An English Regulator
I have desired to make a clock for as long as I've wanted to make a watch, and while I am well into the process of executing the latter I've decided to begin the former. The clock that is described here is an English style regulator, and is made following the method and design set forth in John Wilding's book "How to make an English Regulator Clock." I am planning to follow his design largely unchanged. However, he uses inch dimensions and British Association threads, so some changes will likely be made along the way to allow for more convenient machining and measuring in metric and I am planning to use the closest metric or inch threading, rather than BA, whenever possible. Since the changes will be fairly minor and I do not wish to plagiarize, I will omit dimensional drawings and dimensions for parts unless it is a major deviation from Wilding's design. Something that initially attracted me to this clock is that Mr. Wilding describes its construction using a Cowells 90ME lathe. I will be using the Cowells 90CW lathe, and will therefore need to deviate from his methods from time to time. The 90CW model lacks screwcutting and back gear drive, which Mr. Wilding points out are nice to have, or necessary, for this project. There is one step that can not be performed on either model of Cowells, and at least one that can not be done on the 90CW. So, I shall be crossing those bridges as I get to them.
The design for this regulator is intended to produce a high-precision timekeeper, although as pointed out in Mr. Wilding book, there are many sources of error. As a clock intended solely for timekeeping, there are a number of classic and interesting features, including direct indication of the hours, minutes, and seconds on the dial (i.e., without motion work), Harrison maintaining work, Graham dead-beat escapement, compensated pendulum, stop-work, and an option in the plans for a break-away or adjustable crutch. The train is fairly straightforward, and Mr. Wilding notes that the layout is based on those described in Britten's "Watch and Clockmakers' Handbook," "Horological Hints and Tips," and Goodrich's "The Modern Clock." The overall design of the clock is based on those made by F Dent in the early 1900's, however, made to a slightly smaller size (e.g., a 10 inch dial versus a 12 inch one).
A list of equivalent thread sizes is below in which I attempted to find the closest metric or "unified thread standard" that matches British Association.
