Why does making things dimensioned in imperial present problems. If the plans say one inch just make the part 25.4 mm. You will have less trouble than trying to convert  everything to metric first.

Brass sheet is generally only available in mm thicknesses these days so the nearest equivalent will do but keep all other dimensions the same.

I’ve done a few Wilding designs but not the Congreve although I had a mate who built one. The critical bit is getting the ball to turn around smoothly at the end of each zig or zag so as not to loose too much energy.

It’s an interesting clock but don’t expect good timekeeping as a precision timepiece it certainly isn’t. Good fun to watch though.

Go for it.

regards Martin

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I did say use the closest available metric brass sheet. Generally clock wheels don’t need to be bang on thickness. The only exception I ever came across is the escape wheel and large pinion on Wildings large great wheel clock which due to the extra inertia resulting from their large diameters (the pinion is more of a wheel) using thicker material prevents the clock from running successfully. It’s easy enough to skim wheels down to thickness. You certainly want to retain the exact dimensions for the ball racetrack plate to keep the track length the same and also the mass of the plate.</p>
regards Martin

Yes, BA screws are as rare as rocking horse droppings in France.

I don’t know if you have done any clock work – I don’t want to teach granny to suck eggs but old drawings usually specify “engraving brass” for the wheels.  You won’t find that in France but it is just 2% lead free cutting brass.  You can buy it in small quantities from http://www.tartaix.com in Paris, look for “Uz39 Ecroui”

Russell

Just to avoid confusion to non clockmakers reading this thread that’s free cutting 2% Leaded Brass. Know, as has been stated, engraving brass, compo brass or half hard brass.

regards Martin