Talk: Adrian Garner

The design and construction of a bracket clock with astronomical displays

After four years of design and construction Adrian’s bracket clock was completed last March. In addition to a number of “regulator” type features to ensure good time keeping, the clock displays mean time, sidereal time, the difference between mean and solar time, and lunar months and is topped by a tellurian, a form of orrery, which shows the seasons and the apogee/perigee of the moon and is a predictor of solar eclipses. In this talk Adrian will describe how he went about the design and detail some of the more unusual construction processes.

Our main speaker for this session will be John Fry who will be talking about 3D CAD tools, and why he has chosen the particular tools that he has. John has been doing a lot of work recently on preparing a 3D model of a Wasp radial aero engine and has generated a lot of experience as a result.

I would also like to raise the topic of 3D scanning for discussion by members. Have you tried it? Any experience with the various software packages available? Is it something that you would like to play with, and what kinds of things would you do with it? Please come along with ideas for discussion around this topic.

Of course, there will also be a chance to show off any work in progress – or maybe even a finished project!

Please contact Brian Neale, the Digital Group coordinator, for more information at digital@sm-ee.co.uk

See you there!

Please contact digital@sm-ee.co.uk for further information on how to join this meeting.

SMEE will have its usual stand at the National Model Engineering Exhibition in Doncaster and we will also be running the Model Engineer Competition

Talk: Building a Regulator Clock

Jake Sutton

The design by John Wilding for an English weight driven Regulator is a proven project for someone wanting to build a regulator that will work reliably and capable of maintaining ten seconds per year.

Jake will give an account of building several clocks to this design along with various refinements that have evolved. He will include a description of making the fully veneered case as well as teaching himself the art of hand engraving in order to complete the dial.