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Do you have time to discuss clocks?

Rodafina

Rodafina

Hopefully Human
Staff member
V.I.P Member
The Inclined Plane Clock
Also known as a Rolling Drum Clock

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The Inclined Plane Clock, also known as Rolling Drum Clock, was invented around 1580. The basic principle of such a clock is the use of a counterweight linked to the centre wheel of the movement by a bar. Thus the natural tendency of the clock to roll down is stopped and permits it to move only as the counterweight is gradually lowered when the escapement releases the train of wheels to which it is attached.

To wind the movement, the clock needs to be rolled up the incline and will then descend over a period of a week while the dial stays in the upright position.
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Featured first in this video:

 
When I had my stroke I had a real issue reading clocks needed lot of therapy to get the ability back sort of like learning to ride a bike.
 
Angular Chap said:
I've always wanted to build an old school nixie tube clock with modern electronics.

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My great uncle John worked for TRW back in the 60s and 70s where one of the projects he was involved in as a tool and die maker was plastic injection moulds for blocks that held neon bulbs in place to simulate nixie cubes for a digital read out multimeter project they were working on at the time.

As a child, I designed and made a printed board with a Radio Shack kit that held some neon lights and transistors harvested out of rejected circuit boards he gave me and built a box with ten toggle switches that would operate each number combination.
The number blocks were quite intense as I recall and it was all mounted in an aluminum and plastic project box from the Shack too.

I'm not sure whatever became of it, but it is quite possible that my Father still has it stashed away in his empire of "stuff"

(Like father like son, we hardly ever throw cool stuff away )
 
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Waltham Watch Company 8 day chronograph out of a WWII military aircraft.
It runs but is sticky, so it is another project :p
 
Rodafina said:
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When I and my siblings were kids, our dad brought home a clock very much like this and hung it up in our bedroom.

The constant tick-tocking made it hard for me to go to sleep for several days, but I finally got used to it.

Years later, it broke and suddenly I couldn't go to sleep because I couldn't hear its constant tick-tocking.
 
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This Binary Clock is showing the time 07:07:37. I'm guessing it's a 24-hour clock, since the leftmost two LEDs can show 0, 1, or 2 (for up to 24).
 
Clocks and watches are sort of a "secondary" special interest for me. None of the ones I have are extra special but I enjoy them. About a year or so ago I decided to try my hand at servicing/repair. I managed to resurrect an older Big Ben alarm clock, but when it came to some old watches I only managed to make them worse. Perhaps I'll revisit this at some later date!

When I was a kid I had a book that had plans for a water clock. Another project I might tackle if times permits.
 
I adore watching and learning about clockwork mechanisms.


Try saying "Irish Wristwatch", three times in a row.
 
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