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