The frames - part 1

I`m having a break from wheel cutting for a few days and I`m going to put some time into the frame. I am roughly following the order that Colin says to put it together in, in his book "Clockmaking for the Model Engineer".

The frame will need to be cut out of 5mm engravers brass and both front and back need to be identical. Pivot holes in the frame will need to be drilled together when the time comes so it is essential that the plates can be aligned quickly and accurately when needed for drilling. This is done by using brass taper pins shown in the picture. A pin is driven into the front frame at the top and bottom, the front is then polished off so the pin is invisible from the front view and a small "stub" left on the back side. This stub corresponds to a hole on the back plate allowing easy and accurate aligning. The picture shows the universal taper pins and the brass plates. These thick plates where the most expensive part of the clock:



The plans I recieved are perfectly to scale so I did a photocopy, cut out a template and stuck it to one of the plates whilest clamping them together. I have seen this method used before and it is perfectly acceptable for the plates. The pallet is also roughed out in a similar way when the time comes. The plates were bolted together with M4 screws countersunk at the back side. I will then be roughing this out tomorrow on my brother-in-laws saw but I will be leaving on the little bolt tabs. I`ll cut these off right at the very end, clamp the plates together with the locating pins and finish the plates fully.



And that is where I am at right now. I`ll hammer home the taper pins next and then rough the shape out ....

Thanks for looking.