Designing a clock.

This is Just a brief insight into some of the work I've done to work toward my final year clock project. We had this year to do all the design work so we could have everything planned for next year, giving as much time to work on them as possible.

As this was a project that lasted the whole year, I only worked on it small amounts steadily throughout the year; with every good university module though, I've done a lot more work now the deadline is looming! Rosie has designed an extremely interesting clock with a fascinating idea behind it, so keep an eye out as I'll try and talk her into posting about it.

I started by filling a sketchbook with ideas. I began with pictures of horological items I like, and inspirations from other places.

Once I started to actually think about the mechanism, I thought that I'd really like to use retrograde hands as they're pretty interesting to look at. I looked at methods used by George Daniels and Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. This is the closest I got to something I was really happy with, but still wasn't sure about it. If I'd worked more maybe I could have come up with something I liked a lot, but decided to change tack instead.

I also had in the back of my mind a clock that has dual escapements. I'd seen this done by Phillipe Dufour, MB&F and Grubel Forsey among others, including one of our external examiners, Mike Cardew. Roger Dubois even created a watch with four. These make use of a differential, which allows them to beat at different times. I set about working out how I would make one suitable for a clock, and possible to make with our equipment. Back to the sketchbook!

I didn't have much luck getting my head round adapting other types until I happened accross the MB&F LM2 in Selfridges. I managed to have a look at it and the way it worked without bevelled gears, and finally had a good idea of what to do.

On the train back from London I sketched what I thought it might look like in the context of the clock.

And quickly designed it. Below you can see an exploded diagram of the differential with all its constituent parts.

Once I was happy that I could actually make the thing I started working more seriously towards the final outcome; below is a picture of the train count I first came up with.

I altered it a little, colour coded the wheels and chose modules for each, which gave me the size of each wheel and pinion.

This allowed me to plan out how the wheels would be arranged. I started to thing about how I could design the tourbillon section. (I haven't mentioned that yet... I also wanted this section to rotate. In the grand scheme of the design, adding a tourbillion didn't seem too crazy.)

I wasn't sure how to do the rest of the train, so just had them in a straight line. I had told myself from the start I definitely didn't want to do a skeleton clock and that what this was starting to turn into. I really wasn't sure how to case the thing, or even design the plates. Below are a couple of pictures of ideas I had. All I really knew at this point was that I'd quite like a chapter ring.

Around this time I bought the platforms to ensure the measurements I had been assuming were correct.

Over the easter break I had set myself the task of getting the mechanism completely designed, plates and all. I knew the train count and everything so it was more just a case of getting ideas onto paper (or onto screen, in the case of solidworks). After realising my clock was turning into something I didn't want, I decided to almost start from scratch in terms of wheel placement and plate design. I decided to do traditional rectangular plates and moved the barrel and intermediate wheel to fit inside the footprint I wanted. I came un with the below design which I was really very happy with. I had finally found the look I'd been after all along. I was really interested in JLC atmos clocks and I think I found just the right inspiration.

While discussing the idea with a colleague, I thought about a power reserve indicator, and decided it would be a really nice thing to add to the back of the clock. I already had a separate plate for the barrel as I wanted it to be removable without dismantling the whole clock, so it was a simple case of making a little extra space for these parts to fit in. The plan is to have this part as an extra that I'll only do if I have time.

A shot of (mostly) hard work.

The more I worked on this design, the more I began to worry about the double escapement. It was simple in theory, but I haven't made anything that complex at that scale before. The more I worried about it, the less I cared about it, until I finally had a minor breakdown about the whole thing and decided to ditch it. needed to redesign the train from the ground up and so started working harder than ever before

I had the advantage of more experiance by this point, and thinking about manufacturing the clock decided to make all my pinions, other than the escape pinion the same module, and have two pairs of wheel with the same tooth counts which should, in theory, help speed up production.

After designing everything and putting it all together on solidwork, I had a proper look at it for the first time, and it just didn't look right. I made the front plate invisible and realised what the problem was. I didn't want a skeleton clock, but would have to have the front plate open, otherwise it just looked wrong.

I printed out the clock and tried drawing a couple of different ideas.

Eventualy I came up with something like this, which I was very pleased with. To me, the curves are reminiscent of something you might find in astronomical charts. I did alter the curve holding the 4th wheel, because I didn't think it looked right on the same radius as the main chapter ring.

Then came the long task of turning everything into technical drawings. Thankfully Solidworks' auto dimension saved a lot of time here. I would not have wanted to draw these up by hand!

As part of this year's module we have to create a timeline of production (which I presented as a Gantt chart) and an estimated costings, so we can be sure that our design is feasible to produce in the available time.

I also designed what I think I'd like the case too look like, although at this point it's not definite. Below is a video showing the thing working, with all the different parts paid out.

Next comes the exciting part: actually making the damn thing! It's going to be a big challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. At the end of the year we'll have (up to) 11 ticking, cased clocks, which is unlike anything produced by horology courses at BCU before, as far as I am aware.

The School of Jewellery Graduate Show 2014 will be the year of the horologist!