If you've come to this site then you have an interest in mechanical clocks, either the repair of, or the making of. My interest is not in repair, but in the making. My challenge, as an amateur constructor, is to make every component of the clock myself, from the wheels (gears) right down to the winding key. In my first clock, I made all the gear cutters, and indeed had to firstly make specific tooling in order to make the gear cutters.

I have also been very interested in computers and their application in design (CAD), and in CNC machining (computer Numerical Control). I was fortunate in acquiring a bench top 3 axis CNC milling machine which is ideal for making clock parts. I write my own software for this machine. But more of that on other pages.

A word or two about myself. I am a retired mechanical engineer, having worked as a design engineer with a large automotive company, and as an applications specialist with a large computer company. This brought me into close contact with CAD and CNC.

I classify myself as a model engineer, and it is only in recent years since retirement, that I have become embroiled in clock making. Until then I had made a number of internal combustion engines, model boats, tools and other items of workshop equipment including a rotary table for my Dore-Westbury milling machine.

My first clock, an eight day longcase clock, is examined in more detail in following pages. The movement (shown above) was constructed over a 2 year period, including lots of tooling, and the dial and case a further year. I am now making a pair of Vienna regulators of similar, but not identical design. I have prepared my own designs for these, since, at heart, I am a design engineer. All drawings have been prepared on CAD.

While in earlier years, model engines were my main focus, today it is clock making. Why make a clock you ask? Well, a clock has all the exacting engineering attributes of a model engine, but rather than sit in a drawer when finished,  they serve a useful and decorative addition to the family home, and indeed can become family heirlooms. Perhaps they will still be around in a hundred years time. A chance at immortality?