The Ultimate clockwork

Fantastic! Also, those eyes are kind of creepy...

It reminds me a lot of the movie Hugo. I am wondering if that story was based on this automaton (or at least inspired by it).
 
As someone who does clock and watch repair, it is really amazing to me how the early clock and watchmakers worked. In addition to not having our 'modern' measuring tools, and lathes, drills, etc., the early makers had to make their own machines, do the math for gear and cam calculations, do the layout for a small space and on an on. They had to make the drills, taps, dies, gears, pinions, shafts, springs, it boggles the mind. Many of them made things that had never been made before, so they were working purely with their imagination and skill.
 
As someone who does clock and watch repair, it is really amazing to me how the early clock and watchmakers worked. In addition to not having our 'modern' measuring tools, and lathes, drills, etc., the early makers had to make their own machines, do the math for gear and cam calculations, do the layout for a small space and on an on. They had to make the drills, taps, dies, gears, pinions, shafts, springs, it boggles the mind. Many of them made things that had never been made before, so they were working purely with their imagination and skill.

Jeff

With the digital age, how much mechanical clock and watches do you still see? What type of repair do you still do? What parts do you make? Do you have pics of your work? How small of part have you made? How small of watch have you worked on?


OP, thank you for sharing this!

This just goes to prove that technology can be lost and what is old is new again.
 
Jaw dropping good there, dang that was good indeed.


Jeff
 
There are lots of information sources including the web showing what clock and watch makers are doing these days. Please look up George Daniels on YouTube. He recently passed away, and was a master engineer, designer, machinist, mechanic. He made watches entirely alone, even the cases, and while you might not understand the functions of the watch, the result is breathtaking. There is a lot of mechanical watch and clock repairing being done, these days as well. There is a huge demand for high quality mechanical watches and the manufacturers are using the latest state of the art technologies, including computer aided design and manufacture, exotic metals (titanium, silicon, sapphire). Repairing old clocks and watches sometimes requires replacing worn or missing parts (like on that SB lathe, made in 1942) but much smaller. It can be tedious, of course, and sometimes a lot of figuring out what needs to be made. On more recent stuff, there is a fairly available supply of watch parts, as many watches have some interchangeable parts. Sometimes, though a small part may have to be made, as it is no longer available. Many of the small parts on a watch or clock must be made by hand, or with a watchmaker's lathe. Most shops don't have the very expensive, highly precise, machines required to make a relatively few parts during a year. Even cutting small gears requires a large investment in specialized tooling that can't be justified, so things like that are turned over to specialized makers with the skill and equipment to make something like a gear, pinion, or arbor, that may be less than 1/4" long. Fortunately, it does not have to be done too often. However, because of the value of some antique watches it is necessary to pay to have those things done. With clock repair, the parts are bigger, and the equipment is less expensive (and the parts are easier to see!). In my experience, (30 years) I think I have had to make less than 6 gears. It is not worth the expense of buying the machinery. There are those who love machinery, making clocks and their parts, so fortunately, getting parts made is not real difficult.

Attached is a picture of a fine carriage clock I restored some time ago. It is very large at about 9" with the handle up, and quite rare, because it plays Westminster chime on 4 coiled gongs.

I'll post some more pictures and links in the next few days.

f101.jpg P1010151.JPG P1010152.JPG P1000781.JPG
 
Thanks for sharing Jeff ,looking forward to more

Brian.
 
That machine is very impressive, especially considering that it was made 240 years ago. It appears that a small cam on the "programming" wheel is able to accurately move the large stack of cams to the exact position for making each letter. I would love to be able to make one.

Steve
 
Jeff, hope you don't mind giving a bit of advice on clocks. Sorry about stealing your thread Mike.
My 30+ year old grandfather clock movement from Murray Clock Craft in Toronto quit a while ago. Would it be worth buying an ultrasonic cleaner to do the movement? Could think of other uses for one, cleaning paint guns, carburetors, etc.
Thanks
Greg
 
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