Byzantine Sundial-Calendar - Part 4 (Depthing & Planting The Train)

Thanks for the detailed answer, Chris. It was very interesting to know your opinion. Success in creativity! ;)

Great question - If the final piece is required to have a high finish then there are a few options to consider, but generally I don't do anything and just let the natural patina develop. If the brass is given a mirror polish, that patina very slowly develops as a beautiful rich gold color with almost no blemish - the key is that its essential to have no fingerprints or marks of any kind to begin with, and no hand contact with the metal can be permitted ever again (ie gloves for winding etc). With something like the BSC, its going to get constant handling by the owner & friends so the best option is a semi brushed finish, folowed by natural patina. Again complete cleanliness is required to let the patina develop without blemishes for the first few weeks, but that sort of surface oxidises much more rapidly and so can be more readily handled in a shorter timeframe. It ends up as a more bronze like finish, with more character to the patina, but its consistent with the device's daily use nature. Its a tool, not necessarily a showpiece. Some projects may be able to tolerate a lacquer finish (eg some clock plates, if adequately pegged out afterwards), but cetainly wheels, clock pallets etc cannot. Other than for temporary protection, I'm not a fan of lacquer finish at all - it doesn't last, often oxidises differentially under the coating, and generally looks kinda cheap and cheerful. A further option is to gold or rhodium plate the surfaces using electroplating. This is a permanent solution, with its own attendant benefits and drawbacks, but is again a bit clinical for my taste. Personally I prefer the old school approach of just letting the surfaces oxidise, albeit from the best possible starting point - Its like hitting the record button on the life of the device. The patina becomes a document of its life story. Every weather change, knock and interaction with its owners, everything it has ever experienced is all there recorded on its surface. Collectors will often place immense value on such a patina - Cheers :)

Clickspring

Hi Chris! If not a secret, I have a question. How do you protect your brass products from oxidation and loss of attractive appearance? Do you have some sort of simple recipe that you can share or clear about the protection of brass in the video. Thank You! Good creativity!

Great tip mate thank you :)

Clickspring

Terrific Lars, I'm so pleased to hear that! We're approaching the home stretch of the build now :)

Clickspring

By the way: When I have to take the assemblies apart without disturbing soldering, and for splitting large lumps I set my wifes cooking oven at 150 degree (centigrade)

Lars U. Lamm

I may be your oldest follower: 80 years. But today I congratulate myself, that I have planted the train, and it works. Its been the most challenging construction I ever made: mind boggling, but everything is now in place. It is a bit scratched and stained, but OK. Thank you for excellent drawings and instruction.

Lars U. Lamm

Yes its definitely worth a look - the marking out vid has been pushed back a bit by others, but I will definitely try it out - just need to find a willing donor... :)

Clickspring

Dividers generally taper to a sharp point, if the centre pin point is kept tiny, just to register the point of the dividers then the accuracy will be good. Remember, also, that the centre drilled hole (or mark) is cone shaped, not flat bottomed; the pin point of the dividers will find that centre, even if the hole is a little large. Another good reason to keep tools sharp! Actually quite a good question, I’ve not really ever thought about the mechanics of it, and I’ve been an engineer for 15 years!

Philip Oestreich

On the subject of ancient engineer’s blue, you tried carbon from a candle. This might not be to some viewers taste, but what about blood? Eg pig or goat blood. The ancients of all sorts of civilisations used various blood products and, of course, it is easy to come by. I imagine that when it dries it sticks well, goes a deep dark colour giving you the contrast, and can be cleaned relatively easily. Nowadays I’m sure there would be a list of health and safety issues, but back in the day I doubt that was much of a consideration! Enjoying your videos, thanks!

Philip Oestreich

It's starting to look like a really lovely thing. When you use your dividers in, say, the pin-with-a-hole that you place at the centre of the mechanism, is the radius of that hole-in-the-pin precisely machined to match the dividers you are using? I see that the leg has an outer radius, but it tapers, so it's not clear to me how you get an accurate distance. I kind of thought you would just have a pin that sits at exactly workpiece level, with a small punch mark like you use for, say, the depthing tool. Sorry to be so dense.

Charles Newstead

Hey Richard, I'm probably not going to be able to give a reliable number, but if you give me a bit more info on the nature of the join I can give some thoughts on the best way to maximise its strength - ie what is the nature of the cylinders coming together, is it a butt join, or overlap (ie one sliding within the other)?

Clickspring

Hey there Chris, I am working on a project utilizing several techniques shown on the sundial calendar. I am forging and bonding some copper parts together with soft solder (63/37). One of my soft solder bonds (two cylinders bonded end to end) will be under considerable tension. What are your thoughts on the strength of this bond? Do you have an estimate of how many PSI it can hold? Thanks, and love the channel, Rich CA, USA

Richard Henderson

Hey David - Its a bit hard to see from the drawings, but the Lunar Phase Display Assembly and Solar Intermediate Assembly interact via a single wheel pair: the large wheel on the SIA and the smaller pinion on the LPDA - The small pinion on the SIA then interacts with the Solar Zodiac Display Assembly. Both of these interactions are depthed to give the correct location for the SIA. I hope that makes sense, and happy to discuss further if it doesn't :)

Clickspring

Very nice Chris, It seems from the drawings that the solar intermediate assembly and the lunar phase display interact with two ratios on only two arbours. have I got that right? If so, did you check depth using both pairs of wheels together (if that is sufficient explanation) to establish a 'best depth', or is one the primary? Very well done on a finicky piece of layout after so much effort already invested in the bowl; and great explanation as always. Cheers

David Paterson

Ha ha! Very kind of you CDR T!

Clickspring

I use a 25mm range standard micrometer, and a similar range depth micrometer for all of the critical/small measurement work that I do - both have a 0.001 mm resolution and pretty much cover all requirements that I have - cheers mate :)

Clickspring

One of the best things about the time consuming jobs like filing is being able to just get in the zone and listen to a good book or podcast, I really love that :)

Clickspring

Greetings from Germany, I feel like our engineering is not half as good as the Australian at this point :D

CommanderTomalak

Hi Chris, What would you (or a clock/watch maker in general) use to measure small objects where the dimensions would be under 1mm?

Jonathan Hendry

The concentration that all that depthing and marking and keeping all those gears straight must be intense! Do you listen to anything whilst working? I'm getting into woodworking and usually listen to Podcasts, but if I'm doing fine detail work I find myself needing to listen to classical music (or nothing at all) or I lose focus. Awesome work, as always!

So pleased you're enjoying the vids Russell - Cheers :)

Clickspring

This content is awesome. And the way you used the mill to drop in the input gear for testing was smart. Your depthing tool you fabricated has really paid off.

Russell Reckman

That's a great compliment mate, thank you - all the best to you and yours also :)

Clickspring

Happy New Year to you too Michael - yes it sure did!

Clickspring

Thank you Gordon, same to you :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! At least!! And playing with this (<a href="https://youtu.be/VSmHggQwRF4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/VSmHggQwRF4</a>) took up waaaay too much of one evening...

Clickspring

Don't lie, you sat there and played with the temporarily affixed gears for at least an hour right?

Whatever you do, ignore "some guy".

Kevin Reardon

I'm constantly amazed by your skills and production. This is better than​ TV and a great way to welcome in the new year. All the best!

Scott Clausen

Happy New Year from Texas Chris. Another outstanding video. I'll bet that it felt pretty good when you lowered the drive input into the assembly and saw everything was turning nice and smooth, Hell... it felt pretty good to me and it's a long drive from TX to AU.

Michael Lloyd

Yet another great video, Chris. Happy New Year from the UK.

Gordon Burns

And to you mate, thank you :)

Clickspring

Thank you John, and Happy New Year to you too :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

Thank you Matt :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Cheers Chuck :)

Clickspring

Cheers Jess :)

Clickspring

And to you mate :)

Clickspring

Happy New Year to you too mate :)

Clickspring

And to you mate, cheers :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

Thank you Nathan :)

Clickspring

Cheers Al!

Clickspring

Happy New Year Chris. Excellent as always.

Andrew Pratt

Amazing as alway Chris! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and happy new year!

Awesome. Just awesome.

Matt Waite

Another brilliant vid so well explained and set out. Thanks for an amazing 2017, Chris! Here's to 2018! :-)

It's a Clickspring day, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” He chortled in his joy.

You bet Drew, can't wait for 2018 - bring this one home, and then get cracking on the next! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Thanks very much Derek :)

Clickspring

Thank you Alex, you too mate :)

Clickspring

So pleased you're enjoying them Leo! Re using the bowl for sanding - Possibly, but the further I work on that bowl the less brave I become to even handle it let alone use it to cut!! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Thank you Ralph, all the very best to you and yours also :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

You are not :)

Dustin

Let's see.... Impossibly complex gear train? Check. Extremely high accuracy of machining involved? Check. Clear and concise explanation via voice over? Check. Must be a Clickspring video :) Amazing work as always Chris.

Jess Neal

Am I the only one hypnotized by gears?

Paul Devey

Each and every video brings a smile and inspiration to go do great things. It also makes me wonder what is next. Happy New Year my Friend!

Paul Devey

Another great video Chris, Happy New Year mate.

Derek McAllan

He says soft solder, and I seem to remember it is just electronics tin/lead solder from an older video.

James Cuddihy

Happy New Year Chris, love your work.

Kirk Jensen

A thing of beauty and a joy to behold! Coming together very nicely indeed. I actually chuckled out loud when you spun that first dial assembly like a top and it was perfectly balanced... I was "oohing and ahing" when you test-fit the input arbor in the mill and we saw the whole assembly turning for the first time... very cool! :D Top stuff as always Chris, happy new year once again.

Chris Talbot

Superb, well done Sir!

Nathan Davey

A great way to finish 2017! Supergluing the bearings to the backplate for a test fit was amazing! There's tip to keep in mind. Thanks for all your work &amp; Happy New Year!

Al McKague

Another fantastic video! Have a great 2018 and keep the inspiring videos coming.

Drew Keats

What sort of solder and flux are you using? It looks like it has a pretty low melting point and flows really well. I've used various silver solders but I find that by the time I get the metal hot enough I often get some sort of distortion in the part.

Lucus Landers

Another wonderful video. That's so much for sharing both your machining and video production skills with all of us!

Derek Meisenhelder

What a fantastic end to the year, thank you so much for working hard to keep such high quality content rolling out Chris! Hope you have a happy New Year, excited to see where 2018 will take you.

Alex Banks

Le Sigh... So much happiness every time you post another video. It's too late now, but here's a quick thought I had on getting a much nicer fit for the internal camber on the supports. Could you just use some double-sided tape to secure a bit of sandpaper to the inside of the bowl and use that to bring them to a perfect fit by hand?

Leo G.

Happy New Year Chris and family, To second Mr Armstrong thanks for a Christmas present, I have enough coal

Ralph McCoy

Like a surgeon! Amazing

Thank you Chris! Its been a wonderful Christmas, and we're looking forward to the New Year - all the best to you and yours :)

Clickspring

Thank you Stu, and the same to you mate :)

Clickspring

Thank you mate :)

Clickspring

It feels really good Ron, so lapping shouldn't be required - The surfaces that are designed as bearing surfaces are pretty smooth already, and the rest have about 0.25mm clearance. Cheers :)

Clickspring

Good evening Chris! Thanks for the belated Christmas present :-) . I hope you and your family have a most wonderful 2018.

Chris Muncy

Awesome Jeff, so pleased you're enjoying the series :)

Clickspring

Ha ha! Cheers mate :)

Clickspring

Cheers Gavin :)

Clickspring

Coming together beautifully, Chris! I always learn some neat tricks from every video - Hoping to put some of them into practice once I have my workshop back in action. Thanks for all that you do, wishing you a happy near year mate!

Stu

Awesome. 😍

Very nice Chris. How does the gear fit feel? Would you use a bit of lapping compound on the gears to improve the movement?

Ron Hunn

The best possible Christmas present - another episode in this fine series.

Jeff Armstrong

OMG. I would give my first-born to win this when it's done. If I had one. Luckily I haven't :)

Wow, that's come together beautifully Chris, another great video thankyou.