Two more on the way

New clock parts! Some people get excited for Christmas presents - I get excited for this. I’ve just returned from my water-jet vendor with pieces for two more clocks. Everything looks perfect, and I’m now looking forward to assembling and sculpting some new work.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I now have three projects in the works: A very elaborate moon phase clock, a horizontal time-only mechanical clock, and a horizontal quartz clock.

While I could work simultaneously on all three, the weight of my hours will first go toward the quartz piece. Then I’ll tackle the horizontal mechanical one, followed by the more involved task of completing the moon-clock. 

What’s nice about having other projects in the works is if progress stops because I need to wait for a tool, or supplies, I have other clocks I can work on while I wait. It’s a good way to stay productive. The only challenge is staying organized, and keeping really good notes so I can pick up where I left off.

All cut out!

After a lot of planning, figuring out gear placement, and CAD drawing, I now have all the parts cut out for “Synodic 17” (working title). One note - I was still on the fence about which design I wanted to use for the small spire over the middle dial. I figured out a pretty simple solution to make both so that I could swap them out and compare. Sometimes it’s difficult to visualize things with a drawing, so hopefully the choice will become clear once they’re fully sculpted. 

I also have the gears for the moon-phase cut, and most of the going train (the main set of gears for the time).

The fabrication starts to get fun at this point. I still have some gears to cut, but the part where I get to start assembling it is in the near future.

The Moon Train

All the gears & pinions for the new moon-train are cut. This particular gear train is a first for me. My previous moon-phase gear-trains were more traditional, but I wanted to come up with something more accurate.

While this meant cutting more gears, with some really weird tooth-counts, it’s still just a straight forward gear-train. So I figure why the hell not. Doing an extra week or so of work so that I can highlight the completely unnecessary accuracy of the moon-phase dial seems like a worthwhile endeavor to me ;)

Now it’s time to make test-plates and bridges to see if everything works. If the math is correct, and I can find a way to make these gears neatly fit behind within the spacial parameters, I'll be a very happy clockmaker next week.

More soon!

Starting a new one!

This is the first gear for my next clock!

For this piece I’m going to venture into some new territory (what’s new?). This clock will have a moon-phase dial. While the inclusion of a moon-dial is nothing new for me, the way I’m doing it is. Firstly, it will share the same axis as the main dial, which poses some mechanical challenges. Secondly, I’m using a new gear-train. Some weird tooth-counts were needed, and it requires more gears than the usual moon-train, but it will result in a synodic cycle every 29.53058798148120 days. This number is extremely close to the actual average cycle.

Because of the new moon mechanism, I’m going to do some testing before I finalize the design for this clock.

Side note - These teeth are a lot smaller than my usual gears. In order to fit them behind the main dial, I had to shrink them down a little.

Many more posts to come. Enjoy the ride with me!

Perpetual No.1 has sold

“Perpetual No.1” Has sold. Soon it will take a cross-country road trip to it’s new home in Seattle.

This piece is arguably the most important clock I’ve made to date. It was the first time I attempted a perpetual calendar mechanism, which in horology is referred to as a “grand complication.” Upon its completion in 2019, it received a lot of attention and directly led to the biggest commissions of my career.

“Perpetual No.1” has been ticking on my walls for five years now. While I wasn’t opposed to the idea of selling it, I was never a priority either. This is a very personal piece to me, and I liked the idea of keeping it. I still stare at it sometimes when I’m drinking my morning coffee. And at midnight, when I hear it click and whirr into action to switch the date, it still makes me smile.

But in the interest in moving forward as an artist, I decided it was time to let this one go.

On another note, I’ve been away from social media and clockmaking for a couple months. I’ve been at this awhile, and in 20 years I haven’t really taken my foot off the gas. I needed to step back and get some perspective. I did a little work outside - House painting, landscaping…the type of thing that’s great physical exercise and lets you think. The hope was to mentally disengage from my creative endeavors, evaluate the course I’ve been on, and decide what path I want to take next. And I did…sort of. These types of things are always more complicated than I’d like.

For now I’m going to get back to basics, and make some smaller mechanical pieces. I have a few designs lined up, and I’m ready to get to work.

More soon!

New Quartz Clock

I’ve just finished the latest quartz piece. This one is a vertical piece with number panels in the spirit of “Perpetual No.1”. Soon I’ll be packing this one up and sending it to it’s new home in Spain.

Enjoy!

Assembled

After a lot of drilling, tapping, and screw-threading, the new quartz is assembled. Now it’s on to the grinding and sculpting. More soon!

Progress on latest piece

Progress update on the newest quartz piece.

For this one I decided to go a little old school with the fabrication, and cut the pieces out by hand with a jewelers saw. Usually I use CAD with a water jet cutter, but the size of this piece made it reasonable to saw it out myself. The end result is the same, and while the cutting itself takes a bit more time, I save time by not having to re-draw it in CAD, and trips back and forth to the vendor. It’s also a good way to use up some of the irregular-shaped pieces of scrap brass plate that I’ve accumulated.

Right now I’m tapping holes and threading screws so that I can assemble everything. Then it’s on to the carving (fun) part.

More soon!

New Quartz Project

New clock project!

This vertical piece will feature “Perpetual No.1” style number panels, and delicate calligraphy around the dial. Should be a fun one. Progress posts soon!

New clock finished

My latest quartz creation is finished!

This one took quite a few hours, but was worth it in the end. This one features a sweep-style second hand, which I’m always a sucker for. This piece also has the nicest gear that I’ve ever included in a quartz piece, spinning on a precision bearing just behind the dial, and featuring the four initials, one for each of the client’s family members.

Enjoy!

Almost finished

The latest quartz piece is almost there!

Everything is sculpted and the patina has been applied. The dial markings are really thin and delicate, so sculpting those required some care, and a lot of time. Also, the “F” logo might be the smallest thing I’ve ever engraved with the foredom micromotor. I’m really happy with how everything is turning out so far.

Next step - I have to add all the paper elements, including the dials, the center of the left “wing”, and the flag-like parts of the spires. Then I’ll have to make the hands, and I’ll be done.

Can’t wait to finally see this one finished!

Roman or Arabic?

I printed out copies of the clock drawing without the numbers in the panels. That way I could experiment to see what looks best before I permanently add them to the finished rendering. 

For the finished clock sculpture the plan is to cut and carve the numbers out of brass. Then behind them I’d like to try Kitikata rice paper. The end result should have a feel similar to the panels on “Th3” (picture below)

I tried a bunch of styles, but these two worked the best. I included images with and without hands. The hands are actually from the drawing of “The Grasmere Commission”, so the style of them might change for the final piece.

Adjustments & Refinements

I might be creating another piece with “Perpetual No.1” DNA. I’ve been exploring ways to update and improve the design, while holding onto the elements that make it work so well.

New additions include:

-Slightly larger, shadow-style moon phase display.

-Thin trim on the edge of the number panels for a little more depth and detail.

-Slightly different gear proportions. 

There’s no type in the radial number panels yet. I’ve printed out copies so that I can experiment with different number styles. Same with the hands and gear-spokes. Once I’ve solidified the design of those elements I’ll incorporate them into a finished drawing.

More soon!

20 years of clocks

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years! 

Here’s a comprehensive collection of every piece I made since this clockwork obsession began. It’s been a lot of fun for me to look back at how my work has evolved. If all goes well I’ll make another one of these videos in 10 years…maybe even 20? That might be pushing it.

Hop over to the video on YouTube and let me know what your favorite is.

Enjoy the journey!

New free standing design

I’ve been sitting on the looser version of this drawing for awhile. I wanted to finish it, and incorporate the new tellurion dial.

This piece is designed to be a triangular prism shape with three sides. Placed in the center of a room, it would be an interesting form to walk around. That said, this same design could very easily be four sided, which would work well if it’s up against a wall.

One benefit to this design is that if it’s scaled to be really tall, the dials will still be close to eye level. That means you get the presence of a big piece, with the ability to get in close to the gears and the fun stuff.

The three dials could all be the time, but it would likely be three different complications. Time, tellurion, perpetual calendar, moon, or maybe a planisphere (night sky/star tracker).

Could be a really fun one! 

New Tellurion Design

New Tellurion Design

I’ve been working out a new tellurion design for consideration in a potential commission. I was drawing while I woke up in the morning (which I often do) and sketched the sun in a way that was a little more wild and stylized than in my previous tellurion designs. I liked it a lot, and had to do a finished drawing of it.

In this complication, the earth spins once a day, the moon orbits the earth according to it’s cycle, and the whole unit in the center rotates once every 365.25 days. The sun and moon tabs indicate the solstice and equinox.

There will also be gears visible in the negative space between the sun and dial.

New Design

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. 

New Mechanical No.7 Video

Even though this is one of my older clocks, “Mechanical No.7” is special to me, so I thought it deserved an updated video with my newer filming equipment.

My skill has drastically improved since this piece. Both mechanically, and my metal-carving skills. However there’s something about this piece. The design is completely unbridled, which reflects a time when I was experimenting a lot, and taking visual risks. I also like the way the larger gears are cantilevered, and out in the open — visually unimpeded by the clocks frame. Then there are these little details, like the non-functional screws that appear on the surface like barnacles. Finally, the pillars are completely sculpted, and transition right into the plates.

As an artist, it’s interesting to revisit my old work. Not just to see how far I’ve come, but also to see what I may have gotten away from that I might like to revisit.

I’ve been working on a “Mechanical No.7” / “Perth” crossover. I’ll post that next.

Gear spokes

Sometimes you can use the CNC machines, but sometimes you need a jewelers saw with a 4/0 blade. Today I’m cutting out the spokes of the decorative gear for the new quartz clock. The teeth were cut on the lathe. After I cut out the spokes, it’s on to the sculpting part.

Fun stuff!

All cut out

All cut out and fitting together. Now it’s time to make a lot of screws, and holes, and taps, and spacers.

While I wait for “Perth” to arrive in Australia (which could actually take a while) I’ll have a nice chunk of time to work away on this clock. I’ll do another post once it’s assembled, but not-yet-sculpted.

Should be a fun piece!