Make Your Own Working Paper Clock

I just wanted to share some of experiences while making this clock and hopefully they will be helpful to you.First of all get an extra copy or 2. Printing a copy of each page before hand is useful for reference, just in case you cut out pieces before you mark thenumber of the piece on it and don't know what it is, but an extra copy or 2 allows for spare parts, which you will need in order to make precision pieces, sometimes you will need to make the gears twice, in order to get practice down.Important Items you will need, and get them beforehand so you have them as you move along.glue: I bought a bottle of Tacky Glue. I use it 2 different ways, 1) straight out of the bottle for those instant tack needs. 2) I thin it out in a seperate container for those thin applications where you need to glue back to back or to cardboard or just general gluing. Using it straight from the bottle only if absolutely necessary, thinned is better.Exacto blade kit with lots of good blades and different sizes. The kit I have has about 50 different blade types, different type holders and it also has needle points which are very handy.For the cardboard I used the backer piece of what a pack of construction paper comes in. It is about .5mm thick so I found that for pieces 48 and 89, I needed to glue 3 pieces of this cardboard together to be sure the rubberband will fit well in these locations. After gluing them together I cleaned up the edges bu sanding them, making the pieces consistently round.Straighy edge, a metal one will eventually dull your blades, I used a plastic triangle.Heavy weight, I found this to be the most useful, I have a block of wood and a 12"x6"x3/4" block of steel, very heavy. I noticed the heavier the better forflattening out those back to back glued pieces. Warping was a big issue, hence the need to make some of the gears twice!! Warping was caused by too much glue spread to thick and not moving quick enough to weight it done.A couple of artist brushes, 1 very small, 1 medium.I also found that a self healing cutting mat was indespensible.Axles and bearings: I went to Joannes Fabrics and bought some bead piercing needles, found them by mistake thought they would work well for the smaller gears but they were to thin. However they work great for small holes, precision holes and temporary needs. I then found some alumunum knitting needles in an assortment pack consisting of 5 of each 2.25mm, 2.0mm, 1.75mm and 1.5mm. I used the2.0mm for the main gear and the clock hands. The 1.5mm for the rest of the gears and escapement. For the bearings I found some wooden beads, 2 sizes, however I needed to

Why am I building this when I can go to the dollar store and buy a clock? It's mostly about the challenge and the need for accomplishment. I bought 2 copies of this classic book, one to cut out and one as a reference for my sanity check. It's a good thing because I've nearly lost my mind building this clock. I have spent dozens of hours carefully cutting out the pieces and gluing them together. Right now I am in the middle of a month-long break with only 40 or 50 more pieces to assemble. The kit is flawless and so are the instructions once you correctly understand them. I found it difficult to cut every piece exactly on the lines- or is it NEXT to the lines? Was that the Inside of the line or the Outside of the line? I am never really quite sure, and when you are cutting out the pieces you never really know for certain how much precision any given piece requires. Many of the larger pieces are very forgiving, but smaller ones will cause trouble if you are off by a millimeter or your folds are not exactly on the creases. Also, you ought to know that the clock is not 100% paper. It is powered by a slowly falling weight (Hollow paper tube) which gets filled with a few ounces of lead, or whatever. The weight also needs some string and a stiff wire for a hook. You will need several other pieces of wire for pinions, a knitting needle or small dowel pieces, and they recommend finding some properly sized beads to act as bushings so the paper doesn't wear down. If you're really sure you want to tackle this project my best piece of advice is to assemble the pieces in strict numerical sequence, just like the instructions say to do.

The Paper wait should be increased on the Big Gears. With all the gluing to be done on them and the manner of engineering they tend to warp, Evian if you are carful and block everything. To continue with this paper wait the Design should be changed to a Specked construction. The Instructions work but could be better by including instructions on how to fold around some balsa stock for the Square parts. Printing is all was problematic when you are trying to print with any degree of accuracy. The Round or tub components can be assembles and glued using jigs mad of cardboard or round object you may have around the house. There is little mention of Barings; in my experience the warping of the frame do to moister in the air and wait makes these clocks very unreliable. So Barings can be critical and what they are made of. It is possible to use aluminum knitting needles and paper Barings, with a little wax for lubricant. The Gears should have wrapped paper around the axels to support the load and help keep them sintered. Using the paper bearings also gives the builder the chance to make the bearings the size of the Struts in the frame, thus strengthening the frame.Any way this is from my experience with the $200.00 paper clock kits. Hopeful this is Constructive criticism. I am still struggling with trying to make the man drive weal work. The wheal itself was fairly easy to glue strait, but after gluing the teeth on it, the shape looks like a potato chip. I think I am going to use a cuter plotter and cut the faces of the Weal out of some card stock that's a little heaver and try agean.

Mostly assembled over a two day period when my activity was limited by a cold. I used PVA glue, a stainless steel bicycle spoke for the axles and a plastic tube (bicycle brake cable frame protector) for the bushings. With hindsight, making all parts out of paper would be more apt. I printed my own clock face as by the time I got to it, I was over my cold and I'd had enough of the increasingly vague instructions. The face is tacked straight to the chassis allowing much of the movement to be seen, the outputs are fully exposed.The drive, middle wheel and escapement worked surprisingly well to begin with - I marked the gears and left it running. Unfortunately, on returning twenty or so minutes later the teeth on the escape wheel had worn to the point of slipping. The rubber band drive is not so good but otherwise the pulley is a very clever design. Why is the pendulum bob so large? Given it's size and weight, even a gentle change in the surrounding air disturbs it. I used a small blob of blu tack instead.Conclusion: Not great but better than watching TV empty handed... I've reviewed two other clock kits on Amazon, both are better than this in my opinion but, don't let me put you off especially if your keen on paper craft.

It's an interesting and difficult project, but intriguing also. I have made a start on it, but it will take some time. You have to work a lot of things out for yourself, so if you need step-by-step instructions, you'll be frustrated. The designer of this clock was definitely not brought up on Lego, and credits the user with lots of intelligence. This is why it will never be a hugely popular project with today's public (I'm not saying today's public are not intelligent, they're just used to being told every detail of the construction, which you don't get in this book in its present form). Nevertheless, it could be rewritten with easy, step-by-step instructions, YouTube videos, etc., and brought more up to date, without changing the original design at all. The pieces are accurately drawn, and hopefully the finished result will be worth the effort of building it. This is one for modelling enthusiasts.

I am halfway thru building this. Whoever has got this working WELL DONE I’ve constructed all the cogs and they work separately but not together. However, even if it doesn’t work it will just be a model clock rather than a working clock. I may well buy another and have another go now I know what I’m doing.

Recovering from an operation I bought this to pass the time and it was very absorbing - I couldn't believe how strong a clock made from paper could be. The only criticism is does not list what other bits you need apart from the glue and craft knife. You only discover what you need as you construct the clock so delays in construction occur when you come across the need for the extra bits.And best of all it works providing you are very careful in construction.

Have not made yet. Had this as a child nearly 40 years ago and rember getting all the pieces built but didn't have the bits for the axle like knitting needle or doyle. This time, I need to get some photocopies of the pages and cut templates to card. No way I'm cutting up this book again!