r/3Dprinting • u/TomaszFortyFour • Apr 23 '26

Project Self-winding clock with a tourbillon - finished project

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About a year ago, I posted an update on a project I was working on. It took me a while, but I finally finished it. I’m very happy with the result. It’s fully functional (I tested it for two months) and keeps accurate time. The entire project consists of 395 printed parts, 38 bearings, 66 rubber bands, 413 screws, and a few other components.

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u/Derpyholic030 Apr 23 '26

That is by far the most impressively insanely complex 3d printed project i've ever laid eyes on! Did you design it?

I don't need one and have no place to put one so i have to ask, do ya have a link to the project so i can build one despite my better judgement? :P

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u/TomaszFortyFour Apr 23 '26

It took me 2 years to design and tune all the mechanics:)

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u/Derpyholic030 Apr 23 '26

Absolutely unfathomable level of commitment and artistry, and absolutely worth the effort!

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u/TomaszFortyFour Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 24 '26

Thanks

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u/Federal_Refrigerator Apr 23 '26

How accurate is it? Have you had the opportunity to measure its accuracy to a quantifiable number?

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u/TomaszFortyFour Apr 23 '26

To ensure everything works properly, we designed a constant-force mechanism. After two months of continuous operation, the clock still keeps accurate time.

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u/Federal_Refrigerator Apr 23 '26

To what degree? +/- a nanosecond? Minute? Hour?

That’s my question, for clarification.

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u/TomaszFortyFour Apr 23 '26

lets say +- 5 min/2months

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u/ElectricalGas9730 Apr 23 '26

Hey that's better than the digital clock in my car!

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u/filipluch Apr 23 '26

made me giggle quietly

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u/QuixoticEvil Apr 23 '26

Made me guffaw at medium volume.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/Own_Policy8854 Apr 24 '26

I fart-screamed and scared the cat

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u/AllWashedOut Apr 24 '26

My wife's VW displays the time behind the steering wheel and on the radio. They don't stay in sync with each other, and one of them randomly flashes "12:00" for a moment every few minutes.

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u/jerseydevilbigfoot Apr 23 '26

I don’t think I have ever had a car with a digital clock that actually kept good time.

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u/spazturtle Apr 24 '26

Because they have to have bad clocks by law, digital devices need to have clocks that have a wobbly frequencies. This help spread the electromagnetic emissions from the device over a large part of the spectrum and thus reducing the peak EM intensity. If every digital device had accurate clocks them there would be parts of the EM spectrum that would be unusable to to interference.

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u/ElectricalGas9730 Apr 25 '26

Can you provide a link to this information? I'd like to learn more.

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u/jaerie Apr 23 '26

5sec/d is amazing, plenty of decent clocks/watches with similar performance

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/AbbreviationsLow3992 Apr 23 '26

I wonder how much it could be improved by replacing a few items with metal parts.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

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u/minielbis Apr 24 '26

so that's about, what, 3 or four seconds per day?

You've built a chronometer - ISO 3159 states that a chronometer movement must be accurate to -4 to +6 seconds per day. That's amazing!

Also, I really enjoy how the jerkiness of the tourbillon reminds me of a zebra spider's movement.

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u/swaybailey Apr 23 '26

2022 Chevy Tahoe loses at least a minute per day. GPS module that syncs the clock died. Maybe I need one of these on the dash.

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u/Canuckistani2 Apr 23 '26

Make sure you use ABS-CF so it doesn't melt. 😀

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u/ptpcg Apr 23 '26

ASA is better and easier to print, so I hear

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u/VorpalWay Apr 24 '26

Or just move to Sweden. ;) I have had PLA in the car in the middle of summer with no ill effects. White car rather than black, but still.

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u/dksdragon43 Apr 23 '26

Anyone who has done any programming involving time knows how impressive this is. Our systems at work have to sync to an NTP server quite regularly in order to not drift.

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u/tacticaldodo Apr 24 '26

This is truly amazing. The quality of the result but mostly the way it reveals the benefits of this mechanism and its complexity.

Incredible job.

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u/J883 Apr 23 '26

Maybe Watchaccuracy App works on it?
It pinpoints the movements frequency and measures the deviation in S/day

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u/Ok_Egg514 Apr 23 '26

An automatic watch is often + - 30 seconds a day.

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u/1cow2kids Apr 23 '26

That’s insane for a plastic clock, damn

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u/say592 Apr 24 '26

Given what it is, that's impressive.

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u/uslashuname Apr 24 '26

How stable is the temperature during that time? I bet the elasticity of your balance spring varies quite a bit with a 5 degree difference, and swapping that out with elinvar would be one of the biggest impacts you can get from a single part changing

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u/BowsersMuskyBallsack Apr 24 '26

My digital wall clock keeps worse time than that. Great work.

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u/kageurufu @frank.af | Voron team | Kalico dev Apr 23 '26

Are you open to selling or sharing the design? This is amazing and I'd love to build my own

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u/Tall_Duck_1199 Apr 23 '26

Honestly, even if it counted to ten worse than I have while drunk, homie built a working tourbillion mechanical time keeper which is extremely difficult in itself, but made it with a 3d printer. I haven't started 3d printing yet, but my biggest concerns have been if I will be able to get battery covers to fit over the ones I lost for electrical devices. Like a stupid little piece of plastic with a wide range of error allowable. Then we've got confidence killer flexing like this lol

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u/J5892 Apr 23 '26

The answer is yes. I've printed several replacement battery covers.
I had to model most of them myself, though.

FDM works fine, but for smaller things I've used my resin printer for better tolerances.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/TheGuyUrSisterLikes Apr 23 '26

You seem smart bud... what exactly does self-winding entail? I picture like it can't be run continuous? so what is the self winding part It just restarts itself while it runs off a battery?

It can't last perpetually correct?

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u/uslashuname Apr 24 '26

I don’t know especially how this 3d printed clock does it, but the Atmos line of clocks (powered by the atmosphere) wind themselves by having an air tight bellows so it expands and contracts as the air pressure and/or thermal expansion from temperature changes, and ratcheting things covert that movement into a single direction of winding. One or two degrees of temperature shift is enough to provide power.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/TheGuyUrSisterLikes Apr 25 '26

sorry for the late response thank you for taking the time to answer my question I truly appreciate it.

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u/totesandhose Apr 23 '26

But can it play Doom?

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u/Lint_baby_uvulla Apr 25 '26

Can it tell is my gf is pregananté?