Year Clock

prusaprinters

What is this?This is a project that I've been wanting to make for a while, but I haven't had the time to do so because of school and classes. It's a circular calendar that is 2ft in diameter, and uses a standard clock motor and several gears to rotate an arm around the circle once every year. It also has press-fit pins and little “event”/holiday markers for every even day in each month. These have different surface layer heights, so that you can vary the color on each marker. *UPDATE(July 10th)~~ New pins have been added, along with a new lid for easier assembly.*UPDATE(September 7th 2022)~~ A new gearbox has been designed and posted. please use that one as it's much easier to assemble and print.How can I tell what day it's displaying?The 10th, 20th, and 30th of each month are marked with long lines, and the 5th, 15th, and 25th are marked with shorter lines. How accurate is it really?Very accurate. Each day is exactly 0.9856 degrees, which equals 3mm wide. Also, don't worry about having to set it back a day for that annoying February 29th every four years… I designed it so there's an extra quarter of a day dispersed throughout the entire year, therefore making it be 100% accurate. (This does have a side effect of making the calendar be up to ¾ of a day off, but it will still cross the date marks on the correct day.) Printing InstructionsTo print out the month slices; simply turn on supports for the build plate only, and add a color change after the Z Height of 5mm. Print this in whatever color or material you want to.For printing out the Snap Pins; use a layer height around 0.15mm, enable the brim, and print in a strong material such as PETG.For the gears and gearbox; Please use the new updated parts found here: link.For the alignment tool, and the hand; Print at any resolution and material that you would like. I recommend printing the hand with a lighter material (foaming filament), but because it's so thin, it shouldn't make a huge difference.Finally, for the Snap Pin Toppers; Print at either 0.15mm or 0.2mm, and add in color changes wherever you see fit. If you can't find a topper that fits your needs, let me know and I can make it!Assembly-GearboxFirst, we'll start by assembling the most important part of the clock; the gearbox. The clock motor that I found was from Amazon, and you can find it here. UPDATE! Please use the NEW and improved gearbox listed here: link. Do not follow the instructions below, except for step 6, to glue the small gear onto the clock motor. GearsetGearbox halvesHandClock MotorToolsOLD 1: Take the gearbox and the thin gear with a track cutout, and snap it into place.OLD 2: Turn the entire gearbox over, and place the motor in the cutout, and press it in all the way.OLD 3: Next, take the tiny Hex Nut that came with the motor, and screw it on using a wrench, or any other tool that fits.OLD 4: Place the second thin gear (without a track) into place with the large gear. They should snap into place.OLD 5: Place the assembled gears into their places in the box.---------------------------------------------------------------Use this step here for the new motor assembly! 6: Take the smallest gear with a hole in it, apply glue to the hole, and attach it to the clock motor. If you do not glue this gear on, the motor will lose grip on it, and it won't be able to turn the gears. Be sure to only glue it to the hour hand.---------------------------------------------------------------OLD 7: Place the single gear without a cutout in the axle into place, along with the tall double gear.OLD 8: Get the gearbox Lid, the hand, and the final gear with a slot in the axle. Push the gear through the hole in the lid, and then attach the hand to the gear.OLD 9: Place the gearbox lid ontop of the gear assembly, and tape down the hand, so it cannot move.OLD 10: If the lid doesn't fit on perfectly on the first try, move the gears around using something thin and long, or try tipping the box upside down, and shake it around to see if anything falls into place. After the lid is in place, there should be no gap between the base and the lid, if it rests on a flat surface.UPDATE: The Lid has been modified to guide the gears more easily. If you have the old version, please download V2 (It'll save you a few minutes of fiddling with it).   -Calendar CircleNext, we need to assemble the date-keeping part of the clock. Again, the table below shows all of the needed parts for this.Month SlicesSnap PinsTools1: Take two of the month slices (Jan/Feb for me), and apply glue to the recessed part of one month. Then place one of the snap pins into the overlapping hole from the next month. This hole is to help line them up properly during assembly, and for a holiday/event marker after everything is assembled.2: Line up both month slices, press firmly to glue them together, and make sure that they are lined up at both the top and bottom sides.3: Repeat for all month parts. You might want to do it in sections of 3 or 4 pieces at a time, and then glue them together after the first batch of glue is dry.-Final AssemblyFor the final assembly, you will need the calendar circle, the gearbox, and the alignment tool.Update! For the new final assembly, follow the instructions listed here. 1: Place the alignment tool inside of the circle, so that it touches October, November, and December. Take note: it's designed so that the vertical side lines up with the Dec/Jan joint, and the horizontal side is perfectly horizontal. The horizontal side will not line up with Sep/Oct joint. This is intentional for leveling the clock on a wall. If done properly, the notches on the alignment tool will line up with the 20th of each month, in the top right corner of the calendar.2: To change the position of the clock hand, remove the tape, lift the lid up just enough so that the hand can rotate, and turn it to the correct date. This might be hard to do if the date isn't a multiple of 5, so I suggest adjusting it on one of the marked days.3: Then, place tape down ontop of the hand again, tip the box over, or use the same tool from before to close the lid onto the box. You can now glue the lid on if you would like. Remember to line it back up with the alignment tool!4: Remove the tape, and now you're able to hang it on the wall, and attach the snap pins and the markers wherever you would like. Please contact me if you want a new snap pin marker that isn't included yet!Thank you for printing and assembling the Year Clock! Leave a rating, or a comment, and maybe even like the print!-Jacob