3D Printed Mechanical Clock
The rise in 3D printers and the move towards semi-consumer level models, such as MakerBot Replicator 2, opens up a wealth of opportunity to build everyday items. With a Replicator 2 in the corner of the office here at CASA, University College London, we thought we would try to print a weight powered 3D clock. There are a number of sites online that provide plans or kits for wooden clocks, often aimed at CNC type machines or simply scroll saw cutting out of the individual cogs. A key site is woodentimes.com, the clock we have printed is a modified version of the Septimus.
![Replicator 2 Printing Cogs Replicator 2 Printing Cogs](http://www.digitalurban.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_0078-1024x768.jpg)
Replicator 2 Printing Cogs
The parts were created in the free version of SketchUp, via a DXF plan and exported to .stl for import into MakerWare. 3D printing is still a hit and miss affair, we printed each part out individually to minimise the risk of any printing errors on the replicator.
![3D Printed Parts](http://www.digitalurban.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Printed-Parts-1024x671.jpg)
3D Printed Parts
In general, printing in the centre of the replicator reduces any errors, we also added a raft to each cog and printed at 100% to increase the strength of the final print. Each cog took approximately 2 hours to print with the frame sections 3 to 4 hours.
![3D Printed Clock](http://www.digitalurban.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_0086-1024x768.jpg)
3D Printed Clock
The complete clock took 4 days to print, it runs on an 600g weight and requires winding every 48 hours – the clip below details the completed 3D printed clock: