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 enlarge | Author: James Smith Rudolph
Brand: Harper Collins Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $4.00
You Save: $12.95 (76%)
New (3) Used (23) Collectible (3) from $4.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 61016
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 40
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 12.2 x 9.4 x 0.5
MPN: 0060910666
ISBN: 0060910666
Dewey Decimal Number: 745
EAN: 9780060910662
ASIN: 0060910666
Publication Date: October 14, 1983
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Needs accurate measurements February 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've spent about 5 hours on it so far and have the frame and three of the large gear assemblies done (motor, movement and escapement). It hasn't been without hassles - the book is a reprint, correction and translation of an earlier book and all the cutout parts are drawn by hand and it's a bit imprecise (ie the lines are about 1mm thick and you don't know when to cut inside, outside or in the middle of the lines). There are some small misprints too that are mentioned in another review.
The trickiest part for me to understand was the locking cylinder (parts 40-45 I think) on the motor gear- as its counter-intuitive. Also putting the parts together in numerical order (as recommended in the book) is not always the best thing to do. In the case of the cylinder mentioned earlier especially - it is better to start with the circles that form the lips, that way they help maintain the cylindrical shape. If you go in numerical order - you end up with a weird shape that isn't a cylinder, and have to squeeze it into the circles for the lips.
Another problem is the various star shaped shafts - their shape is maintained by a cutout you insert them into - and they normally consist of just an accordion folded cylinder that could be any shape. It really needs to have an internal, well measured, piece to insure that the final shaft is equally spaced.
There is an issue with warping as well - some gears tend to warp if they're thin and require a lot of consistent pressure while drying to keep flat.
The size of beads for spacing isn't mentioned, so I'm going to get those after partial assembly.
Inserting wires through the gears for the axles is all well and good - except when doing it on the frame. It's very difficult to find a paperclip sized hole by feeling for it with a paperclip. I'd recommend some kind of guiding shape - a funnel or wedge, even just a strip of paper from one hole to the other - built inside the gear.
Some parts are not mentioned until later - such as a cork.
Overall though - an ingenious idea, and I look forward to rebuilding the clock with more accuracy.
 A great craft March 15, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Okay, first and foremost I love making 3d models out of paper, papercraft is one of my most beloved hobbies. With that said this is a great template to create an amazing working paper clock. It is challenging only in the fact that you must be accurate and cannot cut or fold slopply and get away with it. I had to make the main gear and two of the other sub gears several times before I could get the clock to work. It is a challange and it will take about a week to build if you work dilligently every night for about 1-2 hours. I enjoyed building it as much as I enjoy looking at it now. I have bought several copies of the book and recommend it to anyone who is interested in a good project that leaves you with an amazing piece of art when you are done. A definate conversation piece.
Tick tock February 11, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
We built this clock in the late seventies. I have two copies now on my shelf waiting for some volunteer to scan it. I'm sure Gutenberg could find a place for it . We hardened some of the gears with coats of thinned Elmers glue. I think we made the weights and later borrowed the weights from a Cuckoo clock. The pendulum was a coat hanger. We gave it a little more clearance from the wall by making it a little wooden plaque.It hung in the same room as an English case clock from the 1700's and a cuckoo clock from Heidleberg. It ran (when wound) for about five years. It shared a column with two painted fish cookies from Chinatown (also hardened with Elmer's) As I remember they all finally succumbed to a combination of dogs and mildew.
Frustration and depression August 4, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Of the 17 reviews here, only three claim to have got the clock to work. I'm surprised there are any at all. I got as far as the escapement, but no amount of twiddling and adjusting would get it to work properly. Isaac Asimov in the Introduction recommends buying two copies, so that you can learn from your mistakes, but I don't see how that would help, since I already had cut and assembled as painstakingly as I am capable. I think the source of my problems may have been the gluing, which warped some of the parts. But I don't see any way of avoiding this: the parts have protrusions which prevent them being squashed between heavy books as they dry. Perhaps using a different glue? By the time I realized that it was never going to work, I had already spent so many hours working at it that the frustration led to depression.
Educational if not functional January 2, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
My husband and I just finished a New Year's weekend marathon of clockmaking.
I got this book years ago, attempted it once and bailed out at piece 57 or so. This time he and I finished it together (Having another person I think is VERY helpful so you can keep each other motivated.)
There are several typos in the book as mentioned above and as one of the other reviewers mentioned, the instructions for the last sections -- for constructing the minute and hour hand pieces and the final assembly are sketchy at best. Consulting the drawings can be helpful, but I have to say it also just makes you figure out for yourself how the thing ought to work -- then you put it together accordingly.
Our hands and backs are aching, but it's put together and we're still together. We still have to adjust the pendulum fork and also the escapement wheel, but after 18 hours, we're ready to look at it as a lovely objet d'art, not a timekeeper.
I don't think we'd do it again -- that would be my third go and his second -- but it was very cool to do it once.
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