Wooden Gear Clock - Can't keep it going

[bobtomlinson]

My name is Bob:
I built the wooden gear clock from the book by Marc Tovar. I understand it was reprointed in Scroll Saw magazine.
My problem is - it only runs for about 1-1/2 - 2 minutes! The pendulum just stops.
I see that quite a few people built this clock with no problems.
I rebuilt the escape wheel and pallets 3 times with no success.
Can anyone help?

[evilbadger]

Bob

Here are a couple of things you can try first you need to check for friction in the gears, I usually just put the drive gear and its mate in but remove the weight and just use a can so you can add weight gradually. You want to try getting all the gears to spin freely with very little weight. Once those gears check out okay then add the next one and so on. Once all the gears are in then put the pallet in and use the weight from the plans. If the clock still stops after 1 or 2 minutes then you may have to rotate the pallet a little bit. Take a look at a protractor and try to visualize marking 360 degrees on the pallet shaft the slightest movement is a degree or 2 and that is all it takes to stop a clock.

Wooden geared clocks are a lot of fun to make but they are also very challenging sometimes. Another thing that I remember about that clock is the frame tends to sag a little if you built it per the instructions, if you take a square or a level make sure the frames are in the same plane, plumb level and square.

Hang in there you'll get it going.

[bobtomlinson]

Thanks Tim! I'll keep at it. Marc Tovar also gave me a few tips about a loose spring at the top of the pendulum absorbing the push from the pallet. I won't give up!
...Bob T.