John Wilding 8 day Weight Driven Wall Clock

Hi,

Has anyone built the John Wilding weight driven 8 day wall clock?

I started one 10-15years ago and struck a problem so I set it aside to think about it. I'm getting old and if I don't get stuck into it now, I may never complete it. I think I've resolved the problem I had initially, but I realise I'm not sure where all the bits go in relation to each other as there are no GA drawings in the book and the photos aren't much help either.

I'm particularly interested in pictures looking down into the clock showing the escapement and pendulum supports.

Regards,

Alan C.

It is a great first clock very robust design easy to make and keeps time to better than 20 seconds a week these are just photos I took when I was building it I can take more of the finished clock if need be.

Mine would not run until I had opened out the pivot holes a bit which galled the engineer in me but if a clock does not rattle it will not run.

It was my first clock and I made it many years ago so be kind it is still running perfectly 

Edited By Stephen Benson on 29/12/2016 11:59:09

Edited By Stephen Benson on 29/12/2016 12:01:31

If you can get a look at a long case, it,s pretty much the same

Roy

Hi Alan and Stephen. Thanks for asking that question and for providing the photos. I too am well into the build of same clock. I was also somewhat confused regarding the assembly of the parts. Would I be right in thinking that the 3/32 inch arbors are reduced on the ends to fit into smaller holes in the two brass plates?? Any more advice would be gratefully received. Again thanks for the input. Jim.

Yes, the arbors are turned down at the ends to form the 'pivots'...ie parallel, highly polished bearing sections that ride in the broached bores in the plates. they should be hardened in a blow lamp flame to bright red and then tempered back carefully (I like to go just past 'straw'

Edited By Bob Stevenson on 29/12/2016 17:22:12

Hi, I´m also building this clock. I have yet to summon the courage to pour the lead for the pendulum but the clock is ticking away in the cellar with a temporary light pendulum.

There are two "cookbook"s by John Wilding for building this clock .They differ in a few details associated with the mounting of the reverse wheel etc. and the newer book (a spiral bound type assembly of the original magazine articles) adds variations on where to place the barrel so a chime and date work can be added later. This can be confusing.

To get the clock running a little application of light clock oil worked wonders.

As to polishing the pivots, don´t look too closely!

Thanks Steven. That's just what I was after.

I'm not sure how far I'll get. I faffed about for a week getting ready to start drilling the pivot holes in the plates, and then made a mistake on the very first one! I drilled the centre wheel pivot hole 3/32" instead of 1/16". I think I'll leave it and add a collar to the shaft to hold it in place.

If I do manage to finish it I'll maybe put together a couple of general assembley drawings and post them for others in the future.

Hi Dick. Have you made the shell? If so, did you use silver solder to join the two halves?

Thanks for all your comments.

Regards,

Alan C.

Hi again Steven,

I've just noticed on your 3rd photo that the collar on the right of the centre arbor doesn't rotate in the side plate. I've reamed the hole on the front plate 0.150" for this arbor. Have I got the hole on the front plate wrong as well?

Regards,

Alan C.

Hi Alan

No your are right it looks like the book is confusing as that is a mistake I remember making, the collar should be steel and the curved spring sits against it to allow you to turn the hands without turning the wheels to correct the time. I will take some more photo's of the finished clock today.

Edited By Stephen Benson on 30/12/2016 06:25:33

Right here is the finished clock after it has run continually for 8 or more years note the steel pendulum could not be bothered pouring lead. I had loads of other projects so never really finished it as I always intended to upgrade it to the later perpetual calendar version probably with bearings.

taken today complete with cobwebs

Edited By Stephen Benson on 30/12/2016 07:22:02

Edited By Stephen Benson on 30/12/2016 07:23:22

Hi Stephen. You must be very happy with the finished clock it looks great. I only hope I can finish mine to that standard. The photos will prove invaluable when I get back to the build. Hope you're open to one or two more questions as they arise. Cheers Jim.

No problems with answering questions when your clock fails to run properly after a long build it can very frustrating however the solution is often very simple because clocks of this type are quite tolerant of errors.

Thanks Stephen.

Hi Stephen,

I'm at the stage where I'm starting to look at the pendulum and escapement and I have a number of questions.

1) Is the arbor which supports the pallets and crutch 3/16" diameter with 3/32" pivots? I can't find any reference to it in the book.

2) I can't find any dimensions for siting the pivot hole or the holding screw holes in the back cock which supports the arbor. Are these not critical?

3) I can't make head or tail of the crutch. Do you have any photos of your one? Is the angled bit at the bottom of the crutch separate from the shaft and if so how is it joined. What are the two 10BA holes for? How does the top of the shaft connect to the collet?

A lot of questions I know. Wilding's book is driving me crazy with the lack of dimensions on the drawings and the poor explanations on how to proceed. This is supposed to be a hobby - i.e. fun! Not much of that at the moment.

Regards,

Alan C.

Hi Alan,

I assume you are working from the older book for building the clock. I started with this and then switched to the newer version.

Just looking at the old (red dust-cover) book the information you seek is scattered all over the place.

1) the arbor which supports the pallets and crutch is 3/32" (~2.4 mm), this matches the hole drilled when making the pallets (p.37, left hand column line 13).The escape and pallet pivots are 0.050" in dia. (p.29, Fig 42. bottom right). The newer book uses 1/16" pivots.

2) The back cock. The older book uses a back cock made of bits of brass silver soldered together, in the newer, a brass plate is supported by two pillars. I would take the drawing a p.42 Fig 68 as being a scale diagram (approx 75%). The holes back plate are drilled and tapped to suit the position of the back cock sitting on the pivot protruding through an arbor sized hole in the back-plate, even then there will be a little bit of potential movement, so it is suggested to add locating pins as well. This is before cutting out the upside down keyhole shaped hole in the backplate to accommodate the adjustable collet.

3) The crutch can be made out of one piece of brass and bent (the newer book uses 1/16" mild steel strip) or made from two pieces and soldered together (p.44). the top of the crutch has a central hole to sit on the arbor and is then held by two small screws ( approx. M 1.6-1.8 metric) to the adjustable collet. The two 10 BA holes in the foot of the crutch are to hold small plate to narrow and adjust clearance between the crutch and the lower brass block on the suspension spring, this is difficult to see in Fig 79 on p.45, and it is also visible in Fig 2 on p.5, once you have an idea what to look for. The crutch I made is simple steel with a slot. Hope this helps.

Living abroad my clock is a wild mixture of imperial and metric. The older book uses lantern pinions, the newer steel pinions. Having sat down to cross read the two, I see there are lots of differences.

Hope this helps.

I made all the bits for this clock about 20years ago - enjoyed making it and then we moved house! Modern house with lower ceiling heights and nowhere suitable to put clock so all the bits are in a workshop drawer until (maybe) we move again!!

Norman

Hi Dick,

Thanks for the information. It's just as well I asked for help instead of charging ahead on my own. You are right about me using the old (1990) book. I have made the lantern pinions. I'm the same as you with regard to a mixture of imperial and metric.

Regards,

Alan C.

Hi all,

Thanks for the help. I got stuck in and have made the back cock.

The plate connecting the two pieces of angle was silver soldered and the pendulum post was soft soldered into position. I'm pretty sure it will be strong enough.

I haven't slit the post for the pendulum yet as I don't have the .006" spring steel or a 0.2mm slitting saw.

I can source some .006" spring steel shim plate locally. Will this be OK for the suspension spring?

I will order some 0.2mm slitting saws from CTC Tools. At $2-50 each I'll get a few of them I think. The thinnest saw I've used to date is 1/16" so any suggestions about things to watch out for will be welcome.

Here is a picture showing where I am at the moment. The wheels and pinions haven't been loctited to the arbors yet. I want to have the pallets in position so I can see the whole train before I set them in their final positions.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

Alan C.

Hi Alan,

just wondering if you have come across the website of Ian T Cobb ?

He can supply clock related parts. I have no connection only a satisfied customer.

looks like your clock is coming on well. I must return to mine when time allows !!!!

regards, Jim.

I can vouch for Ian Cobb having had some materials such as Invar for pendulum rods and silvering powder from him.

A good source of spring steel for suspensions etc is feeler gauge material, sold as a spool or as cut pieces from model engineering suppliers.

Brian