Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Debugging (Part 4 -- it runs!)

After getting the third wheel re-depthed, I was worried that I would have to move the center wheel.  It turned out that this was unnecessary.  Based on my previous weight measurements later in the train, I need about 6-8 lb to get a reliable run.  Just to see if it worked, I grabbed a large piece of threaded steel rod that came with my lathe (and isn't actually part of it) that seemed to be heavy enough (4 lb 9 oz), attached it to the center wheel pulley, and let it run!


After getting the motion work installed, the whole clock is "complete."  To my surprise, however, it looks like I made a big design mistake.  The escape wheel is supposed to complete a revolution every 15 seconds.  But instead, it takes just shy of 30 seconds (roughly 27 seconds).  So the clock runs at "half speed."  I guess I'll need to notate 24 hours for the hour hand and 120 minutes for the minute hand! 
 Here is a video of the clock running.  (There are more detailed videos on my YouTube page.)


Every so often, the clock stops with the escape wheel mid-impulse.  At 4 lb 9 oz, the weight is probably a bit too light.  I've just updated the weight by bringing it to 7 lb 8 oz by adding another weight to the shaft.  If need be, I can add more weight in roughly 2 lb increments, but that probably won't be needed.

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