Abong Laser-Cut Mechanical Wooden Pendulum Clock - 3D Clock Puzzle Model Kit - DIY Wooden Clock Kit

I have to agree with everything said by the “24 year old guy” who gave the first review. I am “an old guy” who decided to try his hand at clock kit building after a long hiatus and I really enjoyed assembling the clock. For the price, it’s an excellent way to get involved in both kit assembly and clockworks.I am giving the clock kit 5 stars because 1) no part was missing; 2) the directions are thorough and 3) the clock worked despite my best efforts to ruin it. In assembling the clock, pay very close attention to the layout of each item. I didn’t and had to reassemble some parts, thankfully without harming them. Although all of the gears and axels are important, it is my opinion that the interaction between the minute wheel and the idler wheel is the most critical. Moreover, the minute wheel axel has to hold the most weight – minute wheel and counterweight – so it is the one that needs to be most secure in the baseplate.This kit is an entertaining and relatively inexpensive way to be introduced or reintroduced to wooden clock kits.

This is not a kit for the impatient. I'd advise anyone interested to read the one star reviews before deciding if they're up for the task. It's true that some of the parts are warped and don't fit together quite right out of the box. This is just the nature of the material, and getting everything to fit together is part of the fun, requiring hours of careful sanding and tinkering. If the kit snapped together like Legos, the end product wouldn't be nearly as gratifying. Don't buy this kit if you're not prepared to embrace the struggle.That said, I have no experience with wood working or clock building and was able to put this together in a few evenings. Getting it to run without stopping took another couple of days of adjustments. I really enjoyed every moment of it. It was challenging but also engrossing.Does this build a practical clock? Not really. It needs to be wound every day and the best accuracy I was able to get was +/- 10 minutes per day, but that's not really the point now is it?

The media could not be loaded. SKILL LEVEL:3/5, IntermediateSUMMARY:This is not a clock kit for the beginning builder. Building a simpler clock like the Abong Crossingham would be a better introduction to building wood gear clocks. This clock requires a modest amount of tools including a small razor saw, a hobby knife, glue and several sheets of sandpaper. Additionally, you must have a fair amount of patience and the ability to pay attention to small details.PROS:1. Simple to assemble.2. Very nice printed instruction manual.3. Large gear teeth that are easy to sand.4. Error tolerant design.5. Keeps accurate time once adjusted!CONS:1. Wooden axles that, by the nature of the material, are not very accurately sized.2. Requires lots and lots of sanding of the gears and cogs to allow them to fit with as little friction as possible.3. Hardening of the gears and axles needed to reduce friction.4. Need to acquire tools if you don't have them already.5. Need to acquire material for the drive weight.6. The rewinding mechanism is awkward.BUILD TIPS:1. I used a good hobby quality cyanoacrylate (superglue) adhesive in thin and medium viscosity with a fine applicator tip throughout the build to avoid waiting for a wood glue to set. If you haven't used CA glue before, practice on some scrap bits to judge how long it takes to set.2. I hardened all the gear teeth with a drop of thin CA and then sanded each tooth until almost all the brown resin from the laser cutting process was removed. I did this before I started assembling the gear sets. This takes a fair amount of time. Hardening the teeth reduces friction and will reduce wear on the teeth.3. I hardened each axle hole in each gear with CA and then sanded it smooth with a bit of rolled up sandpaper. I used very fine 400 grit paper.4. I hardened each axle with CA, sanded it smooth, and then waxed the contact areas with candle wax. I did not use graphite anywhere for lubrication .5. I used the wooden washers to locate the gears on the axles but did not glue them in place until AFTER the clock had been fully assembled. This allowed the gears to be slid on the axle shafts to allow proper clearance between gears. Only after I was satisfied with the gear spacing did I glue the washers in place on the axles to fix the gear positions. Make sure all gears spin as freely as possible and don't wobble. Also check to ensure there us no interference between contacting gear teeth. A little clearance is ok.6. I triple checked to make sure all axles were perpendicular to the baseplate, parallel to each other and firmly glued in place.7. I used pins to hold the top brace in place instead of gluing it to the axles. This allowed me to disassemble the clock to make adjustments. I made the pins from a paper clip. (See photos.)8. Take care to reduce friction wherever possible. I was able to get my clock running as soon as I hung the drive weight filled with 4 pounds of lead. With some fine tuning, my clock will tick reliably with just 1.75 pounds of weight and run for six hours for every 10 inches of drop.9. I used a carbon fiber rod for the pendulum because I didn't like the multi-piece rod in the kit and happened to have one on hand that I stole from a kite..10. Overall, it took me about 40 hours to build this clock - 20 hours were on sanding alone, 10 hours on assembly and 10 hours tuning, remaking some parts and finishing with three types of wood stain.RATING: Four Stars.Overall it was a fun and satisfying build. I took off one star because if they had laser cut the gears slightly smaller, or spaced the axles out slightly farther apart, then you wouldn't have to do as much sanding of the gears to reduce the interference fit between gears. Also, the method of re-winding the clock could be improved.