French Mystery Clock of Woman Figure circa 1870

This is a beautiful mystery clock made in France around 1870. Typically, a mystery clock functions as a clock but the mechanism is hidden or obscured in some way. Here the sort of mystery clock I am talking about.
I am not sure what particular mystery this one performs. I'd love to know -- especially with an estimated value of roughly $5,000 to $10,000. This clock is a double-mystery, I suppose. They mystery of the mystery.

Here is the eBay listing for this French Mystery Clock to be auctioned on May 11th, 2008.

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Match-Lighting Automaton Alarm Clock on eBay

This 10 inch tall man is both an alarm clock and an automaton.

Here's the really clever part: if you put a match in the man's hand and hit a switch, the hand sweeps up, rubbing the match against a piece of metal -- thus lighting the match! That's pretty slick.

The creator was even thoughtful enough to integrate a match storage box on the base and the man's hat can hold the spent matches.

Check out a bunch of other photos of the Alarm Clock Match Striker Automaton on eBay.

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Morbier/Comtoise Barber Shop Automaton Clock

Here's an interesting automaton clock currently on ebay.

The clock measures 17" high and 13" wide. As the barber shaves, a boy peeks in a window then disappears as the barber's arm moves up and down while shaving the customer. The motions of the characters are regulated by the swinging motion of the clock's pendulum. Cool.

Here the ebay posting for the Automated Morbier Wall Regulator Clock.

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Huge Automaton Clock Sculpture @ London Zoo

Master mechanical artist Tim Hunkin has created a giant automaton clock for the London Zoo. This amazingly complex kinetic sculpture is base on the theme of Victorian Era attitudes towards the animal kingdom.

The artist has a section of his site devoted to the London Zoo Tropical Aviary Clock. The pages show his photos and sketches (he's also known for his cartoons) of the automaton, rejected design ideas, technical aspects of the piece, and various other factors that influenced him along the way.

It is wealth of information, a fascinating look at one kinetic artist's creative process, and very entertaining. The video is a few minutes long, but only because the sequence of the automaton is so elaborate. Well worth it!

Here the page devoted to the London Zoo Tropical Aviary Clock. Here is the page about the design of the clock.

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Wooden Gear Clock Plans: Clayton Boyer Designs

My recent post on a video about making a wooden gear clock drew some attention from the MAKE magazine blog. I received a several emails and comments asking where to get the plans for the clocks shown in the video.

I found out that the two clocks shown are both from Clayton Boyer Clock Designs. The two clock models in the video are the Swoopy and the Solaris. Shown here is the Vortex.

What exactly do you you get when you order these plans?
All of these clock plans are drawn in CAD and sent as paper patterns (no electronic files or transfers are included).

Included in the clock plans are full size drawings for most of the parts. All of the major components, like the wheels, pinions, and spacers are given as full size patterns. The drawings can be cut from the plans, glued to the appropriately sized stock, and cut to the line.

All of the clock plans come with a full set of instructions and a materials list. Each page also has instructions for each of the parts, and there are a couple of pages that show the completed clockworks.

Visit the Clayton Boyer Clock Designs for over a dozen different wooden clock plans.

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Book: Make Your Own Working Paper Clock

I remember seeing this book at a friend's house when I was a teenager. Neither he nor I had the patience to undertake the project. Years later, this books seems like an amazing way to learn about clocks, clock-making, mechanics, paper engineering...and patience.

The reviews on Amazon about the book/kit/project are illuminating. Among some of the tips I read were the following:

• Consider getting two copies in anticipation of needing to make/remake certain pieces
• Use glue sparingly
• Try a tacky type of glue
  
• Use an X-acto knife and many X-acto blades
  
• Work in many short sessions over time
• Work when you are up to it and can be careful
  
• Have small clips, weights, clamps, and cross-lock tweezers
  
• Be especially careful when constructing the main gears
• Certain parts might benefit from a hardening coat of white glue or Mod Podge
  

The comments reveal that the people who were happy with this project were the ones that really savored the process of building. It is clear that this not an afternoon project. If it is approached as a challenging, educational exercise -- you cannot really fail.

Order the book Make Your Own Working Paper Clock

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Wooden Gears Supplier Online

I've been reminded by fellow automata-maker Dan Torpey over at Barking Dogs Automata that wooden gears can be purchased from Patriot Mill Cogworks in New Hampshire, USA.

I ordered some of these a few years ago, but had lost track of their website. I'm glad to have found it again and to share it with my readers.

The cherry gears I ordered have mineral oil finish and are still beautiful. Look closely inside my piece A Boybot and his Dogbot and you will see three of these gears. (This is only piece I used them on to date.)

Though their site features educational kits composed of wooden gears, axle pegs, and pegboards, I believe you can order individual gears, as I did.

Happy Cranking!

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Clocks with Wooden Mechanisms Roundup

With the recent post about the wood pocket watch, I thought I would share some information about wooden clock resources I've found online.

While not strictly automata, the mechanisms and material make wooden clocks a worthy topic in my book.

If you know of other sites, leave a comment or send me an email and I'll add it to the list.

• www.clockplans.com
• www.woodenclockworks.net/
• www.brendanreilly.ca
• Gary's clocks
• www.wooden-gear-clocks.com
• Houtman Designs - Peg-gear-clock
• Clayton Boyer's Clocks
• Marc Tovar's Wooden ClockWorks
• Rabbit's clocks
• Wooden Grandfather Clock
• Brian Law's Woodenclocks
• Blogging the The Ascent - A Wooden Clock Kit
• Wooden clock ( # 39 )
• Steebar.com
• Patriot Mill Cogworks
  

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Amazing Pocket Watch with Wooden Movement

I have seen many nice all-wood clocks, but this was beyond my imagination...a pocket watch made entirely of wood.

I am not talking about the face or the case, but nearly all of it -- gears, escapement, ratchets.

They were apparently made in Russia around 1900. I wish I knew more about it, especially the size, type of wood, how many were made, and if it still works.

I learned of this amazing bit of artistry via a long series of links. In order of discovery they were:

BoingBoing.net to...

The Watchismo Times blog to...

Odd Watches

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