Tooth count on 2 second clock

[Ron LawsonParticipant @ronlawson25823]

[Ron LawsonParticipant @ronlawson25823]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anybody is able to give me the tooth count on a 2 second pendulum? I have e-mailed the magazine "clocks", but they were unable to help.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks in advance,

Ron

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Difficult to know exactly what you mean. When you say "2 second pendulum" do you mean one with a 2 second complete period? In horological terms that would be a 1 second pendulum, having one beat per second, and be 994 mm long to the centre of the bob.

There are a number of possible gearing combinations using a 1 second pendulum some examples are given here

Russell.

[magpieParticipant @magpie]

Hi Ron, Welcome to the forum, I am sure you will find an answer to your question on here. The thread just needs to be kept in view long enough for all the clock makers to see it . I understand that Russell is really good with clocks so should be able to answer your question given a bit more info.

Cheers Derek.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

On a typical 'grandfather' clock with a 1 second pendulum the escape wheel has 60 teeth because one is let go at each swing and thus the wheel will make one turn per minute so the second hand can be attached directly to it. In some clocks a 30 tooth can be used if there is no desire for the second hand.
So it might follow that a 2 second pendulum would use only 30 teeth. However the pendulum is seriously long and such a clock is unlikely to want a second hand or to use a simple escapement of this type.
'Big Ben' (we all know it's not its real name) has a 2 second pendulum but uses a completely different mechanism – the 3 legged gravity escapement which actually has 6 "teeth" but since there is no second hand it doesn't matter.

I suspect the person who answered your email at Clocks was just an admin person not with any interest in clocks as such whisch is quite normal for all specialist magazines.

Edited By Bazyle on 02/12/2014 17:55:11

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Bazyle on 02/12/2014 17:53:42:

On a typical 'grandfather' clock with a 1 second pendulum the escape wheel has 60 teeth because one is let go at each swing and thus the wheel will make one turn per minute so the second hand can be attached directly to it. In some clocks a 30 tooth can be used if there is no desire for the second hand.

It is more common with a 1 second pendulum to use a 30 tooth escape wheel as the common escapement designs, such as the anchor or deadbeat, release the wheel by half a tooth pitch giving one turn per minute. The gravity escapement is a rare exception.

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 02/12/2014 19:35:07

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Bazyle A long case clock with a one second pendulum has 30 teeth on the scapewheel in effect half a tooth released on each swing thus giving 60 seconds per revolution of the arbor

Ron A lot depends on which escapement you use remember that a two second pendulum will be about 13 feet long

Roy

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I thought it seemed a bit much but couldn't picture how it could do less than a tooth. Thanks for the correction.

[Ron LawsonParticipant @ronlawson25823]

Hi all thanks for your replies, i'm looking to make a church clock and the pendulem will be aprox 12 or 13 foot long, and 1 second each way therefore im looking for the gearing for this, thanks again Ron

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

15 teeth then!

Neil

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

Ron It all depends on which escapement you intend to use if its an anchor or a pin then standard long case with 15 tooth escape

Roy

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