Clock Escapement Mechanism

Objectives: From this project students will learn the basics of the graham escapement, and how time is measured in old pendulum clocks. Hopefully this will make them curious about how time is measured in other devices as well.

Audiences: It's not a very hard projcect, but you can learn alot. I would say that if you are old enough to 3D print, then you are old enough for this projcect.

Preparation: You need a weight, a thread for the weight, a long thing that will act as a pendulum and some nails to nail it to the wall.

Steps:

1. 3D-print all parts
2. Get some nails and nail it to some kind of wall.
3. Tie the thread to the device (you can probably figure out where you should tie).
4. Attach a weight to the thread (not too heavy)!
5. Look for a long stick that could act as a pendulum
6. Wind it up!
7. Attach the pendulum and watch it tick!

Results: After this project students will have successfully (hopefully) made a working graham escapement.
To make the most of it, the students should experiment with different weights and pendulums, and maybe think about questions like:

• Does heavier weights affects the period of the the pendulum?
• Does the period of the pendulum increase if it swings higher?
• Would this particular escapement be suitieble for a real clock?
• What could you change in the design to make it go for longer periods? (with the same weight, thread and pendulum).

Clock Escapement Mechanism by 3D Printer Academy is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution license.

(original design and description by Dynasus is licensed under theCreative Commons - Attribution license.)