My latest gadget has two pieces of wood and when one of them is released the movement is stopped by the other. The problem is that there is a period of bouncing which messes things up. I was wondering if there was something I could put between the two wooden pieces to stop, or at least much reduce, the bounce.

 

My latest gadget has two pieces of wood and when one of them is released the movement is stopped by the other. The problem is that there is a period of bouncing which messes things up. I was wondering if there was something I could put between the two wooden pieces to stop, or at least much reduce, the bounce.

Photos, please!

 

Magnets, Clay, Tape.. so many dampening options that can be narrowed down based on details...

 

I thought a video would be better than a photo. See attached.
The long horizontal piece with the blue tack on it is actually near vertical (I couldn't find a way of rotating it) and is balanced to just swing gently away from the escape wheel (the blue tack is actually a balance weight). The stop is the circular piece near the top.

 

Have you considered a thing piece of open cell foam around the bumper/stop?

 

Have you considered a thing piece of open cell foam around the bumper/stop?

Something like this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1mm-THIC...901021&hash=item58ef69cf08:g:AjkAAOSwx6pYqxqg

 

I thought a video would be better than a photo. See attached.
The long horizontal piece with the blue tack on it is actually near vertical (I couldn't find a way of rotating it) and is balanced to just swing gently away from the escape wheel (the blue tack is actually a balance weight). The stop is the circular piece near the top.

My guess: replace the cylindrical stop with some energy absorbing material.

 

Something like this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1mm-THIC...901021&hash=item58ef69cf08:g:AjkAAOSwx6pYqxqg

I think any open cell foam will work. Sorbothane (joey999) is a good alternative. There are certainly others. Based on the very nice video, I can see a need to keep it thin. Great workmanship.

Edit: "fixed" joey999. H and J and too close together.

 

...hoey999...

I ain't be no ho'!

 

A piece of sheet cork might work and be in keeping with the period of that clock.

 

Sorbothane ? Gel - I believe some insoles use that product. Inside wrist rest pads for keyboard too.

 

A piece of sheet cork might work and be in keeping with the period of that clock.

I'll see what thing cork I can find.
In any case it will be pretty well invisible as it would need only a small piece on the pallet where it rests on the stop.

 

Sorbothane ? Gel - I believe some insoles use that product. Inside wrist rest pads for keyboard too.

I can remember when Sorbothane was exotic stuff. The story I heard was that it was designed to coat submarines to make them less visible to SONAR. Sold for something like a couple of hundred dollars per square foot. Hopefully the government got a quantity discount.

 

I can remember when Sorbothane was exotic stuff. The story I heard was that it was designed to coat submarines to make them less visible to SONAR. Sold for something like a couple of hundred dollars per square foot. Hopefully the government got a quantity discount.

It's still expensive - though not quite that expensive!

 

The bounce is needed. Your timing is off. Adjust diameter of cylindrical bounce stop. You can also adjust distance to pivot with stop.

There's two adjustments to play with.

 

It's still expensive - though not quite that expensive!

Even worse than I implied since I heard the story in the 1970's when a dollar was worth something.

 

The bounce is needed. Your timing is off. Adjust diameter of cylindrical bounce stop. You can also adjust distance to pivot with stop.

There's two adjustments to play with.

The stop is secured with an off-centre screw so the rest position can be adjusted by rotating the stop. The rest position is adjusted so that the tip of the escape wheel tooth lands exactly in the 'V' on the pallet - no rubbing/sliding allowed as it wastes energy from the pendulum swing.

That bounce occasionally causes the pallet to catch the tooth it has just been released from and push the escape wheel backwards on the next swing of the pendulum. This immediately loses two seconds.

 

That's what I see also......it sometimes catches on that little second bounce.

The first thing I would do is shave down that vertical prick. The vertical part of the "V". As reference in video. It's never touched in proper operation.

 

That's what I see also......it sometimes catches on that little second bounce.

The first thing I would do is shave down that vertical prick. The vertical part of the "V". As reference in video. It's never touched in proper operation.

That bit is there to make sure that the escape wheel can never freely rotate, risking damage if it then catches one of the pallets. That risk arises when winding the clock which, at the moment, removes the power from the drive train. I have plans to modify it to use a Huygens endless loop style winding system which maintains power while winding.

I have fitted a piece of the open cell foam on the inside of pallet arm where it meets the stop which has limited the bounce and I have shaved a little bit off the tip of the pallet so I think that problem is solved.

This morning I have removed another 100g of lead from the driving weight and it still seems to be running OK. It is in its running-in phase at the moment.