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rabbit's clocks
Under Construction / Miscellaneous
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Music Box II
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Encouraged by the success of my first music box, and inspired by the awesome wooden pipe organ of Raphi Giangiulio, Music Box II - a.k.a.Zebrapipe - is probably the most ambitious project I've ever tackled. I've worked on this for almost a year now, and I think I still have a long way to go.
This music box is a mechanized pipe organ, with 33 notes (2-1/2 full octaves), and plays one-minute tunes.
The "clockworks" turns the drum, and powers a double-acting three-bellows air supply system, which pressurizes the "air chest" (the 2x4-looking part across the front, with all the holes in it). The revolving drum actuates the keys, which open valves inside the air chest, which blows air through the (yet-unfinished) pipes, which then sing. Simple, huh? ...and all made of wood, leather and brass.
The drum is designed to be removable/interchangeable, so it could play any song. (All I have to do is design and build another drum...as if !). For now, it's going to play (all my friends guessed it) Hello, Mr. Zebra by Tori Amos.
And yes, that is chrysler, my faithful companion, sticking her pink nose in the picture.
And, yes, I'm still plugging away at this thing!
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(this picture is clickable for a larger view)
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In this back view, you can see the spring-powered "clockworks", the "Watt" fly-ball governor, the bellows system, and the drum. (as well as that ugly oil stain on the case. yikes!)
The drum is made of 33 individual "wheels". Unlike a conventional music box, the pipe organ can control the note duration (whole note, half-note, quarter-note, etc) and volume. The width of the "teeth" on these discs = the note duration (how long the valve is open); and the height = the volume (how deeply the valve is opened).
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These will all go across the front, in that top picture.
This is the part that's almost killed me! Each one of these 33 pipes has about 20 individual pieces - each pipe of different dimensions; and some of these pieces have to be accurate to a few thousandths of an inch! Not to mention the final "voicing" and tuning required.
So far, I have almost 300 hours in these babies.
They'd better sound sweet.
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the Bear Creek clock was "finished" and running beautifully - but only for about a month. It began stopping unexpectedly. It turns out that this huge stump continued to dry out, and the (cantilevered) arbors shifted enough to foul the gear mesh. I'm going to let it dry another month or so and fix it.
This clock, made of a piece of driftwood that appeared in my favorite creek, has a "paddlewheel" grasshopper escape, and a "remote" one-second compound pendulum.
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I have entirely too many projects in work...
My current "hot" job is a giant one-wheel clock.
And then there's the wooden Kit-Kat, and Foo-Foo the "peace clock". Clepsydra II. And several more that haven't made it past my computer yet.
My greatest problem is I keep thinking of another clock I want to build...
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"A man with one clock knows what time it is.
A man with many clocks isn't quite sure."
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I have clocks everywhere.
This is one wall in my breakfast room. There are 7 clocks in here. My living room has 11; my office has 6. ...My bedroom has 5, and 2 of those strike! My back porch even has 2, and there's 1 in the bathroom, 2 in the hall, and 3 in the garage. I usually keep them all wound and running (it takes about a half-hour a day). My house sounds like a Pink Floyd song, and on the hour it goes cuckoo (literally).
...But I never hear them 'til they stop.
I've given my family as many as they want. But, I'm still looking for a place to put another...
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I also collect "real" clocks. As you can probably tell from my works, I have an affection for the unusual. As a result, my collection consists of examples like a Lux Tape-Measure, a Jefferson Golden Hour, an ATO, an Ignatz Flying Pendulum, a Black Forest Cuckoo, a Waltham Car Clock, a Russian Submarine clock, an original 1958 Kit-Kat, a Clepsydra, a Benrus "steering wheel" clock, and other such peculiar mechanical marvels...
There are a lot of clocks on my wish-list, and when I can't find or afford one, I try to build it.
If I could just figure out how to build a wooden Atmos...
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Many of my works are inspired by other pieces - some classical, some contemporary. (You might even say, "copied".) But, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Thanks to all of my inspirations. I hope you're flattered rather than offended.
I've built several other clocks I have no pictures of, and have several more in various stages of design and prototyping. I'll update when I can; I hope it won't be two years again.
- rabbit
October 2006
- revised January 2007
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These are my favorite wooden clock links -
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I've been reluctant to post an email address. (I get far too much junk already.) But, I've given in - so Clayton, Marc, & Gary don't have to be my "filters".
Please don't write asking if I have plans for sale - I don't. Even though I'm an engineer, I have an un-engineer-like philosophy of "stop at good enough". My designs result in cryptic, incomplete CAD files and sketches that only I can understand. So far, I'd rather just go and cut wood than write plans. Maybe someday?
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email me
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