When you think of making something using a lathe, you usually think of turning a screw, a table leg, or a toothpick. [Uri Tuchman] had a different idea. He wanted to make a clock out of the gears used in the lathe. Can he do it? Of course, as you can see in the video below.
Along the way, he used several tools. A mill, a laser cutter, and a variety of hand tools all make appearances. There’s also plenty of CAD. Oh yeah, he uses a lathe, too.
Initially, the clock ran a little fast. A longer pendulum was the answer, but that required the clock to sit on a table edge because the pendulum now extends below the bottom of the clock!
We have to admit there is a lot going into this, but it looks great by the time it is done. We are impressed with the range of different tools used and the clever design. Of course, he could have made the gears, too, but using the metal gears already available is a nice touch.
You can, of course, get by with less. Much less. Or, you might elect to try something even more elaborate.
Now, how to make it run for longer without adding more gears?
Either put a spring mechanism in it or put it on top of a really, really tall pole.
All these makers… makin me realize.. I need a shop.
You can’t keep the dials concentric with a 1:3 and 1:4 transmission if you keep the gear tooth the same size (Different sized gear teeth is the standard solution).
But it is very simple to add a 5th gear just to bridge the gap between the 1:3 transmission.
Unfortunately this also reverses the direction, so you’d need a 6th gear to fix this. These gears can be any size you have at hand.