Do you have time to discuss clocks?

[Rodafina]

The Inclined Plane Clock
Also known as a Rolling Drum Clock

The Inclined Plane Clock, also known as Rolling Drum Clock, was invented around 1580. The basic principle of such a clock is the use of a counterweight linked to the centre wheel of the movement by a bar. Thus the natural tendency of the clock to roll down is stopped and permits it to move only as the counterweight is gradually lowered when the escapement releases the train of wheels to which it is attached.

To wind the movement, the clock needs to be rolled up the incline and will then descend over a period of a week while the dial stays in the upright position.

Featured first in this video:

 

[Outdated]

^^ that's really cool. I don't know anything about this clock but I love the picture:

 

[Rodafina]

When Were Watches Invented? A History | WatchBox | The 1916 Company

Clocks and pocket watches have been around for a few hundred years, but what about a wristwatch? When was a wristwatch invented and why did it become popular?

www.thewatchbox.com

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An assortment of old-fashioned wristwatches.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

When I had my stroke I had a real issue reading clocks needed lot of therapy to get the ability back sort of like learning to ride a bike.

 

[Angular Chap]

I've always wanted to build an old school nixie tube clock with modern electronics.

 

[Nitro]

 

[Nervous Rex]

I had a clock like this when I was a kid. It lasted maybe a month or two before something broke on it.

 

[Nitro]

I've always wanted to build an old school nixie tube clock with modern electronics.

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My great uncle John worked for TRW back in the 60s and 70s where one of the projects he was involved in as a tool and die maker was plastic injection moulds for blocks that held neon bulbs in place to simulate nixie cubes for a digital read out multimeter project they were working on at the time.

As a child, I designed and made a printed board with a Radio Shack kit that held some neon lights and transistors harvested out of rejected circuit boards he gave me and built a box with ten toggle switches that would operate each number combination.
The number blocks were quite intense as I recall and it was all mounted in an aluminum and plastic project box from the Shack too.

I'm not sure whatever became of it, but it is quite possible that my Father still has it stashed away in his empire of "stuff"

(Like father like son, we hardly ever throw cool stuff away )

 

[Nitro]

Waltham Watch Company 8 day chronograph out of a WWII military aircraft.
It runs but is sticky, so it is another project

 

[Rodafina]

The History of The Cuckoo Clock

Everybody has seen (or even heard) a cuckoo clock somewhere - perhaps you're lucky enough to own one, or you've seen one while passing by an old antique store; perhaps your grandparent's had one in their living-room and the sound of a cuckoo bird brings back fond memories of those times; or for...

www.cuckoocollections.co.uk

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[Kisa the tea]

 

[Nervous Rex]

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When I and my siblings were kids, our dad brought home a clock very much like this and hung it up in our bedroom.

The constant tick-tocking made it hard for me to go to sleep for several days, but I finally got used to it.

Years later, it broke and suddenly I couldn't go to sleep because I couldn't hear its constant tick-tocking.

 

[Nitro]

 

[Nervous Rex]

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It blew my mind when I learned that a lot of clocks use an upside-down '2' for a '7' (of course, everyone knows about using an upside-down 6 for the 9).

When numbers are "made" (carved, molded, etc) and not printed, it reduces the number of custom shapes from 10 to 8.

 

[Nervous Rex]

The "Author Clock" shows the time in the form of a quote from a book.

 

[Nervous Rex]

This Binary Clock is showing the time 07:07:37. I'm guessing it's a 24-hour clock, since the leftmost two LEDs can show 0, 1, or 2 (for up to 24).

 

[Nervous Rex]

This "sundial" clock shows the time by letting light through. It only shows 20-minute increments and it only works from 10am to 4pm, but still pretty cool.

Nifty animation here: a-3d-printed-sundial-displays-time-like-a-digital-clock

 

[Forest Cat]

If you do a picture search for "The Viennese Clock Museum", it's a clock bonanza. It's one of the most significant collections of old clocks in Europe.

Uhrenmuseum : WIEN MUSEUM

www.wienmuseum.at

Uhrenmuseum Wien

uhren.wienmuseum.at

 

[Uppity Creek]

Clocks and watches are sort of a "secondary" special interest for me. None of the ones I have are extra special but I enjoy them. About a year or so ago I decided to try my hand at servicing/repair. I managed to resurrect an older Big Ben alarm clock, but when it came to some old watches I only managed to make them worse. Perhaps I'll revisit this at some later date!

When I was a kid I had a book that had plans for a water clock. Another project I might tackle if times permits.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I adore watching and learning about clockwork mechanisms.


Try saying "Irish Wristwatch", three times in a row.