Elegent Scroll Frame Skeleton Clock

[steamer]

Yup   Magic smoke tends to be expensive!    glad it wasn't!

Dave

[Admiral_dk]

Great that changing the Capacitor solved your Machine problems Kim 

.... and back to making parts for the Clock - to Everyone's Enjoyment 

Per             

[kvom]

I had to swap a capacitor in my rotary phase converter a number of years ago.  A relief when that fixes it.

[Roger B]

Glad the lathe was easily fixed    Your description of the various scroll saw blades and the speed/lifespan is very interesting    I am just about to start some sheet aluminium work.

[Kim]

Thanks, everyone!  Yes, glad it was a relatively inexpensive fix!

Roger, good luck with your sheet aluminum work.  Will you be using a scroll saw to cut your sheet? I'll be interested to see your experience regardless.

Kim

[bent]

Nice to hear you got the lathe turning again!

But - are you sure those are scrolly circles?  They look more like circley scrolls to me...

 

[Kim]

Nice to hear you got the lathe turning again!

But - are you sure those are scrolly circles?  They look more like circley scrolls to me...

 

Hmm... good point.  I'll have to ponder that one! 

Kim

[Kim]

Next up are the frame horizontal support columns, or as John Wilding calls them, the Pillars.  What confuses me with the pillar terminology, is that in my mind, pillars hold things up vertically. But these hold the frame plates apart horizontally.  But maybe it’s a clockmaker’s term.  Who knows?

Regardless, I started work on the Bottom Pillars, which as the name implies, go along the bottom of the frame.  There are two of these bottom pillars, and then four center pillars that will go higher on the frames.  They will go in the center of each of those scrolly-circles (or circley-scrolls, if you prefer) on the frame plates.

I started with 3/4" round 303 stainless steel rod.  I first cut a 1/4" nubbin, 5/32” long, which will fit into one of the 1/4" holes in the frames.  Then I drilled and tapped for a 6-32 screw.  I widened the end of the screw hole with a center drill to support the end of the workpiece for additional turning.  I did all this with only 3/4"or so of the stock sticking out of the collet.

I then pulled a little over 3” of stock out of the collet and supported the work with a live center.   With this setup, I used a modified parting tool to cut the basic shape of the pillar.  Then swapped to a narrow round end tool to cut a ~4.5^otaper on one end of the pillar.  John called for only 2.5^o , but a bit more taper looked nice to me.  So I did that, being the rebel that I am.


Next, I cut the pillar off the parent stock using the band saw.  Then put the part back in the 3/4” collet the opposite way and made the matching 1/4" nub on the opposite end, complete with threads and ready to be supported by the center.  I also under cut the flat ends of the pillars just a bit. This will guarantee that the pillars support the frames on their outer diameters and prevent wobble.


Then I swapped the 3/4" collet for a 1/4" collet and held one of the nubbins in that and the other end with the live center, and proceeded to cut the same taper on the opposite side.


For the final decorative touches, I used a 1/16” radius form tool (used in some previous project) to make a nice bead on the center part of the column.



And used a 1/16” radius end mill to round off the outside edges of each end.  The mill only cuts on one side so I had to flip the part around to do the opposite end.


And with a little sandpaper cleanup, it looks pretty nice!



I plan to polish them up more, but I think I’ll wait till closer to being done to do that.  The opportunity for ding them up while making the rest of the parts seem pretty high, so it just makes sense to wait a bit for the final finishing step

One more of these bottom pillars to go!
Kim

[crueby]

Nice work on the first pillar!  And I've seen that term in a bunch of the clockmaker books, so it must be a common term in that world. Though, they also call the decorative vertical ones either pillars or columns. Go figure! Not like engine makers (or most industries) use the same term for different things...   

[Dave Otto]

That turned out real nice Kim!

Dave

[cnr6400]

  Some nice turning and polishing there Kim! 

[bent]

Lovely work Kim!  I'm not sure how you would polish the pillar any more than what you've done already, but I am prepared to be schooled.   

[Kim]

Thanks Bent!

Kim

[Kim]

The four center pillars are similar to the bottom pillars, except that they go in the middle of the clock frame, not the bottom

These are made from 5/8” dia 303 stainless rod using pretty much the same methodology as the bottom pillars.

Here’s the lot of them after the first set of operations; the first end is formed, the major sections are marked out, and then it's parted from the parent stock.  The center part is left full diameter to provide a reference point for making the tapers and for positioning the grooves.


And here they are after forming the other end and cutting the taper on both sides.


The next step is different for the center pillars.  I used that raised center section to find the center of the part, then I turned it down to match the big end of the tapers (1/2” dia) and using a 1/8” button tool, I cut two grooves.


I fought with the button tool a bit.  I broke the tip off once.  I think it was because I didn’t temper the button, I only hardened it.  For the second button,  I hardened then tempered it. That second button lasted me the rest of the job so I'm guessing the tempering helped.

Then I spent some time polishing them up and here are all four of the center pillars plus the two bottom pillars.


Next, I’m making the washers that will be used to attach the pillars.  Here’s the first one of the 3/4" washers for use with the bottom pillars.


And here’s how it’s going to be used.


I’ve got a whole lot more of these washers to go. I need four of the 3/4" ones for the bottom pillars (like the one I just made).  Then I’ll need eight 5/8” washers for the center pillars, and five 7/16” washers for other things that will attach to the frame.

Thanks for looking in!
Kim

[cnr6400]

  top notch Kim!