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Inspired by the works of Leo Dorst and Eric Harshbarger, I set out to build a working clock mechanism in a form factor that could be displayed on a train layout. The result of this two-week effort is my LEGO Clock Tower, which made its debut on (...) (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.announce.moc, lugnet.technic, lugnet.trains, lugnet.org.us.nelug) !!
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Have you considered making the tower more 'open', so people can see the mechanism? Maybe build the clock faces using clear bricks? This is too clever (and too much work!) to hide... :-) JohnG, GMLTC (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) This seems like a really neat thing to have at a show, that's for sure. spotlighted. (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) That is very sweet! As a person who tried, not hugely successfully, to get a Leo or Eric LEGO clock working, I'm so impressed that not only did you do it, you did it with 4 faces! Very nicely done! Dave K (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) As you might imagine, the gears are packed in there pretty tight. I built the tower from the outside in: I decided how large it could be before it would look out-of-scale and then I tried like crazy to fit four clock faces in there. This is (...) (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) BUT... considering the day and considering how gullible I am, do you have any video of it actually WORKING that you can share? GRIN (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) When I built it, the tick-tock noise seemed deafening. But at the train show, with the crowd, the trains, and all the other motorized stuff we had, you couldn't hear it from outside the layout. We had a mind-numbing layout with three trains (...) (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Well I don't, but I know somebody who does... - Chris. (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Not that I care whether Larry believes that my clock isn't a hoax, but I have posted a couple of .AVI files that I shot today with my Vision Command camera. Of course in my eyes, any footage I've ever shot with that thing looks as if it (...) (21 years ago, 1-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) UFO spotted!!! :) Way cool clock! Must have been a nightmare to fit the gears in there, but the weight gave you practise I've read - I bet you can paint the walls in an apartment through the door mailbox by now :) Best regards, /Tobbe (URL) (...) (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Yeah, but did you notice that the UFO is being piloted by Elvis? (...) Well if the door is made out of LEGO and I can take it apart whenever I need to dip the brush... It actually wasn't all that bad to fit everything in there. It initially (...) (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Chris, For the next show, you could build a replica of the clock mechanism and have it handy, so you can show it to people without having to mess with the tower. I saw it running for a two hour stretch with only a two minutes delay or so, it's (...) (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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Chris, as someone who saw it first-hand at the show, I just want to say how cool I thought it was. In fact, a number of us used it as the way to see how much time was left in the show! Truly a fantastic job. - Joe (...) (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Maybe that explains why the show seemed sooooo long! And why I didn't get home on Sunday until after 8:00. Could it also explain why I haven't finished unpacking my car since the weekend? - Chris. (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) That's a good idea. I made the roof lift off easily, but since the clock was in the middle of the layout nobody could look inside anyway. Maybe next time we can put it closer to the outer edge of the layout somehow. >>sound of gears grinding<< (...) (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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Good job. Even since recently annoucing that I got my grandfather clock up to 30 mours in weight/runtime, I still have frustrations with it (it now decides to stop at will, etc). The 4-face gearworks is a great innovation. eric (...) (21 years ago, 2-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Wow, thanks! I found that every time I rebuilt the mechanism (and I did this a bit more often than I would have chosen) I had to go through a whole checklist to make sure that there were no friction problems in the gear train and that the (...) (21 years ago, 3-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) I think that's a really great idea ... I definitely think this item receives the "most underappreciated MOC" award for the show. It is truly a marvel, but tough to really convey easily to the crowd. In downtown Concord NH, there's a huge town (...) (21 years ago, 3-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Have you considered using one (or more) of the pullback motors as an alternative power source to the weight on a string ? I believe the larger pullbacks (32283) have a technic axle-hole for the take off. Ray (21 years ago, 3-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) Yes. I tried the pull-back motor, but it could only run a lightly-geared clock for a very short time before it lost its oomph. I also tried stretching the white bungee cords >>theme music of Wile E. Coyote in the background<< over pulleys, but (...) (21 years ago, 3-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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(...) That's not in the DACTA catalog? Hmm.. salad dressing, cake baking sets, dish washing liquid, huh! You'd think. (21 years ago, 4-Apr-03, to lugnet.technic)
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| | Re: Working LEGO Clock Tower
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Oh, I really like this and look forward to seeing how to make it! I never ever would have thought of making a clock out of lego... thanks for snapping me out of my limited imagination. :) "Chris Phillips" <drvegetable@attbi.com> wrote in message (...) (21 years ago, 10-Apr-03, to lugnet.trains)
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