Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Big Clock

This is an old clock that I bought about twenty years ago because I needed a clock that had a face through which I could "fly" a camera lens, directly into the gears and such.

It's very pretty on the inside; notice the circular glass tube in the upper right corner; it contains mercury. Once a minute it "flips" and drives a circuit which advances the minute hands of the "slave" clocks.

With the stained-glass door opened, even more of the mechanism is exposed to view.

Notice the rotating switches for the electric Westminster chimes, and the little black arm which halts the mechanism after each quarter-hour sounding.

The knife switches allow the minister to silence the clock's chimes during sermons.

1 comment:

drjim said...

That type of "Drum Programming" was in use up until the middle 80's on Russian spacecraft. Simple, reliable, and Viktor the traktor mekanik can understand it!