Elegent Scroll Frame Skeleton Clock

[Dave Otto]

Ouch, bummer about the tree, hopefully the damage will not be too bad to repair.
The tooling is looking nice!

Dave

[RReid]

Yikes! That's not a very nice Xmas gift. Hopefully it will get resolved without too much headache or expense. Those local trees seem to have it out for you a little bit...

[cnr6400]

That tree issue could have been a lot worse Kim. Glad nobody got hurt. Hope the tree / wood removal and the house repairs go smoothly. 

[steamer]

Glad no one was hurt Kim!

Dave

[Michael S.]

Hello Kim,

I hope the damage isn't that bad. But it is very annoying when the gutters and roof tiles have to be repaired. Hopefully you won't have any rain or snow.

Michael

[Kim]

Thanks, everyone!  Yes, it is much better than it could have been, that's for sure!  Nobody was hurt, and I don't think the roof was even punctured - at least not into the house or the attic.  The tree did, however, break the gutter and into the soffit (see the first pic). So it won't be an inexpensive repair, for sure.

Luckily, I was able to get a tree service out here to remove the tree yesterday.  They were amazing!  Watching them go up and down in that cherry picker, then climbing up and down the trunk of the tree.  Clearly, they'd done this before. Which was good for me.  It was quite the show!  An expensive show, but a good one, never the less.  Unfortunately, I was trapped inside. I couldn't get out to watch because they had all our doors blocked off (for our own protection, I'm sure!)

Anyway, now all I've got to do is get a roofer in here to fix the roof, and then someone to replace the gutter.  Oh yeah, and paint... I'm almost there!
Kim

PS. Huh.. don't know why that last picture is turned sideways.  Sorry...

[Roger B]

That could have been very nasty but luckily no one was hurt and hopefully the roof is still watertight.

[Kim]

Thanks, Roger, Yes, it certainly could have been MUCH worse.  And I'm thankful that it wasn't!

Kim

[Kim]

The spindle is made from a length of 3/8” round bar, and a chuck is made from 7/8” round bar.

Here I’m parting off the chuck after shaping it and reaming a 3/8” hole for the spindle bar.  The chuck will be Loctited onto the 3/8”.


Here are the completed parts.  The spindle is above, with the Chuck attached, and the lower part is a 3/8” winding arbor.  I think this is the size I’ll want for winding this spring.  If I need a different size arbor, I’ll make it at the time.


And here it is, all assembled, with the spindle in place on the base and the winding arbor clamped into the chuck.


The #6 flathead screw in the winding arbor is the 'hook' to grab the hole in the end of the spring for winding.
Next will be the spring clamp bar.

Kim

[crueby]

Is this winder to make the spring itself, or to wind a commercial spring to put it in a holder?


 

[Kim]

I have purchased a commercial spring, so this item will be used to wind it safely.  However, there's no reason it wouldn't wind a homemade spring too.  I just chose not to go that route.

The spring winder is highly recommended.  While it may not be absolutely necessary, those mainsprings store a LOT of energy. And if you accidentally let it slip while you're rolling it, it could do some serious damage!  I didn't want to chance that, so I'm making a mainspring winder!

Kim

[wagnmkr]

Good looking tools Kim. You won't wear them out any time soon!

Tom

 

[cnr6400]

  I guess we could say you're gonna wind up with a nice custom tool!     
(sorry should have issued a bad pun warning first) 

[Kim]

Thanks Tom, and Jeff! 

Jeff, yes, that definitely warranted a Bad Pun Alert!   

Kim

[Kim]

I’ve had a few short days out in the shop and it’s high time for me to get caught up on my build thread.

Over the weekend I started working on the spring clamp.  This will hold the outer end of the spring during winding, while the inner coil of the spring will be held by the arbor.

I made the clamp out of 3/8” W-1 rod.  I started by cutting a shallow taper (about 1^o) in the end of the rod.


Then I tapered the top and bottom of that section on the mill at about 3^o.


With the jaws shaped as I wanted them, it was now time to slit in the jaws apart. (Note that I’d previously made a couple of holes – one vertically for the clamping screw, and one horizontally for the end of the clamping slit.)  I cut most of the slit using a 1/32” slitting saw.


Then finished off the end of the slit with a hacksaw (which just so happens has a 1/32” wide blade!)


Next, I cut a slot at the opposite end from the jaws that will help hold the clamp in place while giving it some freedom of movement.


And finally, I heat-treated the clamping end.  I heated it to cherry red and dunked it in water.  Unfortunately, the nice slit I’d made closed up when I quenched it.  So I tried hardening it again, but this time with a 1/32” wide spacer wedged in the slit.  That seemed to resolve the problem! (Whew!)  Then I tempered the clamping end to a nice straw color, as shown here:


Next, I made the clamping screw.  This was made from some 1/2" 12L14 rod.  It was a fairly simple turning exercise.  Here I had just finished cutting the 6-32 threads for the clamping screw.


Here’s the completed clamping screw.  The crossbar is held in place with some Loctite.


And here’s what it looks like in the mainspring winder.


One more part completed!
Kim