Printable View
Hi I have just created a deadbeat escapement gear for my clock. Up to now the clock was hand built, but I wanted to take it further so I used a program to generate the gear and then created the g code and here it is, quite proud of myself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8aDgr0QE9U
Now with finished article too. Now time to design the escapement mechanism
Now some pictures too
It's nice to see quality workmanship and a craftsmen at work. I only hope I can produce something of this standard when I finally get my Zen mill operational. Please could I ask a few questions which would help a first-timer who's trying to get started? It would be realy helpfull to know what thickness of wood your cutting,the size/type of drill bit and the velocity/speed settings your using in Mach3 (speed of movement along the axes rather than spindle rotation speed). I'm eager to avoid charring the wood or breaking the workpiece / not to mention overheating the spindle or breaking the mill bit/cutter. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing the finished clock. Eastgate
That is kind, but this is my first one, I would do so much of it differently next timeQuote:
Originally Posted by eastgate
I use 1/4 or 1/2 birch plywood and the end mill is 1.5 mm. The speed does matter but it is very much a mixture of router speed and the feed rate of the mill. It is easy to such it and see, the test I use is the colour of the sawdust, you will quickly see if there is too much heat. Also if you start with a slow feed rate the end mill is less likely to break, I use throw away end mills and in the beginning I broke a lot of them!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by eastgate
When you get your mill up and running create a simple shape in Mach 3 and give it a go, only go for -1mm cutting depth to start with and try to keep the Z clearance (movement above the work) to about +2mm then it wont mark the work when it moves to a new location.Quote:
Originally Posted by eastgate
Good luck, its fun
Nice work.
Where do you get your ply from? I am making one of Clayton Boyer's clock designs but I have not been able to find someone that can supply the smallish pieces that I need.
The best ply for clock gears is not in my opinion marine ply but birch ply. I went to a wood stockist and bought two complete sheets of 1/4 and 1/2 inch (it will be metric but almost certainly equivalent) and get them to cut each board into four. This lets you get it home in the car! I then used the band saw to cut them up into usable bits in the workshop.
Hi,
I would agree "birch ply" works best for me. I purchase mine from http://www.alwayshobbies.com/ . It comes in small sheets (metric sizes). It's more expensive than buying large sheets from specific wood stockists. the above company also stocks hardwoods in thin sheets which are an ideal size for cutting out clock hands.
Wickes stocks some thicknesses of birch plywood in larger sheets however I haven't checked the quality yet so cannot comment on its suitability for clock making http://www.wickes.co.uk/.
Hi, well the clock finally ticks and tocks too, now to sand it, stain it, and put it on the wall, as you can see the dead beat mechanism now works!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhdYxexjNdY
Very nice. When you say you used a program to create the gear for the deadbeat - what program did you use?
Dunno if this will work, if it does it's my grasshopper escapement based clock taking it's first tick tock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2BXEamxwk