For example, buttons, guitar picks, stamps, bullets, fabric samples, embroidered badges, pins, medals, coins, keys, family and pet photo’s, matchbooks (am I showing my age?), refrigerator magnets, Casino chips, dice or playing cards, cookie cutters, seeds like beans or corn, dried flowers, soda and beer bottle caps, thin stones like river rocks, seashells, rope knots, fishing lures, beads, ticket stubs, and Boy Scout Merit badges.  The list is virtually endless. Let me know anything I may have missed.

If you really want to keep it simple, just glue these “indicators” at the 12, 3, 6, and 9, positions on your blank clock face. You can also go all the way around and use 12 “indicators” indicating every hour. Please reference the 8-1/2 by 11 inch number template we offer on our web site. Just print it out and use to layout your custom clock dial.  It can really make laying out your clock face a lot easier.

Make sure that the “indicators” that you have chosen are not more than 1/4 inch thick, and thinner is better. Think about if you want the minute hand to be just inside of, or actually over your “indicators”. It’s your choice. If you wish to have the minute hand actually going over the “indicator”, then get a measurement of how thick it is. Add the thickness of your indicators to the thickness of your clock dial to determine the right movement shaft length.

The hand shaft on the clock motor you choose may need some extra length, depending on your  “indicator” thickness. You need a hand shaft length long enough to go through the clock dial and go above the “indicators”. This thickness, with about an extra 1/8” to put the brass hex nut on, is how long the threaded part of the movement hand shaft should be.

My favorite adhesive to use for a project like this is a 5 minute 2 part epoxy. It’s normally clear and will hold just about anything, once it has dried in five minutes or so. Just be sure of where you want everything as once dried, that’s it!

Since our clock hands are metal, they can be slightly bent if needed. Always best to bend near the mounting hub, and be gentle. Needle nosed pliers can be helpful and so can a small piece of cloth to prevent scratching the clock hands. It’s also perfectly normal to trim a pair of clock hands to a shorter length if you would like. Just use wire trimmers or Shop Scissors and you will be the only one who knows you did it..

Just think of a family member or friend and it probably not hard to think of a “theme” that would make a great clock. My Uncle collected beer bottles and  I made him a clock using 12 beer bottle caps. It became one of his proudest possessions. Same with the Grandchild photo clock we made for my Mom. It’s an easy way to make someone happy.

Hopefully this has gotten you thinking about some very clever customized clock dials, and how you can put a smile on the faces of some friends and family.

The post Custom Clock Face Making Ideas appeared first on Clockparts.

Otherwise, if you can hold something still for a moment while you drill a 3/8 inch diameter hole in it, you can probably make a clock out of it. You can start with easy things like, CD’s, old vinyl records, even the nicely printed album covers (boy am I showing my age) or photos. All you have to do is cut a 3/8 inch hole in the object of your choice and you can easily install a modern, accurate Quartz Clock Motor.

The most important thing for you to do is just measure how thick the material is at the 3/8 of an inch hole you cut or drilled. This will determine exactly which movement to buy. It’s all about having a hand shaft length long enough to go through whatever material you are making your clock out of, and being able to hold it in place with the washer and hex nut.

If you are making a clock out of a vinyl record or record cover, then because the material is thin (About 1/8 inch), a short shaft movement kit would be best. Our short shaft MMKIT14B or MMKIT14G would work fine, depending on if either black hands or gold clock hands would look best. It’s your choice.

Here we show a kitchen clock being made from an old cast iron pan. All we had to do is drill a 3/8 inch hole in the middle of the pan and we were ready for final assembly. Since we actually did not use any type of indicator, all we had to do was install the movement and the hands. We used the MMKIT14G for this kitchen clock design because the pan was less than ¼ of an inch thick..

If your clock design is ½ inch thick, then he MMKIT12G or MMKIT12B would be your best choice. If the case of your clock is ¾ of an inch thick or less, then the MMKIT34G or MMKIT34B would be for you.

Over my 40 year career in the clock parts business I have seen a lot of “different” clock designs. Among them have been:

• CD’s
• Tennis Rackets
• Old Vinyl Records
• Metal Gift Boxes
• Ceramic or Wood Plates
• Wood Slabs
• Cast Iron Pans
• Computer Circuit Boards
• Marquetry
• Signs
• Decorated Foam Core Boards
• Books
• Paintings & Drawings
• Photos
• Needlepoint & Quilts
• Nautical Steering Wheels
• Propellers
• Hub Caps
• Slate Roof Tiles
• Ceramic Tiles
• Stained Glass
• Mirrors
• Bicycle Wheels
• Tambourines
• Cymbals
• Hubcaps

If you come up other idea’s I’d sure like to hear about them, and add them to this list. Somebody out there always has something I’ve never seen or heard of. A photo of your “work of art” would really be even more appreciated. Just use your imagination when making craft clocks. Happy clock making!

The post Craft Clocks Custom Made appeared first on Clockparts.

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The post How to Determine What Size Clock Hands to Use appeared first on Clockparts.

If you want to replace your battery operated quartz clock movement, you have to be able to remove your clock hands. It’s really not that hard. Get yourself a small pair of needle nosed pliers and small cup to hold little parts.

If you need reading glasses, then get them now as you are going to need them. Always work in a well-lighted area.

Most clock repair starts with getting the clock hands off of the clock mechanism. Virtually all clocks have an hour hand (the short one) and a minute hand (the long one). Many clocks have a third hand, which would normally be a second hand. It rotates quickly (once every minute).

If you have a second hand, grab it where it attaches to the clock motor and pull up, or away from the clock movement. It should come loose. If not, carefully place your small needle nosed pliers under the second hand. Each arm of the pliers should be on either side of the small brass bushing holding the second hand to the clock motor. Give the pliers a firm upward pull.

If this has not removed your second hand, then you are just going to rip it or cut it off as it has to be removed. The worst that happens is that you damage the clock motor that you are going to replace anyway. Not a big deal.

Now, if you don’t have a second hand, then let’s remove the minute hand. There are 2 possibilities. The minute hand either just presses on, or it is held in place with a small round nut. This is called an “I” shaft, which most of our movements use. If it’s a press-on, then just pull it off. Your needle nosed pliers under the “hub” or mounting point of the hand also can help to remove it.

If your minute hand has a small round nut, then hold the minute hand still while turning the nut counter-clockwise. Again, if this is difficult, then grab the needle nosed pliers to assist turning the small nut. Set the minute hand and any hardware there might be aside.

All hour hands on battery clock movements are the “press-on” type. There are almost no exceptions. Firmly grab the mounting point or “hub” of the hour hand and pull up. If this does not work, grab your trusty needle nosed pliers again. Place them under the hour hand were it mounts to the movement and gently rock back and forth while pulling up.

Once the hour hand is off, that’s normally it. There are movements like time & tide, calendar movements and day of the week movements that will actually have a indicator hand under and hour hand. This is always a press-on type hand.

If you are worried about damaging your hands, and they’re under 5” long, remember, you get a FREE choice of hour and minute hands with most movements. Don’t worry about it, we have 45 styles and sizes under 5” to pick from in two colors! It should not be an issue. Please remember that most hand styles can be trimmed to a shorter length if needed.

If you have a high torque clock movement for use with clock hands over 7”, then we offer a wide variety of styles in our hands for high torque movements section. Replacing clock hands from 1-1/4” up to nearly 18” should not be a problem with clockparts.com.

The post How to remove clock hands from Battery Clock Movements appeared first on Clockparts.

In theory this was a great idea, because the time broadcast on radio station WWVB is based on the Caesium -131 Atomic Clocks in Fort Collins, Colorado. It’s very accurate and it’s broadcast on a low frequency AM radio wave. Unfortunately, there are a variety of AM broadcast issues which can potentially cause interference with the reception of the atomic clock signal being broadcast.

In practice, AM (amplitude modulation) radio waves can achieve long distances. There are potential problems include interference from, power tools, appliances light dimmer switches and especially solar geomagnetic storms, which are quite common.  At their strongest, these storms cause the atmosphere to “light up” in northern and southern regions of earth, producing the northern (and southern) lights.

An Auto-Set clock movement does not have the potential problems that an atomic clock movement does. It’s more reliable because it does not depend on receiving a radio signal. Now Auto-Set movements completely eliminate the need to receive a radio signal at all, and still adjust for Daylight Savings Time (DST) twice a year. All of the potential problems with a so called Atomic Clock Movement are gone.

We at clockparts.com are proud to introduce our High Torque Auto-Set movements. We have both a US and a World version. They are unique because they will power clock hands up to nearly 18” long if desired. They take advantage of a new technology which utilizes a digitally based computer chip, which serves as a pre-programmed digital clock movement.

The primary power source is the AA battery, but the time is sequenced by a tiny quartz chip which oscillates at a very regular frequency. It requires very low voltage. This common, long lasting LR44 battery will keep the chip operating when the standard AA battery is removed and replaced.

The High Torque Auto-Set Movements are capable of operating clock hands nearly 18″ long. A common use, is for large wall clocks that may be installed high up on a wall. Imagine not having to get out a ladder to change the time twice a year!

At the beginning of the fall season, the internal clock movement will signal the Auto-Set movement to stop operating for exactly one hour (fall back). In the Spring, it will make the movement run at a higher speed to advance the time by one hour (Spring forward). This process takes about 6 minutes. You don’t have to do a thing, just sit back and watch, if you are still up in the middle of the night.

We have Auto-Set movements for operation in all four of the time zones of the continental United States as well as a “world” model  that can operate in all 26 time zones around the world.  Amazing technology. Both of these movements have a 5/16″ threaded hand shaft length, which will work well with a clock dial thickness up to ¼”.

The clock hands use the common American “I” shaft configuration, which makes over 50 hand styles and lengths available for these movements. Anywhere from an inch and a half up to nearly 18 inches.

You can use these movements to repair an existing wall or table clock, or you can make your own design – large or small . You can even use one of our wall mounting cups to mount the US version to the wall, to make a very large wall clock. Use photos or our stick-on numbers to tell the time. People have also used metal house numbers from a local hardware store for large clock faces. Get creative.

For more information in regards to Atomic clock movements vs Auto-Set movements please reach out to our customer service team by email.

The post Atomic Clock Movement versus the Auto-Set Movement appeared first on Clockparts.

The truth is though, that there is a huge difference in quality between a cheap imported movement made in a third world country in  factory with a dirt floor, a one made in a clean modern factory with a robotic production line. No one makes a better battery operated quartz movement than a robot. No human hair, sweat or parts of the employee’s lunch.

I am a lucky guy. In the nearly 40 years I have been in the clock parts business I have been able to visit factories all over Europe, Japan and China. Much of what I have seen is very impressive, like the factory I once visited where the quartz crystals used in clock movements and other devices are made.

It’s a “white room” operation that has a nearly “medical” level of cleanliness. This particular factory was in Japan and before I could enter I had to put on coveralls that covered by entire body, head and shoes. The latter was a problem because I think they had never seen a size 13 shoe before. After being properly clothed, I had to walk through a decontamination tunnel that removed any dust or contamination that was on my clothing before I could actually enter the factory itself.

On the other end of the spectrum I have also been in factories that were unheated with dirt floors. Factories like this just do assembly of clock parts that were normally made elsewhere. The problem is that making clock parts in a factory like this may give you a lower price, but you get what you pay for. Clock movements made in factories like this often do not last very long or run accurately.

A good example of proper assembly of a clock movement is the American factory that makes many of the Takane movements we offer. They are made here in California on a robotic assembly line. Before the actual parts that make up the clock movement are used, they are batch tested for quality before they are even loaded into the automated assembly line.

Early in the assembly process, the PC board containing a sealed quartz crystal is soldered robotically and all other electrical contacts made on the “electric block”.  As the movements being assembled are traveling down the assembly line, a 1.5 volt charge is even passed through every movement just to make sure that the quartz crystal is oscillating properly. The movements are even packaged in the Styrofoam robotically. This is a clean operation.

Another quality factor is the materials used. For example, our gears for our American made clock movements are made in the same California factory, out of the best possible grades of engineering grade nylon. The copper coils, the machined threaded shafts and machined minute hand shafts are also made here in California. Regardless of if you make your own new clock designs, or use these movements as clock repair parts, isn’t your clock worth an extra buck or two to get a well-made quartz clock motor? See what the leader in American-made clock movements has to offer.

The post Getting Your Money’s Worth From AA Battery Clock Movements appeared first on Clockparts.

The accuracy is the result of the process of radioactive decay. The term decay in this case means “change.”  A radioactive substance naturally changes by emitting particles (protons, neutrons, or electrons) which results in the production of a different element. For example, uranium decays into lead.  Caesium decays into barium.

The detection of these particle emissions by a sensor (as in an atomic clock) generates the time signal.  The accuracy of this natural process is not affected by temperature, pressure or any other environmental factors. An atomic clock will work just as well in space as anywhere else.  Atomic clocks are accurate to better than one second over 200 million years.

Unfortunately, there are a variety of AM broadcast vulnerabilities which undermine the reception of the atomic clock signal.  Although AM (amplitude modulation) radio can achieve great distances, these vulnerabilities include interference from appliances, power tools, light dimmer switches and (especially) solar geomagnetic storms which are quite common.  At their strongest, they cause the atmosphere to “light up” in northern and southern regions of earth, producing the northern (and southern) lights.

Fort Collins, Colorado is a significant distance from many areas in the US, rendering locations in Maine and Florida susceptible to signal interruption. Further issues are the result of clock placement in basements or thick walled buildings with few windows. The thin metallic composition of some modern window coatings is sometimes cited is a factor in AM reception degradation.

Anyone who listens to AM radio while driving under an underpass will hear the momentary drop in signal strength. FM (frequency modulation) signals with their higher frequencies are barely affected, but FM does not have the ability to travel great distances as AM does.  Hence, the so called “short wave” radio is an AM band.

These clocks remain popular, but we at Clock Parts have introduced Auto Set movements which take advantage of a new technology which utilizes a digitally based chip which serves as a pre programmed movement. The main power source is the AA battery, but the time is sequenced by a miniscule quartz chip which oscillates at a very regular frequency and requires extremely low voltage. The common, and long lasting LR44 battery keeps the chip running when the standard AA battery is removed and replaced.

The AA battery also drives our high torque movements capable of operating clock hands nearly 18″ long. A common use is for large wall clocks that may be installed high up on a wall. Imagine not having to get out a ladder to change the time twice a year! In the Fall, the internal clock movement will signal the movement to stop operating for exactly one hour (fall back). In the Spring it will make the movement operate at a high speed for about 6 minutes to advance the time by one hour (Spring forward). You don’t have to do a thing, just sit back and watch if you are still up at 2:00 am.

We have Auto-Set movements for operation in the four time zones of the continental United States (MVT708USAS) as well as a “world” model (MVT708GSF) that can operate in all 26 time zones around the world. Pretty much amazing. Both of these movements have a 5/16″ threaded hand shaft length, which will work with a clock face or clock dial thickness up to ¼”.

They also use the common American “I” shaft configuration, which makes over 50 hand styles and lengths available for these movements. Use these movements to repair an existing wall clock or make your own design. You can even use one of our wall mounting cups to mount the US version to the wall, so you can use photos or stick-on numbers to tell the time. Get your creative juices flowing!

The post How Auto Set Movements Saves Time in Our Everyday Lives appeared first on Clockparts.

Clock movements are normally attached to a clock dial or other surface from the back side. The thickness of whatever the movement is mounted to will determine the shaft length needed. To check this, you must have the clock movement removed from the clock case. Remove the clock hands and check for a small brass nut that would be under the hour hand and holds the movement in place. Turn it counter clock wise and this should release the clock movement from the clock case. A pair of needle nose pliers usually works well here. Occasionally, you may see a clock movement that is secured from the back with screws, and does not have a brass nut on the clock dial. If this is the case, then removing the screws on the back of the movement should release it from the case.

For example, if your clock has a thin metal dial (1/16” ?) that is mounted to
a ¼” plywood base, then the thickness the hand shaft has to go through is ¼” + 1/16” = 5/16”. It’s usually a good idea the make sure that the threaded part of the shaft is 1/8” longer than the thickness is. This extra 1/8” is used to secure the movement in place with a brass washer and hex nut. This means that we need a minimum threaded shaft length of 7/16” for the 5/16” thick material.

An important thing to remember is that if a hand shaft is too long, it can normally be “shimmed” or “backed up” with a couple of washers over the hand shaft before installation. If the hand shaft is to short, then it simply will not work. So when choosing a movement, a longer shaft than needed you can work with, but to short is very difficult, if not impossible to deal with.

To take these two measurements you will need a good ruler or tape measure. If you are using a ruler, make sure it’s one that does not have a “lip” at the ends. What you need is called a “zero point” ruler. You can find them at any hardware store for a couple of dollars. It’s worth it to be accurate. If you are using a tape measure, then make sure that the clip at the end is tight. If it’s loose, it can make the measure less accurate.

Choosing the right shaft length for your project should not be a difficult task.
For successful clock repair you need to take two measurements, and be accurate. If you can deal with measuring to within 1/16 of an inch, this will be an easy process.

The post Measuring the length of the hand shaft appeared first on Clockparts.

Clock hand size and style are an important consideration. Please remember that most styles of clock hands are easy to trim to a shorter length. Our black color hands are made of aluminum, so they can normally be trimmed with a good pair of scissors. Gold color hands are actually a brass clad steel, so trimming may require a pair of tin snips. Clock hands are measured by the minute hand only (the long one), from the center of the mounting hole to the tip.

Ornate styles like the Serpentine below cannot be trimmed much at all. The more plain rectangular or Spade styles are easy to trim to shorter length. See the hands below:

Serpentine

Spade

Rectangle

Repairing an old clock does not have to be difficult at all. Just have all the parts handy, and a good ruler, and give us a call at 1-888-827-3787, ext.#300 with any questions you may have.

The post Do I need to get new clock hands? appeared first on Clockparts.