight savings time is like the superbowl for me. It is another one of those jobs that few people know about, even though the results of the job are always in plain sight.

[@621Lafayette]

great video, great explanation, great story! I look forward to visiting Williamstown again, and checking the time!

[@CincinnatiWatchCompany]

Great walkthrough on a beautiful clock tower. Very cool! Thank you.

[@elvvee1982]

Thanks I'm just learning how to set reset an old clock and this has helped me understand that a little better

[@chakathewolf]

Thank you! That is just the video I wanted to see. Nice job.

[@lorenzini54]

I intend to start making watches with wooden mechanism, your video is very enlightening on the clock mechanism, thank Trevor, for the video .

[@JonRob134]

I've always been interested in time. This was a very informative video. Thank you!!

[@abuteague]

@clockguy2 Thank you. Your videos are great. The clock and bells at St. Michael's are fascinating.

[@BuildYourOwnWatch]

Great instructional video. Amazing that the distance of the pendulum creates the length of the second tick. Weighted Pendulum Power!

[@cggage]

Very informative! I always wondered what kept the pendulum swinging. I understood how the pendulum escape mechanism worked but what kept the pendulum swinging? Now, I see!

[@MagnetOnlyMotors]

2:52 the final pinion shows visible wear, in my opinion.

[@Need4Steam]

If I could buy an old chapel with a tower clock and a tracker pipe organ I'd be in "heaven". Great vid and thanks for sharing!

[@mayanksoni83]

Brilliant engineering and art

[@josephdragan7734]

Well done! So, in winter the extra friction slows the mechanism but a the same time decreases the pendulum length which quickens the speed. Do they cancel each other out?

[@DelRanchoTx]

I am interested in building a clock in my small village and am looking for information as to where I might purchase such.

[@Shako_Lamb]

Last year I had the pleasure of getting a tour of my university's clocktower. Still a full mechanical system like this one, in a non-climate-controlled tower. It's wound and adjusted twice a week.

[@russkcpa]

Great video Trevor. I have seen that church but never got to the clock tower. I am a big E. Howard fan. This is a beautiful movement and you should be proud of your work maintaining it.

[@halnwheels]

I enjoyed your video, especially the hand setting which I had not seen before.

[@JensGrigull-ij6fd]

I like the video, easy to understand. There are only 4 wheels in this movement, in a watch movement are 5 including the escapement wheel. Is this correct? Great wheel Centre wheel (universal link to the dials) Intermediate wheel Escapement wheel

[@abuteague]

Thanks for recognizing our efforts.

[@antiquesandclocks.inc.8368]

I have always been wondering you know that dial when you are winding up the clock tower what is that for exactly I know it's not counting for the seconds I've always been thinking it's for telling the time?

[@8sardines]

Thank you very much for this video it was very interesting. I have always had a fascination with clock mechanisms especially the large tower clocks.

[@johanventer5730]

Good day. This is fascinating. Will the weight be able to turn a flywheel? To generate electricity?

[@BR549guy]

Trevor, this video is fantastic. One question; you said around the 3:36 mark that driving the hands required 48 lbs. Was that foot-pounds or inch-pounds?

[@PhalosSouthpawsBastelstube]

Why do you have to stop the clock while winding it up, if the clock's got a maintaining power?

[@gerdschirmacher7352]

Wenn man beim Aufziehen der Uhr das Pendel anhält und nach dem Aufziehen wieder anstößt dann hat die Uhr in paar Sekunden. Hier wäre ein Gegengesperr gut damit das Gehwerk der Uhr beim Aufziehehen nicht unterbrochen werden würde.

[@BornAgain717]

Very fascinating! Thanks for sharing. What an honor to be the timekeeper :)

[@danperez3651]

Fascinating. Video and narration.

[@abuteague]

It is pretty big, especially when you compare it with a grandfather clock or a mantle clock and you see the tiny escapement wheels they have. I figure I could get my finger stuck in the escapement if I tried. Fortunately, I have always had second thoughts about that.

[@tonywestvirginia]

Was the Howard made in Michigan? No chime?

[@MatthewsNation]

Is there a bell for the tower? I thought there is one because there's a rope next left of the stairs at 0:41

[@abuteague]

Yes. There is a bell that is not attached to the clock.

[@rahulchou]

cool sweet clock; Trevor, when was the second invented? and the arcminute and arcsecond?

[@abuteague]

I do not know.

[@sablatnic8030]

Thanks. Interesting to see a modern clock. The only other tower clock I have seen is from about 1660. About maintaining power (sustainer?). I hang a small weight on the second wheel of my home made clock when winding it. If I forget to remove it, it will just fall on the floor after a few minutes.

[@DennisSantos]

Great video - really informative. What I wonder is how much do the indicator hands weigh - especially the longer minute hand(s) - and why don't they affect the running clock speed i.e. run faster from 12 to 6 and slower vice-versa? Are there counterweights for them?

[@josephdragan7734]

Correct. Generally there are counter weights on the shafts to create a stable balanced force.

[@julien23lastchristmas2]

Thanks Trevor its an interesting nice video

[@navelriver]

Excellent description!

[@sugarlaura22]

Really interesting, always been curious

[@facundolucassarandria2672]

how much does this watch cost? I need to know an estimation for a college investigation work i am part of. Thank you.

[@pranas.]

congrats on 600 bro

[@zhuoli8290]

I love this video! Thank you Murphy!

[@Mujeebullahkhankhatak]

I have a pendulum clock please make video on its working

[@anilsharma-ev2my]

⏰ spring contains how many joules ?

[@GreatJO]

so during the winding process, the clock will stop, right?

[@kawaiinezuko-chan4790]

thanks bro this was good. Do you want to have a go at the Stabroek Clock in Georgetown Guyana South America. They need help.

[@jordanrenaud-pq7rx]

Gotta say...great vid! Those cut pinions must be given extra care unless tightly protected from dust and the application of 'giftings' from pidgeons and etc. First time i have heard pallets called horns, although the resemblance here is a bit true. E. Howard was certainly a very fine clock maker.

[@abuteague]

@KattywompusKinetics I do like your website and I enjoyed the photos of your tower clock. Thanks for the link.

[@MartyLJ57]

Sure wish my Dad was alive to see this video. He loved his clocks.

[@abuteague]

MartyLJ57, Thanks so much for your comment and I'm glad to have brought you some memories.

[@toppostfootball8596]

Wow my father was also specialist in this field from pakistan he dies in 2002

[@raquielculajara8815]

Marty Jeruzal I am sorry for your loss T_T

[@ПашаПитецкий]

Дякую вам за працю

[@abuteague]

When I'm winding the clock the escapement wheel floats as the anchor horns jab into it. It might be fine, but power is not maintained. I should video tape it so you can see it and tell me what you think. I rather stop the clock than allow uncontrolled behavior of the anchor escapement.

[@uTube486]

I have that very same clock, but without the cool option of the local setting clock face. I've worked on a few Howards back in the 70's and early 80's. Too old now to climb the stairs.

[@abuteague]

Very cool!

[@jvmiller1995]

That was a well made video of a great clock.

[@auroraluna3695]

Hi, I really liked your video, it was very helpful. I'm going to work (for a school proyect) with a mechanical pendulum clock, and I was wondering if you can recommend me some books (that I can study) about how the mechanical pendulum clock works. Thank you very much :)

[@benbisley]

A handsome clock and a fine tutorial; thanks.

[@AjaySharma-ug8ti]

realy nice, could you explane about the material of accape wheel

[@abuteague]

The wheel is brass.

[@asianfish1]

hi, i was watching your "how tower clock works" i was wondering how heavy was the pendulum?

[@abuteague]

Good question. I don't actually know. I've never taken it off. I tried looking in a book, but didn't see an exact measurement. I'll have to investigate.

[@Anonymous-jo2no]

After watching your two videos, I still don't understand how two parts of the mechanism work. The reset mechanism... How does it work such that it doesn't disrupt the clock when you reset the weight? The output mechanism... The three needles are on the same axis, but move at different speeds, do they use... hollow axles or something? Like... the second hand uses the innermost axle, then the minute hand use the middle one, and the hour hand the outermost one?

[@abuteague]

+Anonymous71475 We don't have a second hand. You are right that an inner axle does the minute hand. The hour hand is on the outside and slowed down with gears. I think I have that right. As for the weight, there is always weight pulling and powering the clock as I wind it. The ratchet keeps tension through the whole process. I used to stop the clock when I winded it, but it turns out not to be so important. The reason I would stop the clock was that I saw the anchor escapement float a bit as I wound the clock indicating less tension. I think the power is less, but sufficient. The winding does not take that long.

[@rdouthwaite]

Weight driven clocks require a form of maintaining power to ensure power is still available to the going train whilst winding takes place. See this article for more information.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintaining_power

[@robertgift]

Nice! Thank you, Trevor. How much time is lost when raising the weight? (How long does it take to raise the weight?)Presumably you must advance the clock to adjust for the time indication lost.

[@abuteague]

There is a part of the gear I'm winding that keeps pressure on so I don't even stop the clock anymore. A commenter told me that I could just wind away with the clock ticking. I don't lose time from that.

[@robertgift]

Interesting. I assumed the movement would go backward while winding if the pendulum continues swinging. Howonderful to have such a clock to care for! At a county courthouse in Missouri, I noticed thathe ceiling had been patched. The floor directly below had been repaired. Went to the 2nd floor and saw the same! Since the repairs were directly below the clocktower I asked if the clock's weight had fallen? Yes, they confirmed. Had never heard of such a mishap. Later learned thathis has happened in other places!

[@abuteague]

The steel cable gets wound and unwound over the years and it can corrode. It is good practice to make a box of sand for the weight to fall into when the cable breaks. You can also proactively replace the cable. One issue is that clock towers are not insulated much. As a result it has extremes of temperature. When it is cool, the metal is colder and water may condense on the cold steel. Not only could you get corrosion, but dust and dirt infiltrates the cable. After many years, the cable can break. Because of this, many clocks converted to an electric drive to run the clock. I haven't worked with an electric drive, but they can be problematic too. While they don't fall through the floor, they can keep chugging along when the clock has met some unexpected friction and cause damage. The weight will just stop in such a case. The machine works harder and make break the mechanism.

[@Gearz-365]

+Trevor Murphy There is one thing I always catch. Why does the mechanism have that small clock dial?

[@abuteague]

It is easier to see the time on the small clock face than to poke your head outside to see what is on the big clock faces. I sync up the small clock face to the large outdoor clock faces and then it really helps when I want to change the clock by just a couple minutes.

[@michaelbauers8800]

nice! How long does the escape wheel last in this sort of movement? I know it's a standard pendulum movement, but it seems like there's a lot of force in this large clock.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

The way physics works, so much energy is lost via friction in the various other wheels in the train, their teeth, their pivots, other mechanical work like moving the hands, etc, that by the time the driving force arrives at the pinion which drives the escape wheel, it’s much reduced from the original 224+ pounds. Looks like it’s around 1/2 pound force on the anchor (deadbeat) escapement, just enough to keep the pendulum impulsed to keep it swinging.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

This is partly why weights have to be so ridiculously massive for striking and chiming clocks with large bells, as they usually have very heavy hammers that require lots of force to pick up and drop, although the pins and levers that do this usually work off the very first (great) wheel in the train, the same one with the weight barrel, to try to minimize friction loss and maximize force.

[@michaelbauers8800]

@@andrewbarrett1537 Interesting and thanks

[@KingdaToro]

Does this clock not have maintaining power so that it will keep running when you wind it?

[@abuteague]

The maintaining power might not be fully functional. If I wind it while the pendulum is swinging, the escapement wheel kind of floats. It doesn't have the full pressure of the weight.

[@RoseSharon7777]

Mans ingenuity in the last 2 hundreds years is amazing. However, The Romans were pretty great as well.

[@Layard1]

Do you think there is a way to manipulate a tower clock in order to "gain" an extra 10 minutes within a given hour? But only in one specific hour? Haha, sorry for the weird question but I am asking because I am working on a story where a group of school kids want to manipulate a tower clock.

[@abuteague]

I am not sure how to make that happen. You can slow the whole thing down, or the hands can get stuck on the numbers. You can put the hands on in a way that doesn't make sense (hour hand on 12, but minute hand on 30). You can add lots of gum to the top of the pendulum bob making it go faster. You can make it go faster by making it colder. The pendulum shrinks because of cold.

[@Scott64a]

Awesome video, Trevor!

[@MassSarr-gl8cy]

Hi am a Gambian, wishing to recycle our Churche's tower clock, which seized to function since early 70s

[@abuteague]

I like to think I am a time thief during daylight savings time in the spring. I steel an hour from everyone's sleep in the night. Honestly though, I can look right through the window in the clock face and I will see more people looking down at their phones than up at the clock. It is a different era.

[@robertonascimento850]

E por que não mostrou o sino tocando?

[@AjaySharma-ug8ti]

ok sir I have a fuse reparter pocket watch Made in London. It is without Leaver Upper Balance type. But a part of Balance Roller is missing. Could you help me in this matter? I can send you pics of Balance & Accepe Wheel if you want.

[@abuteague]

Unfortunately, I'm not the right person to help on repairing a pocket watch. Best of luck finding someone to help.

[@AjaySharma-ug8ti]

can you guide me about someone who can help me

[@downpat27_productions]

Is there a bell that the clock strikes?

[@abuteague]

Not this clock.

[@downpat27_productions]

@@abuteague Is there a bell in the steeple that you pull with a rope, or is there no bell at all?

[@clockguy2]

Beautiful clock.

[@carmelomizzi7679]

Thankyou Trevor

[@ramingo.craftsman]

it's so interesting and instructive, thanks very much!

[@BillSikes.]

That was fantastic, thanks for the tutorial

[@anilsharma-ev2my]

We can lifted many kilos by using crank So what is maximum limit for humans in this situation My weight is 63 kg

[@JimmyBagOfDonuts]

Great video

[@davidpopplewell4751]

Excellent

[@josephboyle9973]

Anchor horn? I think those are called pallets.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Hey! It's like "This Old House", but with a tower clock!

[@muneebrafiq7725]

Okay but he missed the most important step that EVERYONE wants to know which is how does the weight get the gears and pendulum moving in the first place????? The rest of it isnt hard to figure out especially when you deal with cars

[@J19_vlogger74]

I'm not an expert on clocks, but I'm pretty sure the pendulum needs to be started manually by swinging it to one side or the other. After that, it should keep swinging on its own. You also have to be careful not to swing the pendulum too far to avoid breaking it.

[@74pbg]

Very nice Video! Thx for uploading!

[@petewashburn8402]

wow, that was really really cool! thanks man! 👍👏

[@apollo4672]

Thanks im doing a school presentation about clock towers!

[@72secondprize]

Cool video. Thanks.