At 23FEB19 this project is still not complete, but is now closer to being semi-functional! This is mostly because I cannot stop adding stuff onto the mechanism. First, I re-did most of the frames for a sleeker look to include cantilevering the annular gear. This exposes the heart-shaped tourbillon cage more.
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To power the system, I added a massive PLA spring mounted opposite the tourbillon in a manner similar to the Cartier Astromysterieux watch.
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The Drum works by essentially holding the center of the spring in place while the outer 72T gear drives the carrier via a fixed sun gear on the hub. These intermediate gears transmit the power.
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Of course, if I'm holding one end of the spring stationary, I might as well hold it NEARLY stationary instead so that it can indicate minutes (an essential feature in a mechanism that will only run for about 2 minutes). I accomplish this by a gear set of 59-60 off of the hub. Hours use a fixed 30-12/11-30 planetary set.
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This tomfoolery permits everything to be controlled from around the hub. The stack of gears below allows for both rewinding and setting the hour/minute time. All of the large co-axial bearings use 4mm diameter bearing balls in printed races. I'm likely going to plastics/material science hell for lubricating them with sewing machine oil.
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And so there you have it. It just needs a base with the rewind and time set keys as well as a set of ratchets so that it will retain spring tension. I'm sure that I can come up with a few more doo-dads to throw on as well. Unfortunately, it's now too big to mail to the various long distance paramours, and I like them too much to force them to try and assemble this thing from pieces.
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Nice! Glad you made it into the contest just under the wire.