This is a free pendulum clock. This movement is based on Woodward's design with a free or master pendulum and slave pendulum. It is fully leveled and skeletonized.

Photography by Steve Murphy.

This is a two-train, time and strike, bracket clock with a separate pull quarter repeating train. It was built in the style of an English bracket clock, ca. 1700. The entire movement was designed and made by the entrant from his original sketches and drawings. The pull quarter repeating system is a compilation of ideas found in "Hobson's Choice." It has five finely tuned and ringed pillars, twin gut fusees, a knife-edged verge escapement with book pallets and mock pendulum, pull quarter repeating on six bells and flirt activated striking on a further bell. The bells, mainsprings, fusee cord, and most of the screws are the only purchased items.

Photography courtesy of contestant.

This is a double pendulum clock. The double pendulums, sharing a unique suspension support, move in resonance. There are two independent and separate movements. The left movement shows mean and apparent solar time, with apparent solar time indicated by a golden hand following the minute hand on its path around the dial. The right movement shows sidereal time, indicated on a 24-hour dial in Breguet numerals, and Moon phase. There is spherical moonphase indication with a lunar train error of 2.6 seconds in 3.5 years. The pinwheel escapement has jeweled pallets. There is a total of 71 jewels in both movements. The movements are fitted on a brass plate with provision for leveling in two planes using three large brass set knobs, each with locking knobs; each brass set knob screws onto the massive brass mounting plate. The weight cases and pulleys are goldplated.

Photography by Steve Murphy.

The inspiration for this clock was a August 1998 Bulletin article by Jeffery Short that explained the grasshopper escapement in great detail. Don Couch decided to make a grasshopper escapement movement so that a full-length seconds-beating pendulum would swing a minimum of one degree in each direction. The pallet arms are attached with leaf springs instead of pivots. This avoids the need for offset weights and control springs to force their direction and keep them in position. He used magnetic damping to absorb the oscillation of the pallet arms when they release from the escape wheel. He also used a knife edge suspension for this clock. He chose Huygens endless belt drive working directly on the escape wheel shaft to power the escapement. This type of drive provides smooth power even during winding and does not need ratchets or added maintaining power. The winding motor is from a small cassette player and the worm gear is from an electric clock movement. To keep focus on the escapement he used slave movements to show the time. The slaves are triggered by a photo sensor that monitors the pendulum movement. To generate the proper alternating polarity pulses for the slaves and to control the winding of the clock, he used an electronic micro-controller. The entire circuit only needs the micro-controller, one transistor, and a few discrete components. It is contained within the winding gearbox and is powered by two "D" batteries.

Photography by Steve Murphy.

A slave (daughter) clock case replicating the form, shape, size, and materials of a Dutch master (mother) clock, ca. 1918. The case is made of solid oak and poplar, shaped with the use of a table saw, band saw, jointer, router, lathe, band sander, and hand tools. The brass hanger and electric terminal blocks were made by the entrant. The glass retainer of the door is of steam bent oak. The half round top is made of six pieces of oak, mitered, glued, and then band sawed and sanded to shape.

Photography by Steve Murphy.

Jim Haubert made this depth tool to help with construction of a precision regulator he built. The material came from a bronze bushing. He never cared for the standard spring and adjustment methods so he designed this tool. When he designed the wheels for the regulator, this tool was too small so extension arms were made. They required more precision than the depth tool to allow them to be removable and still accurate. No CNC machining was used.

Photography courtesy of contestant.

Sol Kron built this depthing tool to help in building a skeleton clock in 1977. The entrant also ground the cutters. All parts were made by the entrant.

Photography by Steve Murphy.

This piece features four, 18-inch skeletonized roman numeral dials. All  parts of the dial assembly were handmade and hand painted. The distribution box with gears is a small copy of an original E. Howard tower clock distribution box, which is attached by rods to the motion works and dial hands. The motion works and the dial hands are also made from scratch. The posts holding the center plate are hand cut and machined. The bell was purchased and anchored to a handmade arch. The bell hammer is a handmade copy of a skeleton steeple clock.

Photography by Steve Murphy.

Chapter 190 restored the original 1929 Seth Thomas model no. 18, three-train tower clock installed in the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. The clock was completely overhauled and the strike and the chime trains, which had never operated, were made operational. A microset timer and atmospheric sensors were installed. Readings from the sensors are available via the internet.

Photography courtesy of Chapter 190.