The Oakes Family

Happy New Year!

Tapping and Die-Cutting: After the workshop build, getting back to clock building was a treat. Everything was to hand and organized. I started by seeing how I was going to do with the bronze pillar inserts - threaded 5-40. The die was smaller than my holder so I quickly machined one out of a brass bolt I had lying about from an early trip to the scrapyard. I faced and tidied it, cut a pocket for the die, drilled and threaded a hole for a stop screw and added a couple of makeshift handles from a piece of brass rod.

 

 

 

After grinding a small taper on the tip of the rod, the threading went quickly and easily. Next of course was tapping the ends of two of the steel pillars. Lots of cutting fluid and careful turning lead to an uneventful tapping. The bolt-cutter holes in the wire strippers cleaning and quickly cut the bronze thread to size and a test fit was made to the test piece of aluminum. (1 hour) So far so good.

 

 

 

Tapping the rest of the pillars went well, taking about another hour to finish them all and make enough bronze inserts. (1 hour)

The two lower front pillars needed notching near one end to clear the wheels later on so I decided to get that done now before moving on. I ground a new tool blank into a broad round-nosed shape and it did the job. (1 hour).

 

 

 

Suspension Pillar: Before drilling the cross holes to aid tightening in the pillars, I skipped ahead to make the suspension pillar that will eventually hold the pendulum. This was made from a 1.5″ length of 0.5″ aluminum rod. I machined the end to fit into the frame, drilled and tapped it 5-40, faced the other end exactly to length and drilled a 0.101″ cross hole to support the suspension piece. (1 hour) I had a suitable 0.01″ slitting saw to cut the suspension slot in the end, but no arbor, so I made a rough version out of some spare steel rod.

 

 

 

With the slot in place I drilled a clearance hole half way through and then milled a flat for the bolt head. The rear hole was tapped to 5-40 and I gave it a quick wire brush to clean it up a little. (0.5 hours)

Spacing Pillar: Next up was a spacing pillar, a 1.515″ piece of quarter inch bronze rod, drilled and tapped at each end to fit between the first and second plates at the top left corner. The bronze taps really easily and is great to machine and work with. (0.5 hours)

First Bolt: You can’t make a handmade clock without making all the bolts too so I decided to test out the skills and methods needed to make them. I took another short length of quarter inch bronze rod, turned a section down to 0.125″, clamped it in the vise and made a 5-40 thread. I took a length of aluminum half inch rod to use as a holder, and faced, drilled and tapped that to 5-40 as well. Threading the half-made bolt into the holder meant that it could be faced on the lathe to size without bending it or damaging the thread.

 

 

 

The whole assembly was then transferred back to the vise to have the slot sawn. Back to the lathe again for a quick polish and the first bolt is done! (1 hour)

I also made a cut-off blade holder so I could part the bolt heads off.

 

 

 

Bolts: The rest are, of course, going a little quicker now I know what I am doing. I made sixteen or so short lengths of bronze and turned them all down to 0.125″, and threaded them. (2 hours)

 

 

 

Washers: The washers are made from half-inch cold-rolled steel and were straight-forward to machine. The also have a step in them like the pillars to locate securely into the plates. As both this step and the bolt finishing use the cut-off tooling, I am making both at once. (2 hours)

 

 

 

After another few hours on the lathe, I have finished all the washers and main bolts. (3 hours) The plates are now held together properly, the spacer and suspension pillar are in and all that remains to complete this stage is cross-drilling the pillars, which I seem to be delaying, and drilling, making and fitting the bushes.

I have ordered a couple of small sheets of 353 alloy brass from www.clock-keys.com so I can start on the wheels ($40). Before it arrives next week, I hope to finish up the plates. I am also thinking about getting some chemical bluing agent, to give the steel washers and pillars a blue/black finish. They should make a nice contrast with the aluminum plates and brass bolts.

Total for January: 13 hours + $40
Total so far: 35 hours + $57