Well the problem with procrastination is that it's pointless, never revel in it. We must remember that Done is the Engine of More. Last week I spotted a humble but o so amazing instructable on a Skeleton Clock. I've seen a bunch of skeleton clocks but this one seemed different. At first I was looking through the instructions to find the Arduino, I noticed some odd things whilst looking for the Arduino but ultimately couldn't find one. This guy had built a clock without an Arduino or Raspberry Pi or any kind of real time clock (RTC) module. He'd used what I assume must be a new kind of RTC module called a "Pendulum" which kind of looks like a lolly pop hung on a sharp point. The swings of this "Pendulum" replicate a very slow but regular oscillation - similar to that of the timing crystal an RTC module. The pendulum is attached to a rocker which is attached to a bunch of gears held under tension. It's all very steampunk...
So that was a bit crazy for a start. Next up I went in search of where he kept the Lipos to run the thing. Turns out this crazy genius did use a metal battery, but rather than the super soft, rare, highly unstable group one metal Lithium he used good old Lead. Not lead acid though you understand, just chunks of lead. Utilizing "gravity" to power the clock.
So this guy made a clock without an Arduino or batteries, but it's all acrylic, so what laser cutter did he have access to? Well none!
All the gears were cut on a band saw then filed by hand to fit. If I knew more smilies I'd do that jaw drop one that you used to get on forums right now. I was astounded by the amount of work that went into this clock. It's a real bit of old fashioned craftsmanship. The assembly is really quite stunning. The Maker is Benjamin Murton and is really one to watch (excuse pun).
I've voted for Ben in the instructables laser contest, because lets face it, this guy could do with amazing things with a laser.
The reason I've moaned about procrastination in the title of this post and it's first line is that I spotted this and said I'd write a blog 5 days ago. Since then Hackaday and Dangerous Prototypes have picked it up. I had the scoop and wasted it! Still better late than never. If you like the clock, head over to Instructables and congratulate Ben on his work - also vote for him! Would be great if he were to win the contest.
