I have written a free book about Lego clocks!

[mooneyes]

Absolutely amazing work!

So pleasing to see a hard copy being produced!

I salute you! 

[Davidz90]

45 minutes ago, mooneyes said:

Absolutely amazing work!

So pleasing to see a hard copy being produced!

I salute you!

Thank you very much! Indeed, it is very satisfying to have a hard copy.

[mwyns]

I ordered your book via Amazon and have read it with great attention. It is a book with a lot of depth which is very interesting. In the meantime I have learned a lot about the topics discussed. As icing on the cake I have built your simple clock. As weight I have used old lego basic motors and for the pendulum 2 wheels. Thank you for sharing this magnificent work.

 

[johnnytifosi]

Wow, what an amazing piece of work! As a bookworm myself, I will definitely read this soon. I have to give some kudos particularly for doing this properly in Latex, it looks professionally edited. However, I wonder why there are no clickable links in the table of contents and the associated bookmarks in the sidebar. Thanks for sharing this for free.

[Davidz90]

3 hours ago, mwyns said:

I ordered your book via Amazon and have read it with great attention. It is a book with a lot of depth which is very interesting. In the meantime I have learned a lot about the topics discussed. As icing on the cake I have built your simple clock. As weight I have used old lego basic motors and for the pendulum 2 wheels. Thank you for sharing this magnificent work.

Wow, I'm so happy to see people enjoying it! :) Nice job with the clock!

2 hours ago, johnnytifosi said:

Wow, what an amazing piece of work! As a bookworm myself, I will definitely read this soon. I have to give some kudos particularly for doing this properly in Latex, it looks professionally edited. However, I wonder why there are no clickable links in the table of contents and the associated bookmarks in the sidebar. Thanks for sharing this for free.

Thanks! Yes, the lack of clickable links was an omission.

 

[johnnytifosi]

Looking at some past documents of mine, I think you should add these lines to your Latex code:

\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref} %include URLs without box
\usepackage[nottoc,numbib]{tocbibind} %include references in table of contents

 

Reference here: https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Hyperlinks#PDF-specific_options

Edited September 16, 2024 by johnnytifosi

[nico71]

I have missed this book, wow, what an achievement  @Davidz90

I have been looking for your work from years, being a big source of inspiration for escapement and suspensions.

[Davidz90]

32 minutes ago, nico71 said:

I have missed this book, wow, what an achievement  @Davidz90

I have been looking for your work from years, being a big source of inspiration for escapement and suspensions.

Thank you very much! Your builds have been an inspiration for me as well, especially pneumatic engines and intricate machinery like the loom.

[nerdsforprez]

On 9/16/2024 at 3:33 AM, mwyns said:

I ordered your book via Amazon and have read it with great attention. It is a book with a lot of depth which is very interesting. In the meantime I have learned a lot about the topics discussed. As icing on the cake I have built your simple clock. As weight I have used old lego basic motors and for the pendulum 2 wheels. Thank you for sharing this magnificent work.

 

 

I have also ordered the book and built the simple clock.  What a treat!  QUestion for you, does yours work well?  Mine works for a few seconds, but then stops.  Also, not sure i used the correct length for the pendulum.  The book states the pendulum should be around 9.8 inches, but also shows it as 3 15L liftarms, which is more like 16 inches.  How long is your pendulum?  And did you use the exact weight recommended in the book? 

[Davidz90]

10 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

QUestion for you, does yours work well?  Mine works for a few seconds, but then stops.  Also, not sure i used the correct length for the pendulum.  The book states the pendulum should be around 9.8 inches, but also shows it as 3 15L liftarms, which is more like 16 inches.  How long is your pendulum?  And did you use the exact weight recommended in the book?

Hi! It is a bit hard to see, but the lowest liftarm is considerably shorter. Also, 9.8 inches is the distance between pivot and center of mass, which is a little above the top of the weight. That makes the 6 inches of difference. In the end, fine tuning with a stopwatch is needed to really dial the speed in.

If the clock works for a while before stopping, then:

1. Make sure it is leveled; when it is, the gears should recoil the same amount on left and right swing

2. Driving weight may be a little too light. I used that exact weight, but it is a little optimistic. Even a little friction somewhere between gears can stop it.

[nerdsforprez]

51 minutes ago, Davidz90 said:

Hi! It is a bit hard to see, but the lowest liftarm is considerably shorter. Also, 9.8 inches is the distance between pivot and center of mass, which is a little above the top of the weight. That makes the 6 inches of difference. In the end, fine tuning with a stopwatch is needed to really dial the speed in.

If the clock works for a while before stopping, then:

1. Make sure it is leveled; when it is, the gears should recoil the same amount on left and right swing

2. Driving weight may be a little too light. I used that exact weight, but it is a little optimistic. Even a little friction somewhere between gears can stop it.

TY for the reply.  I tinkered with it all last night.  I finally found that changing the gear that holds the chain from a 16T gear to a 24T gear, thus increasing the torque, I could decrease the weight a bit.  Placed less strain on everything.  Worked perfectly.  Ran it for a whole hour not with a single stop.  Works great now.  Eager to play with things more and try some of your other mechanisms out.  

[LegoTT]

Thank you for this book, the best thing is that maybe Amazon have printing in numerous places, so for low number edition it can avoid to be send across seas to get to my house.

[mwyns]

22 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

I have also ordered the book and built the simple clock.  What a treat!  QUestion for you, does yours work well?  Mine works for a few seconds, but then stops.  Also, not sure i used the correct length for the pendulum.  The book states the pendulum should be around 9.8 inches, but also shows it as 3 15L liftarms, which is more like 16 inches.  How long is your pendulum?  And did you use the exact weight recommended in the book? 

Hello, mine has worked the first day for more than one hour, the next day a couple of minutes. It was not very stable.

22 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

I have also ordered the book and built the simple clock.  What a treat!  QUestion for you, does yours work well?  Mine works for a few seconds, but then stops.  Also, not sure i used the correct length for the pendulum.  The book states the pendulum should be around 9.8 inches, but also shows it as 3 15L liftarms, which is more like 16 inches.  How long is your pendulum?  And did you use the exact weight recommended in the book? 

My pendulum was like in the book. The weight was more than mentioned. See my pictures, i used a couple of old basic motors. 

[nerdsforprez]

13 hours ago, mwyns said:

Hello, mine has worked the first day for more than one hour, the next day a couple of minutes. It was not very stable.

My pendulum was like in the book. The weight was more than mentioned. See my pictures, i used a couple of old basic motors. 

  Yea, mine was also needing more weight than the ~336 grams recommended in the book.  But if you replace the 16T gear with a 24T gear you get the added torque and therefore can keep the weight ~ 300 grams.  I found this to be the best solution.   Less weight and stress on the overall clock mechanisms.  WHen I did this the whole thing ran just fine...

[Davidz90]

2 hours ago, nerdsforprez said:

But if you replace the 16T gear with a 24T gear you get the added torque and therefore can keep the weight ~ 300 grams.  I found this to be the best solution.   Less weight and stress on the overall clock mechanisms.  WHen I did this the whole thing ran just fine...

Thanks for letting me know! I had no issues with the specified weight, but apparently got lucky. I'll add this change to instructions in a future edition of the book.