Clockmaking - How To Make A Clock - Part 14 - Making The Barrel Click And Clickspring

Making The Barrel Click And Clickspring, by Clickspring.

In this video I make the ratchet mechanism for the clock.

The parts for the mechanism were roughed out with the belt sander, and then hand finished with needle and escapement files. After test fitting to the clock, each part was then hardened, tempered, polished and flame blued.

Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed the video please give a thumbs up, and leave me a comment.

You can also help me make these videos by purchasing via the following Amazon Affiliate links:

Cameras used in this video:

Tools & Shop Products:

Ask Me A Question:

Abbreviated Transcript:

00:15 The purpose of the ratchet mechanism is to hold the barrel arbor stationary after the clock has been wound.
00:36 At the completion of each winding turn, the pressure is released from the winding square, and the click locks into the base of the last tooth to pass. This immobilises the ratchet wheel, and by connection the barrel arbor.
00:49 The energy that's been put into the spring is now stored in the mechanism, and there's only one way for it to be released - by the barrel assembly moving forward as the escapement ticks off the intervals of time.
03:29 I used this little shop made deburring tool to take care of the small burr thrown up by the drilling. In classic clockmaking, tapered clock pins are a common method of fixing components into position.
04:12 So with the ratchet in position, it's time to move onto the click, which has this beautiful curved shape that I'll be forming from precision ground tool steel. A simple paper template is a great way to mark out the part on the raw stock, and while it was still attached, I marked out, and then drilled the center hole.
05:54 And speaking of filing, that circular part in the center really needs to be spot on, so off camera, I turned up a simple filing button to help me get a good result.
07:08 Next up is the clickspring, which was made in a similar way, starting with marking it out on the raw stock. There are 2 holes to be drilled. One is for the screw that holds it in position, and the other is for a tapered steady pin to locate the clickspring precisely on the front plate.
07:58 The rest of the profile work was done with needle and escapement files. And at this point of the process, the tail of the clickspring was getting quite thin and difficult to hold, so I found it easiest to bring it to final dimension by lapping it on the india stone.
08:12 This teardrop section needs to be thinned down too, which is another great job for the belt sander. Some final finishing with needle files, and that's the clickspring done for the moment too.
10:13 I can fit them to the clock frames, and have a look at how they perform together. A light tension can be manually placed on the clickspring, but the final position is best determined with the help of a toolmakers clamp.
10:32 With the clamp holding the clickspring in place, the position of the steady pin hole can be marked, and then drilled. The pin hole was taper broached, and the steady pin temporarily inserted to confirm the operation of the ratchet mechanism.
11:02 The ratchet has a firm clean action, and everything is fitting together well, without binding or interference. So the parts can now be quench hardened, after coating them in powdered boric acid, to reduce oxidation scale.
11:31 After quenching in oil, each part was tempered to blue in preparation for polishing. I polished the screws as you've seen me do in previous videos. For the click and clickspring I used the india stone, followed by diamantine on a tin lap, and then gave them all a final cosmetic blue prior to assembly.

References:

John Wilding "Large Wheel Skeleton Clock" construction book can be purchased online from Ian T Cobb:

Making The Barrel Click And Clickspring, by Clickspring.