Attention Christmas Gift-Shoppers! Yes, it IS getting close to Christmas for regular postal delivery. But the good news is that you can order the following items in dxf format and have them delivered via email attachment within 24 hours. It's not too late to order the following plans available in dxf:

1. Clayton's pdf book, "A Practical Guide to Wooden Wheeled Clock Design"

2, Genesis, the World's Easiest Clock:

3. Perpetual Calendar:

4. Weird Gears

5. Cogitation Kinetic Sculpture

And in Masochist's Corner (previous wooden clock making experience required, see requirements):

6. Epicyclic

7. Leeds 7-Day

Have a Merry Merry Sawdusty Christmas!  Thank you for your patronage over the years, and thanks for taking the time to stop by and read our blog.  Mele Kalikimaka, Clayton and Lisa Boyer

And a Story of Woe and Joy after Applying Finish...

Simplicity by Dave Beran

Clayton,

After a month of my Simplicity faithfully tick/tocking in my work shop I decided to dress her up a bit and move her into the house. So I disassembled her and did some staining and finishing of all the non-moving parts. Upon re-assembly, nothing. Raised the weight to a full 7 pounds, nothing. Now how often has friction been mentioned in your comments and on the blog? So apart she came. I'd discovered a tiny amount of finish on the brass arbors. So I polished up the arbors, spun pipe cleaners in all the brass tubes and turned drill bits, by hand, in all other holes. Upon reassembly she came alive. My Simplicity is now running on 3lbs with a 4oz counter weight. And after a few days of adjustment I have her dialed in to about a minute or two per day. By the way, the hands, dial, and weight shells are walnut. It was was recycled from pallet planks found while helping a friend boil maple syrup last spring.

Thanks for the new hobby, now on to the Flying Pendulum gizmo.

 

Dave Beran
Duluth, MN

 

Aloha Dave, unfortunately yours is too common a tale. It really is amazing how little finish it takes to get these kinetic sculptures to become a "still life". There are two things that will bring these wonders to a dead stop faster than anything and those are 1) finish, and 2) bushings. Fortunately, both are avoidable!...well, bad craftsmanship has to be in there somewhere, too, but that sometimes can be overcome by reading and following the recommendations in my FAQ's.

 

It's good to hear you got your finish problem solved and she's up and running again. And, congratulations, by the way, on your amazing craftsmanship. Not only is she a beauty, but you got her running on less than three pounds.

 

That's actually the weight she's supposed to be able to run with, but since Simplicity is a beginner's clock, I bumped up the initial weight recommendation because I wanted everyone, no matter how bad their craftsmanship, to be able to hear their clock tick. Your craftsmanship, on the other hand, is superlative.

 

Congratulations, and I know you are gonna love that Flying Pendulum design, too. I keep mine just above my Mystery Box. Both are guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of whom ever views them.

 

Enjoy.

 

Aloha. Clayton
 

Keith Randall's Happy Wall

 

 

Solaris, Simplicity and Number Six by Keith Randall, all ticking away together.  This is wonderful!  Thanks for the video from Australia's Sunshine Coast, Keith.

 

Simplicity by Peter Rosemeier

A nice email and Simplicity pictures from Peter Rosemeier in Germany:

 

Aloha Clayton,

now, "The Simplicity" is ready and I want to give you a short report and some pictures.

At the beginning: I have your plans from the Simplicity, but I have no machines to built the clock. -No bandsaw, no drillsaw, no bench Drilling Machine, no plate sanders, no workbench etc.
... and I have no experience with that machines ...

At the end of "The Simplicity-building" I see all this machines in my new workrooms and now I have three workbenches, a circular saw and even a small lathe. -Great!!-
And the experience with the operations of the machines come with the construction of the Simplicity and in addition, I learned how to Build a Wooden Clock.

So I can only say: Thank you very much for the great Simplicity-clock-plans and the
experience that I have made by building the clock. It was a big adventure
and I have had a lot of fun here.

Now, from time to time I visit your homepage and I see
"The Leeds-7Day-3Wheel" and on Youtube the Variation of it "The Northstar"
... and my creation-fever is growing up... ... and up...
...probably because I studied engineering... -The internal gears, the pulley on the hour-arbor,
one wind for a week - Great !! -

"Peter", I say to myself, "that´s the right Cristmas-Fun".

Now, I order "The Leeds-Plan-Kit" .  Please, give me the Dimensions of the Clock, because I look for a nice Place on the Wall in my House .

Aloha,  Peter Rosemeier

Well done, Peter! With no prior woodworking experience you have created one amazing clock! You are a wonderful craftsman.

I enjoyed seeing how you designed the bell for the Hourly Strike Mechanism. Wonderfully done!

Excellent work. I can hardly believe that you began as a complete novice and ended up with such a beautiful wooden clockworks.

Thank you for the pictures. You have created a mechanism you can truly be quite proud of. Congratulations on a wonderful build.

Aloha. Clayton

Sometimes, It's Not Easy Being Mrs. Boyer

It's the new Optional Direct Drive Gear System on the ballwinder in the Yarn Lover's Package!  Next time, I'll use cue cards....

 

The Leeds 7-Day 3-Wheel Clock

The Leeds 7-Day 3-Wheel by Clayton Boyer
(click on any picture to enlarge)

 

Meet my Leeds 7-Day 3 Wheel Clock.

 

The Leeds only has three wheels and yet will run for a week on a wind! How is that possible? The two lower wheels are internally toothed. Can you see the teeth on that lowest wheel pointing inwardly? Internally toothed wheels and their pinions both turn in the same direction! That way all three arbors are turning in the correct clockwise direction. The lower arbor shows the hours, the center arbor the minutes and the top arbor carries the second hand.

 

The Leeds 7-Day 3-Wheel by Clayton Boyer

The dials are also easy to read. Just start at the bottom and read up. 2:46 And as a bonus, this is the most accurate clock I've ever built. It isn't even off by a minute a week.

The Leeds by Clayton Boyer, Side View

This is a better picture that shows both of the large interally toothed wheels. The Leeds is amazingly quiet, too. In the video below you will see Lisa's trained fly buzz by and you can hear that the fly is louder than the tick of the clock! This is such a cool clock!

 

Check out my website to see Forrest Burnett's amazing interpretation of my Leeds design.

 

Easiest Clock to Build....EVER??

Genesis

Genesis with Routed Numbers (dxf option only)

 

Meet "Genesis," Clayton's new design for beginning clockmakers.  It just can't get any easier than this, folks.  An excellent gift for an aspiring clockmaker!  Plans are now available on our website, www.lisaboyer.com.

 

Clayton has been busy in his shop, but we've been a bit slow on the uploading on our site (that's probably my fault...I'm the photographer and webmaster in the family).  Clayton let me know yesterday that there were FOUR MORE items to be added to our site--including one that's been a couple years in the making--his book, "A Practical Guide to Designing Wooden Clocks."  There are also two new beautiful clock plans to be posted in "Masochist Corner," (for experienced clockmakers only), and a new calendar design that he's doing the end-stage tweaking on as I write this.  Exciting stuff, eh?  Stay tuned.

Jim Wilson's Cogitation

 

Aloha Clayton, Happy Labor Day.

 

I'm just beginning to tune in my version of your amazing creation-Cogitation. How you have the knowledge, skill and imagination to design this kind of thing is beyond me but I'm glad you do because I truly enjoy building and marveling at stuff such as this.

Please see the attached. I think I'll reduce the weights a couple of ozs. and increase the length of the throw(s) so it runs slower and the display wheels rotate 3 revolutions like yours (Forrest's) does.

 

Thanks for the design and keep them coming.

 

 Jim Wilson

Wow! Jim, that's great! And you went with the complex wheels first off!!! Congratulations are certainly in order because that's a beauty.

Thanks so much for the video. Even after all this time, I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to see what othe builders have created. SO WONDERFUL! Great job, Jim.

Enjoy your new Cogitation. It looks terrific!

Aloha, Clayton

Drive Weight Determination; Modern Times by Mike Kokoszka

Modern Times by Mike Kokoszka

Mike writes:  "Hi Clayton,

Thanks for all of the tips. I just need to get a weight on this baby to test it out. I will look forward to working on another. Happy 4th!

Mike"

 

Beautifully done, Mike. The Modern Times design has always been one of my favorites, and you've done yours proud. She looks great!

 

Clocks are like people (and nearly everything else) each one is different and individual, and each will require more or less drive weight depending upon the internal friction of that particular clock.

 

One of the best ways to determine how much drive weight your clock will need is to first remove the drive weight and hang a scale on the weight cord. Then add more weight to the bottom of the scale than it will take to drive the clock. Start up the clock and let it run all the way to the floor until it stops. You can then read off the scale exactly how much drive weight it took to run that particular clock. Add about 10% more to that and you've got your perfect drive weight.

 

Thanks for the pix. Your MT really is a beauty.

 

Aloha. Clayton

Introducing "Cogitation"



Cogitation Kinetic Sculpture, by Clayton Boyer and Forrest Burnett

Woodworking plans now available at www.lisaboyer.com



Mind-Blowing Kinetic "Stuff" by Forrest Burnett

My friend Forrest...well...what can I say?  He's a genius.  He's also an artist...and an engineering wizard.  When you put all those things together in one person, you get stuff like this:

And this:

Not to mention this:

Is your mind blown yet?  But wait!  One more:

Here's his YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/kineticstuff1?ob=0&feature=results_main

If I were you, I would subscribe to it or check it often--his brain is always producing amazing new things.  His moniker on YouTube is kineticstuff1.

Edited on 5/23/12 to add:  Sigh...YouTube has given Forrest so much grief that he took his videos down for now.  I hope they will resolve the issue soon and Forrest can once again post his magnificent videos!

Space Time Continuum by John Fast



Space Time Continuum by John Fast

John Fast emails:  "Hi Clayton,

 

I completed your Kinetic Sculpture design recently and thought you might be interested in seeing the results in these 10 photos. I followed your advice and constructed all the cogs, etc. from Baltic Birch ply. Except for the cogs, I veneered all the other parts to cover the ply layers. The main supports are of Purple Heart wood. I changed the design on the balance wheel a bit. I could not find any suitable marbles, so I made my own as well as the weights out of a piece of soapstone that I couldn't find any use for over the past 15 years. I also had to add the extra weight shown to keep it running. We don't have much humidity here in Winnipeg, Canada, so that isn't an issue for me. I'm really pleased with the result and while it may not be as perfect as your work, it looks great in our living room. Thanks for a great design.

 

Cheers,  John Fast"

 

Note:  Click on any of these pictures to enlarge: 

 

 

Clayton answers:  "Wow, John, you do magnificent work!

I hate to disagree with you, but your Space Time Continnum is way more perfect than mine! Yours is truly the art of a craftsman, and those soap stone counterbalances are beautiful art pieces in themselves. I'm glad you found a good home for them. I guess that's why they have been so patient for the last 15 years. They were just waiting for their place of signifigance in your sculpture.

Thanks for doing such a spectacular job on your Space Time Continuum. You have truly done that design proud.

Congratulations.  Aloha. Clayton"

Must Read: John Hilgenberg's Helpful Tips for Building a Wooden Clock

John Hilgenberg's Marble Strike Clock

For many years, John Hilgenberg has built many of my designs, and created expert designs of his own. Here are some of the ways he approaches building a wooden clockworks. Some of his methodologies are identical to mine, and some may vary from my recommendations – but he has been kind enough to put his methods down on paper, and I present them here for your perusal and hopefully some of this information, from his vast store of clock making knowledge, will work for you, too...

 

Here is the link to Johns' advice on my website:  FAQ's: John's Tips

Simplicity by Barry Coleman



Simplicity by Barry Coleman

Barry emails:  "Hi Clayton.    Barry Coleman here, thank you for plans sent, here are pictures of the finished clock.   It runs on about 7 pounds of brass, losing about 1 minute an hour at the moment, will trim.

This is my first clock, can hear it ticking now, very satisfying.

Regards, Barry"

Clayton answers:  "Congratulations Barry, you did a nice job on your Simplicity. I love to hear these 'first time' stories because I still enjoy hearing about a new clock being put into beat.

Give your Simplicity some time to 'break in'. Some clocks run fast or slow in the beginning. Give it two or three weeks before any major tweaking.

I agree - hearing her ticking is quite satisfying.

Great job on your Simplicity.

Aloha. Clayton"