Year Running Floor Clock with strike and date. By David Walter.
This clock is the response to an inquiry, “Can you make a year running long case clock with hour and half hour strike and an annual calendar?”
The movement was drawn full size to plot the location of the necessary components; the location of the barrel arbors was a crucial factor as they had to fit inside the chapter ring.
Considering the demands on available energy for a year going clock I decided that all the train pivots, endpieces, and the pallet faces were to be jeweled. As there are many shafts in a clock like this I created an unusual eight pillar movement. The front plate is split into two parts, the left half for the strike train and the right half for the going train. To maintain the integrity of the split plate, upper and lower clamping straps with four screws each were pinned and fitted prior to the front plate being cut. The four outer pillars have screw on posts that not only securely clamp the front plate to the pillars but become the dial feet supports.
The Going Train.
The case style and choice of plum pudding mahogany is that of the client who wanted something special with overriding conditions that no endangered wood species and no heat treated timber were to be used. I usually use marine plywood for the backboard but this time could not do so. My case maker suggested making our own backboard using long, rectangular pieces (25mm x 40mm) of white oak laminated together to form the sizes needed for the back board, sides, and the plinth. The white oak boards were surfaced to size then double veneered on both sides, first with straight grain mahogany then the plum pudding mahogany veneer was finally glued down. The use of white oak has created a remarkably strong case.
The brass bezels for the hood and trunk door were turned from 20mm thick solid brass sheet, polished and gold plated as were all the brass fittings for the case.
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Dimensions:
Height: 2.52 meters (99in)
Width: 0.46 meters (18in)
Depth: 0.29 meters (11 1/2in)
The pallets for the deadbeat escapement are made from 4.5mm steel slotted for the jewels; the specially cut jewels are held in place with shellac.