Linear Clock Slows The Fugit Of The Tempus

We feature a lot of clocks here on Hackaday, and lately most of them seem to be Nixie clocks. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but every once in a while it’s nice to see something different. And this electromechanical rack and pinion clock is certainly different.

[JON-A-TRON] calls his clock a “perpetual clock,” perhaps in a nod to perpetual calendars. But in our opinion, all clocks are perpetual, so we’ll stick with “linear clock.” Whatever you call it, it’s pretty neat. The hour and minute indicators are laser cut and engraved plywood, each riding on a rack and pinion. Two steppers advance each rack incrementally, so the resolution of the clock is five minutes. [JON-A-TRON] hints that this was a design decision, in part to slow the perceived pace of time, an idea we can get behind. But as a practical matter, it greatly simplified the gear train; it would have taken a horologist like [Chris] at ClickSpring to figure out how to gear this with only one prime mover.

In the end, we really like the look of this clock, and the selection of materials adds to the aesthetic. And if you’re going to do a Nixie clock build, do us a favor and at least make it levitate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlWimTrtGf0

11 thoughts on “Linear Clock Slows The Fugit Of The Tempus

      1. fugit is the 3rd person present simple of the verb fugere, which is conjugated in the 3rd (mixed) form. Here it is used as a noun. It should say ‘the fuga of tempus’ or even nicer ‘fuga temporis’

        You dont have to be native in a language to be able to follow basic grammar.

  1. Hey, this is pretty cool stuff… particularly given that today is usually firmly in the ‘lowbrow abusive humor’ bin.

    I like clocks… maybe at some point I’ll do something like this. Would be fun. I think.

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