Matt,
Not sure if we've met before at the shop. But yeah, I'm a trained
watchmaker too. 3D printed clocks should
totally be doable- but accuracy of timekeeping, honestly, I'm not sure, at
least with what we have now.
One of the things I plan on doing is making a laser cut wallclock at the
shop, as I can do dwg files no prob.
using normal geometry for escapements. If you don't know about escapements-
look them up. It's basically
the part of any timepiece that actually metes out the time measurement, and
there are countless designs.
Basically, the one that would probably work the best for a 3D printed wall
clock would probably have to be
the kind that Alex R. already made- the Deadbeat escapement. That has the
simplest geometry, and when
well made, is very accurate. Whilst the most elementary geometry, that
geometry however is very critical on
the deadbeat to run well. I think if you printed a deadbeat pallet big
enough (say, in an area of maybe 4" square),
with many layers and lattices to brace the teeth from flexing, it could
work.
It might be nice to do a horology (watch & clock) related mechanical club
night. It seems a lot of you are into
this part of making, and it's something I know a lot about, and we have all
the tech to make some really sweet
wall clocks...
If I learn python from someone, and can then make sense of that python
program I have again to calculate
astronomical gear ratios, maybe we could make an orrey wall clock for hack
pittsburgh using only 3D printing
and laser cut parts... I think that would be badass. It would definitely
get into Make.
-Andrew
