In my previous post I finished cleaning my junker clock, ending up with a jumble of gears and other parts. You may recall that when I disassembled this clock, parts sort of fell out willy-nilly, leaving me a bit fuzzy about what gears go where. In this post, I figure out which gears are part of the Going (time) Train (gear set), and as a bonus I calculate the length of pendulum this clock requires.
Continue reading Clock Repair 101: Making sense of the Time Gears
In my previous post I showed the early results of my cleaning of my junker clock by hand. In this post I show why cleaning by hand isn’t really very effective at removing old oil and dirt.
Continue reading Clock Repair 101: I finished “Cleaning” the clock
In my previous post, I disassembled my junker, practice clock. In this post, I begin to clean it. The pro’s use an ultrasonic cleaner, but I’m on a budget, so I’m doing it by hand.
Continue reading Clock Repair 101: Cleaning (or something approaching it)
In my previous post I covered the dangers of mainsprings, and bought the minimum of tools required to safely handle mainsprings. In this post I disassemble my junker clock.
Using my new mainspring clamps and Let Down key, I “let down” (unwound) the chime mainspring and time mainspring, following the process I’d seen in the videos: Continue reading Clock Repair 101: Disassembly / Destruction
In my previous post I explained how I got started on this strange path to clock repair. In this post I talk about the dangers, some videos, and my first clock repair tools. Continue reading Clock Repair 101: A time bomb waiting to go off
The Dark Arts of clock repair open before me. I feel the need to wear flannel. …to create a basement workshop. …and to live where it snows most of the year. What brought this malady on? A clock.
Continue reading Clock Repair 101: “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”
(first published on Needhamia.com in 2007)
I find the rose windows of Gothic cathedrals awe-inspiring. From the rigid formalism of Chartres to the flamboyant explosion of Tours, their marriage of geometry, philosophy, and aesthetics with stone and glass is awesome. Built at a time when science and spirit weren’t as divided as today, each window is a statement of the beauty, order, and harmony in the world. Using only a pair of compasses (dividers) and a straight-edge (an unmarked ruler), the Gothic architects created myriad lace-like designs, making stone hang in the air and glass sing.
Continue reading Geometry, Gothic Architecture, Rose Windows, and Christmas Ornaments
Today’s post is a How-To for a project I recently completed: a temperature-only Weather Underground Personal Weather Station made from an ESP8266, a MAX31820 temperature sensor, and a few miscellaneous parts. The whole project fits inside a 3D printed project box for mounting on an exterior wall that is sheltered from the weather.
The open source project files are in my MAX31820WeatherStation Github repository.
Continue reading Build a minimal Weather Underground station
After obsessing like a Lotus Eater for a week, I’ve finished my newly-invented (I hope) 25 Lotus Flowers puzzle!
The open source 3D Printer files are on Thingiverse; I’ve also written a How To sheet, with instructions and challenges. I modestly ;-) hope it’s as mathematically interesting as the famous 15 Puzzle… we’ll see!
For years I’ve been scribbling doodles of a Combination Puzzle I’d like to create, with ginkgo-leaf-shaped pieces that turned in place to allow or prevent their neighboring pieces from turning.
Continue reading The newly-invented, trivial, Ginkgo “puzzle”
