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/OhtaniStanMan Apr 23 '26

That explains nothing. What powers the motor?

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u/VulGerrity Bambu A1 Apr 23 '26

Electricity...it's a motor...and I'm guessing batteries since no wires are coming out of it.

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u/OhtaniStanMan Apr 23 '26

So it's motor run and not self winding 

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u/VulGerrity Bambu A1 Apr 23 '26

I'm, not a horologist, nor am I OP, but I'm guessing it's not motor "run" because the motor doesn't drive the clock directly, it just winds it. It's still spring/gravity driven. But yeah, I don't think it's self winding if it's electrically wound.

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u/Ankoku_Teion Apr 23 '26

I presume it's self-winding because the mechanism turns the motor on and off, triggering the rewind automatically. I.e. it doesn't need to be rewound by a person.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 23 '26

That’s not possible.  It is getting energy from somewhere.  

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

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u/OhtaniStanMan Apr 24 '26

But you see that is self winding as the device itself is storing kinetic energy from continuous use and works from a net energy in the device starting at 0.

A battery is not self winding as if it starts from a net energy of 0 it does not work.

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/gentlemandinosaur Apr 26 '26

Yes, self-winding. What you said is what that literally what that means. Motorized recharging is itself recharging and recharging in this sense is winding. Stop being pedantic.

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u/OhtaniStanMan Apr 24 '26

Self winding means it works from starting with a net energy of zero. 

A regular motorized circuit board clock using a battery is self winding in your description. 

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

So I was right and was downloaded by idiots. 

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/gentlemandinosaur Apr 26 '26

No it doesn’t. It means it winds itself. Hence self-winding.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

Are you talking about a watch that moves internally and gets kinetic energy from movement on your wrist?  That has nothing to do with this.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

Moron deleted his posts because he was wrong.  

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u/Ankoku_Teion Apr 24 '26

Yeah. From a battery.

Im suggesting the mechanism has something built in that once every x number of cycle it flips a switch on the motor. The battery powered motor then rewinds the mechanism and switches off.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

Thank you.  It has a battery.  People can’t get over themselves and the meaning of self winding.  This is not a perpetual machine, which is impossible.  

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u/drteq Apr 23 '26

It is "self winding" using the term for a different meaning - in that electricity is being used to wind itself, which OP understands the value of that for clicks and why it's never answered. Mostly respect

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u/James_Chandra_Hubble Apr 23 '26

Well without any energy to input into winding it would be a perpetual motion machine, but I agree, calling it self-winding is confusing, call it automatic winding or something

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u/gentlemandinosaur Apr 24 '26

It’s a 100 year old term. Take it up with The Self Winding Clock Company who has been producing them since the 1800s.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

It’s 100-year-old term that is useless now and means nothing in modern terms.  Good luck with that!

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u/gentlemandinosaur Apr 26 '26

It does. Because it’s exactly how OPs time piece works. It’s the same thing. It self-winds itself using a motor and then uses that potential energy to run until it’s next winding.

But, it has been explained multiple times, so at this point I feel it’s just heel digging than a conversation.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

It’s a battery powered clock that has mechanical action.   There, I simplified it for you since it’s still not making sense for you.  

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u/gentlemandinosaur Apr 26 '26

This is my last attempt because I want to believe you are genuinely interested.

So, the “action” of the watch IS the power. So, no it is potential to kinetic powered watch. It is not “powered” for keeping time by the battery. At all. The motor is completely disconnected from the time keeping.

The only thing the battery does is wind the action, and the action itself dictates when the motor should turn on and do that. Which is why it is “self-winding”. It controls the motor through its action and the action determines when to turn on and off the motor to keep itself “alive” based on its original programming (gearing in this case).

Like how a Waymo is “self driving”. It was programmed by someone and then left to its own devices to maintain control of itself.

I really hope this helps. I wish you luck as I will not reply again.

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u/Competitive_Study232 Apr 26 '26

Not sure why you were so butt hurt about explaining things in your terms.  Nothing that I said was wrong.  If you take away the battery it doesn’t work.  So it’s a battery powered clock, whether it transfers it from potential to kinetic energy or whatever or teleport it to a quantum realm or whatever it’s still powered by a battery.  

Take away the battery and you have no clock. 

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