I’ve been working on a drawing for a new piece that combines the cantilevered gears, and wild & torn apart design of No.7, with the layout and mechanisms of “Perpetual No.1” and “Perth”. This is what I came up with.
I’m actually really excited about this one. As soon as I brought “Mechanical No.7” out of it’s crate, and hung it on the wall, I was fueled to create something in that realm, but updated. I’m really happy that I never sold that clock. It marks a period in my artistic development that I want to reference, and remember.
A bit about the perpetual complication that I’m planning for this piece. If you look closely, you’ll notice four tabs. Those mark the two equinox and two solstice positions. I’ve designed this particular perpetual calendar mechanism to have a third hand, which moves just behind the month hand. Instead of jumping from month to month, this hand will move a little every day, so it will point to the exact day when the solstice and equinox occur.
Here are some comparisons that show the two designs that are being integrated to create the new one.
No.7 had the wobbly compound pendulum, but the limited length means it lacked inertia, and therefore accuracy. I think I can design a traditional one-second pendulum that’s both accurate, and works with the design. And of course I’ll still be using the always-interesting Arnfield gravity escapement.
As for the actual fabrication and sculpting, I really want to give this one some time. In order to truly give it the “No.7” treatment, there’s a lot of little things that need to be included. The fluidly sculpted pillars, the clusters of barnacle-like screws covering the surface, and maybe some other strange and organic details to bring it home.
This one hasn’t been commissioned yet, and I’m not sure I’ll have time in the immediate future to create it on my own, but this piece needs to exist some day.