Polish joke...no way! Glenn you know me better than that. There is more to the old Arsenal Tower Clock than you could ever imagine. Honestly all of my Tech Trivia post are done strictly in the "spirit of education". With that being said...what is your answer? You are an academically trained engineer...this very mechanical question should be right down your alley. Take a stab at it!
Hey, I have spent longer in retirement foregetting my technical expertise than the time I spent studing it in school. Besides, I don't know what kind of escapement (bearings, etc.)is used and whether it is energized by springs, drop weights, or wind energy... important to the mechanical advantage required to wind the mechanism.
This is called "smoke and mirrors" to put the "ball" back in your court.
Donna, why are you aiding and abbetting Randy in embarrassing me? Careful or I will complain to Clayton.
>Glenn, I would only give this trivia question hint to just an elite few... this will help with your soon to be submitted answer...(from my clock history source)....A large crank pulls two stone weights, fastened to cables which extend four stories through a shaft....
Ok Glenn, get your slide rule out of mothballs and take a shot at this trivia question...Your life will never be happier if you don't...
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Re: Tech Trivia Question No. 18 -- Donna Ray '51, 07:03:04 06/12/09 Fri
I want a picture of that crank/weights mechanism! How many times does it have to be cranked? Do they then have to crank it down? How much does each stone weight weigh?
Now, I say 45 minutes; remember the crankers are probably talking to each other all the time.
Thanks for participating, but sorry your answer is wrong. To get inside the Arsenal tower to get those photo's would probably take an "act of congress". I'm thinking the clock still works...but runs a tad bit slow.
Ha, another trick question. In reality no one had to wind the clock. Someone did, however, have to descend into the subterranean nether regions under the clock tower to open the sluice where water from the underground offshoot of Pogue's Run would be diverted to spill over a water wheel which was attached to a deceptively simple mechanism that would, in effect, "wind the clock".
Once in the late 1920s the stone weights somehow managed to free fall down their shaft resulting in time itself being run backwards several hours.
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Re: Tech Trivia Question No. 18 -- Randall K. Wilson (1970), 09:38:07 06/12/09 Fri
Mike, take your meds as prescribed by your physician.
I think the herbs provided by my root doctor might have something to do with my ability to ascertain facts that have, heretofore, been hidden from normal mortals.
Excerpt from a October 19, 1939 Arsenal Cannon Newspaper article by John D. Williams entitled THIS SCHOOL OF OURS The Arsenal Clock--A Tech Relic
It takes about four or five minutes to wind the clock. A large crank pulls two stone weights, fastened to cables which extend four stories through a shaft.
The rest of the story...
It is my engineering guess that the clock was wound by an electric motor by 1939 which allowed it to be accomplished so quickly. I doubt winding could have been done that fast manually... unless 10,000 gerbils in a cylinder were used.
Decided to do a G search. Found the following clock info:
"The clock works, enclosed in a glass case on the sixth floor of the tower, are wound by hand, taking four to five minutes to wind. The heavy weights extend down two stories through a shaft. The clock was installed July 6, 1867. A huge bell is mounted on the tower. The clock faces are six feet in diameter. The hands have been replaced twice: the first two sets were of wood; the last of metal.
This Arsenal clock was the clock-setter for residents of Woodruff Place. Once, when the clock stopped, workmen found that a Yellow Hammer had become entangled in one of the wheels. When the bell began ringing again, neighbors were heard to remark, "It was like getting a letter from home."
In 1979, while working with the campus electrician, Don Yarnell, it was my weekly responsibility to climb those creeky ole stairs to wind the clock.
Those scary, leaning, stairs led me back in time. But even back then, we used a very large electric drill motor to do the winding. I think a handle hung on the wall inside the glass enclosure.
I recall the stair climb more than the number of turns.
Re: Tech Trivia Question No. 18 (answer) -- Randall K. (Randy) Wilson (1970), 14:49:07 06/14/09 Sun