Show HN: Glashütte Trash Clock – A 30-minute pendulum clock made from trash
Artist Niklas Roy built a fully functioning 30-minute mechanical pendulum clock out of trash during a watchmaking residency in Glashütte, Germany.
read it An entertaining and educational build log that breaks down horological mechanics using found objects.
summary
Artist Niklas Roy spent a watchmaking residency in Glashütte, Germany, constructing a 30-minute mechanical clock entirely from local trash. The article details how he designed a seconds pendulum, a paperclip escapement, a paint-can weight drive, and a bottle-gong sound mechanism. He achieves an impressive 0.4% timekeeping accuracy and uses the project to muse on the complexities of global time scales.
key points
- The clock uses a paperclip escapement and a paint-can weight drive to run for 30 minutes with 0.4% accuracy.
- It features a glass bottle gong and a random fortune wheel complication triggered just before running out of energy.
- The author explores historical time standards and playfully proposes GTC as a new absolute reference clock.
who should read it
Makers, horology enthusiasts, and engineers looking for a whimsical, creative build log.
discussion warm
consensus
Commenters universally praise the project's charm and ingenuity, pivoting into discussions on timekeeping standards and the upcoming abolition of leap seconds.
Note the paperclips in the margins of the page, as you scroll to the bottom.
And how they interact with your mouse cursor.
Ingenious!
Thank you Roy. You made my day! :)
Points out a clever web design detail where paperclips in the article margins interact with the user's cursor.
Generated by an LLM from the article and thread. Check the sources before relying on it.