Lego Pendulum Clock

*** There is some additional material and an e-mail link at http://www.lairdophelps.net/LegoPendulumClock ***

This project began in September 2010 with the first version of the escapement. It was driven by a weight of a few grams and ran for less than a minute. The final version as seen on the video is neater and quieter but not very different from the original.

The next thing was to add a going train, a set of gears to sustain the operation for several minutes. Naturally, the driving weight had to be increased, but Lego can only stand so much. There did not seem to be any way to extend the running time beyond about 10 minutes.

A winding differential was added so that the weight could be wound up without stopping the escapement. An electric motor winds the weight and the position of the winding barrel was used via reduction gearing to switch the motor on and off as required.

The escapement seemed happy to run indefinitely but there was nothing to indicate the elapsed time, so a dial mechanism was added. This indicates hours, minutes and seconds and was a small project in itself.

At this stage the 'clock' sprawled across about half the kitchen table. It took some trial and quite a lot of error to turn it into the version on the video.

It was never a great timekeeper, but its longest trial run in December lasted over 350 hours.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Lego
• clock
• pendulum
• escapement

[bcrs4110]

Wow!! Very impressive!! can you give me the link to your sons youtube channel please?

[pmroskelly]

@bcrs4110 Thanks for your kind comment. When I tried to include the link in this reply, YouTube refused to accept it.

So type TheBellsandwhistles exactly as shown (two capitals, no spaces) into the YouTube search box and you will find his channel. When I tried this a few minutes ago, the first item to be returned was his video *Arnfield escapement Lego clock pendulum*

Best regards

[ParfaitEtrangerLive]

why did you dismantled it? It was so cool. You could have sold it on e-bay.

[pmroskelly]

@ParfaitEtrangerLive

Hello and thank you for your comment. I dismantled the clock because it was built with someone else's Lego - my son's!

He has a YouTube channel of his own and you can see his clocks at 'TheBellsandwhistles'

[BenVanDeWaal]

Dear …,

I am really impressed by your work. I found the lairdophelps-site quite helpful (I included it in my links-list; you can give the URL in your YouTube info, without problems), although it appears you can not go back to the overview when you have studied a single picture, which makes exploring the site somewhat troublesome. I think only the last frame (Lego escapement – 1 October 2010) is a video, which much better conveys the message than a still.

[pmroskelly]

@BenVanDeWaal

Hello again Ben

I have put an e-mail link on the 'lairdophelps' page (beta software). Please feel free to contact me that way.

I took so many photos and videos through 4 versions of the clock that I can't truly remember what is and is not recorded. I am happy to share them, and will be able to give more detailed answers to the existing questions.

Best regards - Philip

[BenVanDeWaal]

You have been 'discovered'!

Ben.

[BenVanDeWaal]

Sorry, I found out where to find the "slideshow"-button.

Ben.

[pmroskelly]

@BenVanDeWaal

Hello again Ben

We need more space than YouTube offers us. I will press ahead with the 'E-mail me' link on the 'lairdophelps' site and post here when it is working - hopefully tomorrow.

Best regards - Philip

[pmroskelly]

@BenVanDeWaal

Sorry, I can't video the rewinding mechanism - the clock has been dismantled. I thought most constructors would use RCX instead, so didn't film it.

But I am adding an 'E-mail me' link to the lairdophelps site. We can share material that way.

You will find Fred Dibnah without difficulty via Google or Wikipedia. Amongst other things, Fred demolished brick chimneys. He said 'Did you like that?' to the camera after a spectacular demolition in which the chimney nearly landed on him.