Cyberpunk larva clock

I've found this clock at a flea market. it was severely damaged inside, but was still staying positive on the outside. I decided to repair it and give it another life.

After some research I found that this clock belonged to a Cadillac de Ville 62 series car, manufactured between 1961 and 1964.

I glued the board together with epoxy, and reinforced it with a piece of metal that I had laying around. I also cleaned it and lubricated with watch oil.

This old automobile clock is largely a mechanical winding clock. But the spring makes it run for about a minute or so. After that, when the spring returns to its unwound position, it makes two electrical contacts touch each other, which closes the electrical circuit, and a strong electromagnet, powered by a 12v car battery, shoots the spring back into a wound position, giving it energy for another minute of work. Quite simple and fascinating. This is why these clocks have a loud clicking sound every minute. But when you're zooming in your Cadillac along the highway, you don't care about these minor noises.

The back side of the clock had an irregular shape, so it was a bit painful to design a mount for it. Took quite a few attempts and careful measuring.

I found it much easier to design and print independent parts that I would then glue in place together. This way I could allow for some measurement error and still have a piece that matches the clock shape.

Once I had this part done, I started to think what the rest of the clock body could look like. Drew a few sketches, which ranged from an airplane to insects.

While continuing to think about the form, I decided to implement the function. I realized that while the clock originally required a powerful 12V accumulator, it can run even from single 9V battery, but when I put two of them in a row to get 18V, I get a bit stronger and reliable winding impulse. I created a simple scheme with two batteries and a switch to break the circuit. Why there's a switch to turn the clock off? Because it showcases the principle of how the clock works: I can turn it on, make it work for a minute, then have it stopped, then run it again. So it's more of an interactive sculpture, but one can make a scheme where the clock is powered all the time and actually serves as a real working clock.

Once I settled on a shape, I started printing parts. Again, it was much easier to print smaller parts, then glue them together with epoxy, piece by piece validating that the shape comes along as I expect.

I also wanted the clock to be serviceable, so I designed a twist-and-lock mechanism that allowed me to take it apart.

This was the intermediate result: the clock itself, ticking and looking like a larva.

But that was not the end. The clock shape is rather unusual, and it can't stand on a shelf by its own, so it needed some proper display stand.

After searching in a pile of random parts, I have found a massive steel clamp to use as a base. With a couple of 3D-printed arms, the stand was born:

I used modern lamp furniture (joints that can be rotated, nuts, etc.) as support.

And here's the final result: the clock on its stand:

From the front, it looks like some electrical shaving unit from 1960s.

And the side view fully shows its alien nature:

Some more photos from different angles:

I didn't finish 3D-printed parts anyhow, since I liked a combination of the layered texture and polished chrome parts.

Hope you enjoyed the project. Here's a 360-degree view of the finished project.

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