

3D printed horology - WestCoastJustin
http://www.nicholasmanousos.com/

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bradleyland
This is an extremely cool project, but calling it a tourbillon movement is
disingenuous at best. With a tourbillon movement, the escapement rotates
relative to the rest of the movement (the front plate, back plate, drive
train, etc). This is only an escapement, lacking even a mainspring. In fact,
in the displays pictured, the escapement rests on the framework in such a way
that the escapement remains stationary when powered externally. This is,
unquestionably, no where close to a tourbillon movement.

Kudos to the author for building a 3D printed escapement, but he's abused the
language of horology in a way that really put me off.

~~~
bradleyland
The project owner contacted me over Google Hangouts after I commented
similarly on the YouTube video. It's difficult to see in this first example,
but this is, in fact, on its way to becoming a full fledged tourbillon
movement. It's much easier to see in this Instagram video of the next
revision:

[http://instagram.com/p/uRAeIImfNx/?modal=false](http://instagram.com/p/uRAeIImfNx/?modal=false)

In the first revision, the movement rests on its cage, but if you look
closely, you can see that the balance wheel, escapement wheel, pallets, and
lever are all mounted internally to the cage (on separate plane). This is what
makes this a tourbillon escapement. In a non-tourbillon movement, any of these
components might be mounted to the front or back plate. This would prevent
them from rotating.

The key distinction is that this movement can be held by its fourth wheel and
operated by applying pressure to the cage. This is how most tourbillon
movements operate. The barrel from the mainspring actuates the drive train,
which in turn drives the cage. The fourth wheel remains stationary, which you
can also see in this video from the author:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSGHKRrkvFg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSGHKRrkvFg)

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GrantS
Here are the STL and Blender files for a different 3D printed clock designed
by Christoph Laimer in case you'd like to print your own:

[http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:328569/#files](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:328569/#files)

This 5-minute video is really worth watching as he explains how it was
designed, how it functions, shows a time-lapse of it being assembled, etc.:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgZBPYJ2Y-w](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgZBPYJ2Y-w)

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minopret
This other plastic clock with visible mechanism is not in the same league and
not 3D printed, but I think it's pleasant. Its dozen or so circular gears and
pendulum make a clear contrast with the masterpiece that Manousos has built.
[http://www.happypuzzle.co.uk/products/the-amazing-clock-
kit....](http://www.happypuzzle.co.uk/products/the-amazing-clock-kit.aspx)

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jp555
3d printed & extreme limited availability seems contradictory to me.

~~~
minopret
Well, small production runs are sensible with 3D printing.

I suppose what you're noting is that the 3D model is not shared with you.

That web page doesn't mention the mechanism being protected by any current
patents. Maybe there's no need. This is a mechanism resulting from substantial
engineering work. It has significant tolerances, proportions, and curves. If
you're not capable of creating it yourself, then it's also unlikely you'll
reverse-engineer it just by looking at it.

Someone could laser-scan it. If using a visible-range laser, that person might
have to take the mechanism apart first. Then I would hope that person would
give due credit for any results, as well as consider what other legal and
ethical barriers may inhibit reproducing this work.

~~~
Someone
You probably can reverse-engineer it from photos, too. Projections aren't
nicely frontal, but there are quite a few parts that you know are circular, so
you can straighten out the photos fairly easily.

Getting the small details right will be problematic, but there are plenty of
photos around on the net that will allow you to average multiple shape
reconstructions.

For example, [http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/the-
tourbillon-1000-3d-printed-...](http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/the-
tourbillon-1000-3d-printed-horological-sculpture) has detailed photos of
parts. It also says:

 _" While 3D printing is getting much more advanced, and very quickly, it's
not an exact science yet, so Manousos does have to fine-tune components as he
creates each tourbillon"_

Price is less than I feared, at $3000,—. If it were a real clock, that would
be a bargain, compared to the typical designer watch, but considering what
needs to be added to produce a clock, I guess that a complete watch will be
comparable in price.

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verroq
Could they have made the video any more pretentious?

~~~
sschueller
In what way is it pretentious?

Compared to how watches are presented in the industry this is very mild.

Here a few examples:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlcizTLksdo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlcizTLksdo)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boZjuk8Dq20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boZjuk8Dq20)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPLttQyFxZc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPLttQyFxZc)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OFSEzIz8A0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OFSEzIz8A0)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eeHarkOw4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eeHarkOw4)

