Find out how the grandfather clock works
Here’s a quick roundup on what makes a grandfather clock (or any pendulum clock) tick.
The pendulum is the basic time-keeping device in long case clocks. In most of the larger clocks, it swings once every two seconds. Older clocks are driven by weights rather than springs.
If you attach a weight cord to a drum, gravity will pull the weight down and turn the drum. Further, if you can control the rate of revolution of the drum using a device that has a fixed periodicity, the drum can turn a second hand (or minute / hour hand) on a clock face with a predictable regularity.
In essence, that’s how grandfather clocks work.
A pendulum has an interesting property -- the time it takes to complete one full swing depends on only two factors: the force of gravity and the length of the pendulum. It is independent of the weight of the pendulum.
Galileo is supposed to have been the first person to suggest that a pendulum can provide the regular periodicity necessary to create accurate clocks.
‘Escapement’ is the name given to the mechanism that allows the drum to move with regularity. There’s a wheel with teeth on it. Plus, there’s a pendulum which is attached to an ‘anchor’. The anchor is a device that has two projecting teeth to engage the teeth of the wheel.
The anchor allows the wheel of the escapement to ‘escape’ or move forward one tooth at one time.
When the pendulum swings to the left, the left tooth of the anchor lifts up and allows one tooth of the wheel to escape. At the same time, the right tooth of the anchor goes down and blocks further motion of the wheel. Thus, the wheel has moved by exactly one tooth when the pendulum has swung to the left.
The same process repeats when the pendulum swings to the right. Thus, the wheel moves forward with a regular periodicity.
The teeth of the wheel also gives a little nudge to the anchor and therefore to the pendulum each time it engages it. This is how the pendulum overcomes friction and keeps in motion
This engagement of the anchor with the wheel’s teeth is what produces the ‘tick tock’ sound in grandfather clocks.
That’s a brief version of how grandfather clocks (and other clocks with similar mechanisms) work!
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History of the pendulum clock How grandfather clocks work | Setting up a grandfather clock |
History of the pendulum clock
How grandfather clocks work
Setting up a grandfather clock
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