[Madis Kaasik] designed a clock a while back using Solid Edge (3D CAD) — but never got a chance to build it — until he became an exchange student at a university in Norway with access to a big industrial 3D printer!
He had originally intended for it to be cut out using a CNC router or with a laser cutter, but when discovered he could use the university’s 3D printer he decided to give it a shot — it’s actually the very first thing he’s ever printed! The designs had to be modified a little bit for 3D printing, but now that it’s done he’s also uploaded them to Thingiverse for anyone to use.
It took quite a bit of fine tuning with the pendulum, weights, and gears to get it ticking properly, but what [Madis] enjoyed most about this project was the realization of just how vast the possibilities of 3D printing are — he’s excited to begin his next big 3D printing endeavor!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9vP6JB-MyM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9MQvk-PGiI
3D printed clocks are nothing new, but they are pretty tricky to get just right — [Christoph] managed to get his accurate to 1/4 of a second per hour!
i just remembered i had a toy mechanical clock, that was meant to be assembled/disassembled, as a kid.. I almost forgot about it, but it was one of my favorite toys. I should go look for it and try to replicate it.. i’ll post some pics if i can find it ..
I once built a Wrebbit “Medieval Clock” kit, made out of cardboard. I had a lot of problems especially with excessive friction and for various reasons I got rid of it. I recently bought the same kit again and I’m planning to scan it before I build it. I think it would be cool to use the laser cutter at the local hackerspace to make one out of acrylic or something.
I did the same thing myself, the cardboard just warped too much for it to work. I’ve since had the gears lasercut and made the axles out of acrylic. Runs pretty well now, though the case tends to warp from the weights… I’ll need to see about lightening those up a bit.
Forgot to say… I’m happy to share the vector (SVG) files for it if you want to go that route. Click my username above and use the contact me part of my site and I’ll get them to you. :)