8 Day Weight Driven Clock Movement

I've been working on a brass clock movement for about a month. This is an 8 day movement with a one second pendulum. The plans are from a book by John Wilding called "How to make a weight driven 8 day wall clock".

So far I have the front and rear plates made. The pillars are cut to size and the ends are turned to dimension. I have just started into the barrel and great wheel. Shown are the blanks for these pieces.

This is my first venture into making an actual movement. There are many lessons learned along the way.

One lesson is that Metal working is all about using your tools to make tools to make your parts. The other lesson is it takes me longer to produce results in metal compared to wood. Must be the experience. Go figure.

Not shown here is the effort in getting to this stage. The front and rear plates which measure 6.5 by 4.5 inches were rough cut on my (old) table saw. Cutting brass this way is very loud - make sure you have hearing protection!

The rough sized plates were pinned together with small split-pins. The combined plates where then milled to dimension on my milling machine. I used a fly cutter to make a clean edge. The plates were separated after this.

The corner holes where drilled on the plates on the milling machine. A jig was used to hold the corners in position while I drilled a 7/32 hole. The plates where pinned back together and then the holes where reamed to 1/4 inch. I later enlarged the back plate holes slightly as I tapped them for 5/16-24.

The pillars where done on the lathe and took a new tool to complete. The pillars are made of 1/2 inch brass round. One end is turned to 1/4 inch to fit the front plate holes. The other end is turned to 5/16 and threaded 5/16-24 to fit the back plate. The 1/4 inch ends are to be tapped to accept a screw. The screws need to be made as well. The plans call-out threads in English BA sizes so I have been converting to my closest Imperial or Metric size on hand.

In order to thread accurately with a die I built a tail-stock die holder. Yes this was an excuse to make another tool, but it gave me a chance to mill a hex hole to fit the dies, knurl an edge for better grip and make a huge amount of aluminum swarf as I turned some stock to size.

The tool is a modification of a design by Ralph Patterson. Look here for this and many other mini-lathe mods. http://www.toolsandmods.com/ralph-patterson.html

I use a Jacob chuck in the lathe tail-stock to hold the 1/2 inch drill rod. The die holder is reamed to 1/2 inch on center so that it floats on the drill rod. A piece of 3/8 drill rod is threaded into the die holder to stop it from rotating while you thread.

The die is held in the holder via a set screw. The setup holds the die co-centric with whatever is in the lathe chuck. The threading work is done with the lathe OFF and rotated by hand. I start threading with the die's "start" side presented to the stock. Then I turn the die around in the holder to get threads closer to the shoulder on the pillar.

This has become a fun project and an exercise in working to precision. The book is 64 pages long and I have barely made it to page 15. At this rate I am looking at a completion some time in the fall of 2009.

Spherical Positioner

This is the finished spherical positioner deployed in an anechoic chamber. The system allows a wireless product to be viewed at any orientation of the device with respect to a test antenna. This system works in spherical co-ordinates which tend to numb the brain compared to rectangular co-ordinates when you think about it too long. The positioner allows for a Theta axis rotation of 360 degrees although we limit to 180 degrees and a Phi axis rotation of 360 degrees.



The axises uses steppers and a simple drive system controlled by EMC2 to give computer control over Theta and Phi. A home sensor allows each axis to find zero again when need be.

90:1 Gear Ratio

These are the parts machined to produce a 90:1 gear ratio with a 10 TPI worm and 90 tooth spur. These items form part of a rotary axis assembly used to position antennas for accurate EM pattern measurements. The spurs are made of delrin and the worm is a 10 TPI ACME threaded rod. The previous post shows how the spurs were cut.

The axis are driven by 1.8 degree steppers drives which operate in 1/2 step mode making 400 steps per revolution. With the 90:1 ratio each degree is traversed with 100 steps. This is lots for the antenna positioner.


Nope this is not furniture making but it is a great setup exercise along the road to making gears for clock mechansi

Gear Cutting in Code

On the road to setting up for making clock gears I CNC enabled my bench-top mini-mill. The idea of machining in G-Code motived me to add stepper motors to the X, Y and Z axis of the mill and then later to a rotary table. The entire system is run from the open-source EMC2 program. www.linuxcnc.org

This set up below allows for the rotary A axis to rotate the plastic gear blank into position and then a cutter to be depthed via the y axis into the blank. This project is a 90 tooth spur gear that is first gashed every 4 degrees with a 1/2 inch 45 degree dovetail cutter (first video)

The actual teeth are "hobbed" by a 10 tpi ACME thread tap that the blank is pushed against. The pre-gashing of the 90 teeth ensures that the correctly sized blank properly engages the hobb as it cuts. The jacobs chuck on the rotary table is loosened so the blank will rotate and advance properly as the hobb cuts.

TV Table - Practical Woodworking

My wife doesn't re-arrange furniture - she just puts in requests for new pieces. Back to the shop it is then. I think I heard her say "nothing fancy dear" as I put on my shop apron.

We needed a TV table to hold the heaviest TV I have ever owned and probably the last CRT TV I will buy as well. The TV was to come out of the living room and into a bedroom.


The table is built from 2x10 Douglas Fir I picked up from the local hardware store. Nothing fancy - I just picked through the pile for the clearest planks they had. Back in the shop I ripped, jointed then planed the wood to a reasonable dimension. Most pieces are 1.5 x 4.5 so when glued up became 4.5 inches square.

The shape of the top is a trapezoid so as to fit into the corner of a room better. Under $25 in lumber, two weekends, and left over varathane to finish. The hardest part was keeping the shop warm enough (December) so the glue and finish could set.

It is amazing how a chair is transformed from "just wood" to being a comfortable place to sit and relax once the upholstering is done. This has been my morning coffee chair for the past while. I have to compete with my wife for its use in the evening. It seems to be perfect for sitting and spinning wool as she loves to do. It is also the chair that draws people like a magnet when they come to visit.


The Morris Chair is the prototype recliner. It is easy to see why. Grab a good book (Fine Woodworking, Wireless Systems or Clock making - whatever your fancy), a cup of java, sit by the fire and enjoy!

This is chair number one. Number two is under construction and being built in the shop.

Cheers Everyone

Hello Everyone! Well next weekend is the Arts Alive show in La Conner WA. I will be off to show some of my pieces. Given space in my van I plan to show my clock, bookcase and Morris Chair.

The show is in the Garden Art Center, 2nd Street, LaConner WA, November 8,9. The Woodworking show is from Saturday morning, November 8, until Sunday, November 9. Show times are 9:00AM to 5:00PM each day.

Check out Northwest Corner Woodworkers Association for details http://www.ncwawood.org/

Building a Morris Chair with spindle sides is one thing - staining it is another. This project is from a plan I purchased at a local wood working store. The side rails are at about an eight degree angle - which meant all the spindles needed to be cut and tenonned at the mating angle. Major jig setup here to make them easy to repeatably cut.

Most fun on this was steaming the back rests. I built a large steam-box out of construction plywood. For steam I used a NEW metal gas can feeding the box via a flexible radiator hose. For heat I used a propane turkey cooker (thank-you WalMart). This setup created more than enough heat to get the oak pliable again.

After cooking each 1/2 inch thick piece for about 45 minutes I quickly removed them from the box and clamped to a jig. This is an amazing process - but you have maybe 20 seconds or so once the board hits the air before it is less pliable. Work fast. Wear leather gloves. Be very careful of the steam!

This is a Stickley style bookcase built a few years ago. The glass on the doors is a nice touch if you keep the books inside organized (oops).

I built this to hold stereo equipment by making it deeper than the original plans called for. However once done plans changed and I didn't want to cut the holes in the back for cables. (Or I was ordered not to by an admiring fan)

Keeping everything flat on the doors as it is glued together was the challenge here. And as usual with doors; getting them to fit snug and square in the case. This was a joy to build.

Wine Rack Project

This is a wine rack project I built perhaps 4 years ago.

The interesting method learned here is how to cut semi-circles. You don't - instead use a forstener bit or circle cutter to make a full hole in a board then rip it in half. Or clamp two boards together and drill on the join.

I am still working on keeping it better stocked.