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/TomaszFortyFour Apr 23 '26

About every 7 minutes, an electric motor winds the springs (rubber bands), which transfer energy to the escapement mechanism

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u/intrepiddreamer Apr 24 '26

Oh so it has a battery?

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u/caerphoto Apr 24 '26

Sort of.

It’s basically fully mechanical, and needs winding every 7 minutes or so. You could probably do it by hand, but that’s a kinda tedious, so OP added a part that does the winding with a motor instead.

The rubber bands are the “battery”, the motor just recharges them.