3D PRINTED MECHANICAL CLOCK

There's something almost magical about mechanical clocks — the way they convert gravity into precisely measured time through nothing but gears and springs. I wanted to understand that magic firsthand, and what better way than to build one from scratch? The twist: I'd 3D print as many parts as possible, pushing the limits of what FDM printing can achieve in precision mechanisms.

The heart of any clock is its gear train — a series of gears that step down the motion of the weight or spring into seconds, minutes, and hours. I spent weeks in SolidWorks calculating gear ratios, tooth profiles, and shaft positions. The key insight was that 3D printed gears need more backlash than machined ones, and rounded tooth profiles work better than sharp involutes for plastic-on-plastic contact.

The escapement is what makes a clock tick — literally. It's the mechanism that controls energy release and creates that characteristic sound. I chose an anchor escapement design for its simplicity and reliability. Getting it to work with 3D printed parts required extensive tweaking of the anchor geometry and escape wheel tooth shape.

The moment all the gears were assembled and I attached the pendulum, I held my breath. Would months of work pay off? I gave the pendulum a gentle push, and the clock started ticking. It wasn't perfect — the timekeeping was off by a few minutes per day — but hearing those first ticks was incredibly satisfying.