Harmonic Oscillator Clock

[jteneyck]

I finished building Clayton Boyer's Harmonic Oscillator clock today.  My friend built the Sapele base, and I made the clock works, oscillator and weights.  Lots of woods in this project.  The dial ring is paduak with ebony number inlays, the clook wheels are maple and paduak from shop made plywood, and the clock frame is mahogany.  The CNC makes fabricating the wheels and associated parts a lot easier, but there is still a lot of handwork and metal work involved so it feels very much like most other woodworking related projects, with the same satisfaction when it's finally done and turned out like you had hoped.  An added bonus with a clock is that you get to watch it run, not just sit there looking pretty.  






John

[msweig]

Nice work. Looks good!

[Philip1231]

Wow! Nicely done!

[joe1086]

In a world inundated with cold digital precision, the warmth of wood offers a connection to nature. Again, a spectacular project.

[hbmcc]

Nice, very nice! 

I have always wanted to build one of these, not as large and wall mounted. I even have a kit for one. My hold back is noise however. All our 'clickers' have ended up under cushions at night, which makes exposed works problematic.

[jteneyck]

Nice, very nice! 

I have always wanted to build one of these, not as large and wall mounted. I even have a kit for one. My hold back is noise however. All our 'clickers' have ended up under cushions at night, which makes exposed works problematic.

I hear you.  The other clock I've built so far is a pendulum desk clock that has a period of about 1.2 seconds, so tick-tock, tick-tock.  It drives my wife nuts, so it sits idle except to show people.   I need to get/make a plexiglas cover for it to see if that will tame the beast.  But this clock has a tick to tock interval of 30 seconds, and the sound when it does that is very, very minimal.  The oscillator mechanism is inherently much quieter, one of the reasons I chose to make it.  After I had built it I see that the noise during the tick-tock comes from a brass rod that hits a wooden guide mechanism.  I'm pretty sure if I re-machine that guide to accommodate a softer material on the surface, a certain durometer rubber maybe, that it will be almost silent.  

Boyer has another mechanism that he says is very quiet, too, I think it's the grasshopper movement, but can't remember for sure.  There are options to consider if you would like to build a clock but can't stand the noise.  

I'll post a video of the HO clock running later today.  

John

[jteneyck]

Here's a video of the clock in action:  [video=dailymotion]https://photos.app.goo.gl/oPobRQG4WvYUYPxe7tp://[/video] As you can hear, it click only once every 30 seconds, and it's pretty quiet when it does. I'm missing the clock already.  It was built as a joint project with a good friend for a spot in his house.  I had it in my shop for about 2 months while I tuned it and he built the base.  It moved to his house yesterday.  Sorta like losing a pet.  

And here's a link to the clock on Clayton Boyer's website to his "Swoopy Clock", a wall clock design that he says is very quiet.   If you follow the video link to the one running w/o music it indeed sounds like it makes no noise.  I might have to forego my own design for awhile to build this one.  The modern design really appeals to me, and the silent operation would appease my wife.  

John

[iclark]

Here's a video of the clock in action:  [video=dailymotion]https://photos.app.goo.gl/oPobRQG4WvYUYPxe7tp://[/video] As you can hear, it click only once every 30 seconds, and it's pretty quiet when it does. I'm missing the clock already.  It was built as a joint project with a good friend for a spot in his house.  I had it in my shop for about 2 months while I tuned it and he built the base.  It moved to his house yesterday.  Sorta like losing a pet.  

And here's a link to the clock on Clayton Boyer's website to his "Swoopy Clock", a wall clock design that he says is very quiet.   If you follow the video link to the one running w/o music it indeed sounds like it makes no noise.  I might have to forego my own design for awhile to build this one.  The modern design really appeals to me, and the silent operation would appease my wife.  

John

Wow! on the clock build. Wonderful!

Sadly, I cannot find a way to parse/edit your dailymotion vid link to get something recognized by goo_gl

[jteneyck]

Wow! on the clock build. Wonderful!

Sadly, I cannot find a way to parse/edit your dailymotion vid link to get something recognized by goo_gl

Let's try this direct Link:  HO Clock Video

John

OK, it works for me, but please let me no if you still cannot access it.  

John

[Gary G™]

Terrific job! ….!