Elmer's Gallery of Homemade "Atomic" Clocks
All of my friends know that I love clocks and that I love films. So, for Christmas one year, two friends of mine (who don't know each other) each decided to give me a clock like the one above. They're made from actual 16mm film reels (As a projectionist, I rarely saw a 16mm reel in such perfect condition). I, of course, loved the clocks. But, eventually, I wanted to improve them, so I replaced the original movements with radio-controlled movements.
It wasn't easy. The reels are ¾ inches thick and, so far, nobody makes a radio controlled movement with a shaft that long. I had to use a "Dremel" tool to cut away part of the back of the reel so that I could place the movement inside of it. And the whole time I was cutting I was sweating over the fact that I might damage the reel in a way which would make it worthless as a clock face.
Well, never mind that... the project turned out just fine (Keep in mind that I converted a couple of dozen other styles of clocks before I attempted this one). Now, normally, I wouldn't want to put a radio-controlled movement in a clock which has no numbers and only 4 dots on the face (to indicate the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock positions). Why would you need that kind of acuracy if there's no way to tell, for example, whether it's 8 minutes after the hour or 9 minutes? In the end, I decided to do it because I've placed both of these reel clocks in my "Home Theatre" room. I've strung a piece of 16mm film between them and it's a nice touch. The added bonus is that now they are perfectly synchronized, which adds another nice touch to my home theatre. And, now that they're radio controlled, I'll never have to adjust them for daylight savings time either! (When you're a clock collector with a large collection, you're thankful to any clock which is "maintenance free" when it's time to adjust for daylight savings time.)
But, before I move on, I should caution you about clocks like this. The hands are exposed, which means that it would be very easy to throw off the hand alignment if I ever handled this clock the least bit carelessly. This wouldn't necessarily damage the movement, but it might mean I'd have to reset the movement and manually adjust the alignment again as I did when the movement was first installed. For this reason, the retailers of these movements recommend that you don't install them into any clocks which don't have a glass or plastic "crystal" to protect the hands. They also recommend that you never install these movements into a clock with a metal case, since the metal may interfere with radio reception and, thereby, prevent synchronization with the atomic clock. I knew this before I converted these 16mm Reel clocks, so it was a calculated risk. In my case, the clocks work perfectly. I can't guarantee everyone will have happy results if they "violate the rules" like I did.
This is a clock my uncle made about 20 years ago from a slice of Walnut. A couple of years ago, its original movement wore out, so I put the clock on a shelf and nearly forgot about it. Then, as soon as I found out I could buy radio controlled movements, this was the first clock I wanted to convert. The original hands fit onto the new movement (or I could still get exact replacements for the originals too) and I was able to make the clock look exactly as it did 20 years ago... with one major difference. Now it is perfectly accurate. Of all the clocks I have, I'm probably most proud of this one. It is a family heirloom and it wasn't "violated" by my modification.
Here's a simple clock which I got for free when I made a big purchase at a home furnishings store. It's not too fancy, but I liked it because it was free and because it has individual minute markers on the face (so that you can tell the difference between 8 minutes past the hour and 9 minutes, for example). This was an obvious candidate for conversion to radio control. I had to pry some staples off the back of the face in order to remove the front cover before I could replace the old movement. But this wasn't much of a challenge (I replaced the staples when I put the front cover back on). It's was already a pretty clock. Now it's perfect!
Just a note: The back of this clock is made of a thick, cardboard-like material. There was nothing back there with which I could align the movement or lock it into place (No matter how hard you tighten the ring around the shaft, the movement will still pivot a little if you twist it, thus throwing off hand alignment and making it impossible to know the correct time. Besides, it's not a good idea to put that shaft ring on too tight. You can strip the threads). So I secured the movement's position by using a little rubber cement between the movement and the "cardboard." It worked. If, for any strange reason, I ever had to remove the movement, the rubber cement is a little more forgiving than some other kinds of glue (in my humble opinion). And I only had to use a dab or two of rubber cement anyway. You may choose to use double-sided, foam tape instead of rubber cement.
I bought this neon clock a few years ago when I saw it on sale, marked off more than 50%. It was simply a "pretty" clock for my home theatre. I didn't buy it for its acuracy because the face is completely black, except for the name of the manufacturer at the "3 o'clock" position. On this clock, you can only guess the "exact" time within 3 or 4 minutes because of the lack of markings. I never dreamed I'd want to convert this to radio control. But, eventually, I decided it would be nice to know it was acurate, whether or not there were any numbers on the face. And the automatic adjustment for daylight savings time was a temptation.
However, this one was a big challenge, and a big, calculated risk too. Although this clock is mostly made of plastic, I was concerned that the neon equipment on it might interfere with radio reception. And, for all I know, it does. But I've always turned the light off overnight, and, when the light is off, the radio reception seems to be just fine.
I had to take almost every piece of this clock apart, including some of its neon components, in order to remove the original movement and in order to cut out part of the back of the case (so that the larger, radio controlled movement would fit). Again, I was sweating out the possibility of damaging something and destroying the case or the neon stuff, but it all worked out fine in the end. Also, I went to a few different stores looking for the right shade of pink paint so that I could match the new hands to the clock's original hands. In the end, everything worked out fine and, unless you know what I did, you'd never notice the clock has been modified by looking at it on the wall.
I bought this clock specifically because I wanted to convert it to radio control and install it in the main chapel area of our local church (It's one of the places where I go often and where I often find myself looking at the clock. So I built this one for my own pleasure. Also, the clock which had been in that church was rather dull). I bought this Westclox clock at K-Mart for $10. It was simple, clean and large (with a 12" diameter face) so it was perfect for the Church.
The plastic "crystal" was easier to remove than most crystals are. There was one challenge to this project, however. The black, plastic case has a small, recessed area on the back and that's where the original movement snapped into place. Once I removed the movement, I still had to do a lot of cutting with my "Dremel" tool to make room for the larger, radio controlled movement. Then there was another problem. The center hole in the case was too large for the "shaft ring" to secure the new movement. I carefully cut out the bottom of a plastic, 35mm film cannister and glued that over the original hole. I then drilled the proper size hole for the new movement shaft into the plastic piece I had added. All it took was the determination not to be discouraged by these challenges. In the end, the solutions were simple and the finished clock looked and worked wonderfully. I liked it so much, I built its twin to keep in my own house.
Later, I built another clock for another, nearby church. But this time the Westclox clock from K-Mart was out of stock. So I found an "Ingraham" clock at Wal-mart with a 12-inch face and I converted that one instead. This time, the back of the plastic case was perfectly flat and I didn't have to do any cutting with the dremel tool. However, I had to use my "rubber cement" trick again to secure the movement in place. You may choose to use double-sided, foam tape instead of rubber cement. Also, the "hanger" for this clock was an angled piece of metal which fit around the movement shaft on one end and then ran up the side and over the top of the movement. Then, the other end of this bracket had a loop into which you can put a nail or a hook or whatever is on the wall holding the clock up.
In order to make this hanger work with the new movement, I had to put the movement in upside down. Have no fear... if the movement will only fit into a clock in the upside down position, this is okay. The movement will function perfectly in this position. When you turn the clock around to mount the hands, simply ignore the fact that the movement is upside down and mount the hands in the normal, 12 o'clock position anyway. It works just fine.
Return to Elmer's Clock Project Page
© 2000