Wooden Gear Clocks

I was always fascinated as a child by clocks and how they worked.

My grandparents had a cuckoo clock and I always liked to watch my grandfather wind it.

He would take one end of the chain and slowly pull it down and the end with the pine-cone shaped weight would go to the top, just underneath the framework of the clock.

There were two chains and weights that he would wind like that.
One was for the clock itself and the other was for the mechanism that made the cuckoo sound and the door open at the top and a little colorfully painted wooden bird would bob his head out and then the door would shut.

It just amazed me how by winding the weights up it would make all that happen.

Here's a poem I ran across and thought you might enjoy it.

"WINDING THE CLOCK"

When I was a little lad, my old grandfather said
That none should wind the clock but he, and so at time for bed
He'd fumble for the curious key kept high upon the shelf
And set aside that little task entirely for himself.

In time grandfather passed away and so that duty fell
Unto my father who performed the weekly custom well;
He held that clocks were not to be by careless persons wound
And he alone should turn the key or move the hands around.

I envied him that little task and wished that I might be
The one entrusted with the turning of the key.
But year by year the clock was his exclusive bit of care
Until the day the angels came and smoothed his silver hair.

Today the task is mine to do, like those who've gone before,
I am a jealous guardian of that round and glassy door.
And until at my chamber door God's messenger shall knock
To me alone shall be reserved the right to wind the clock.

Several years ago I was surfing on the Internet and found several companies that had kits made of wooden gears and a fairly open framework that would let you see everything as it kept time.

I ordered one from www.wooden-gear-clocks.com and it was a lot of fun to put together.

The pieces were laser cut and extremely accurate.
If you're skilled with a scroll saw you can get the plans and cut the pieces out yourself.
Unfortunately I'm not that skilled but I admire people that are.
For me the laser cut kit is the best way to go.

My wooden gear clock was not only a project but a work of art that I am proud of.

"What Time Is It?...I've Got to Run."