Woodenclocks new web posting

This is to be the first of many postings which hopefully follow the development of the new clocks as they evolve through the design and development process.
I will write about that process and all the other peripheral issues that arise along the way.

As each new clock seeks to follow a slightly different route, I will try to illustrate what guides the decisions that are made along the way, and examine some of the technologies used in the design.


Currently I am working to incorporate the Grasshopper design of escapement into the next clock which will naturally be Clock 15. The more elegant lines used in Grasshopper 2 are being picked up and used in the new clock design.
The Art Nouveau style is being used to guide the aesthetic of the clock, this is the artistic period that straddled the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries and is characterised  by a naturalist free flowing form  that draws strongly from nature.
The Clock is to be wall mounted and has a Seconds pendulum ie it takes one second to swing in one direction and the another second to swing back again.
There is also a single pulley system added to this clock to double the run time, it is mounted on the rear frame so that the weight is carried close to the wall reducing the twisting that can occur when you hang the large weight at the front, the weight of course has to be doubled in size to compensate for the action of the pulley.
A seconds hand and small dial is fitted, but this I belatedly realised will   run backwards, much as it does on some of my earliest clocks.
The use of the Grasshopper drive causes an interesting problem for the design as it can become somewhat disengaged when the clock is being wound and the driving weight is not fully engaged. If this happens its possible that the clock can start to run free and out of control causing considerable damage to the mechanism. To prevent this I have added a Maintaining Power device that the user engages before winding and releases afterwards.
As the design develops over the next few weeks I will try to keep you informed of the developments.