DIY 3D Printed Clock

"Good design is as little design as possible." This principal of Dieter Rams' has stuck with me as I design. My goal is to think about products in their most basic forms to prevent distraction and disruption as you work and live.

With this project, I wanted to create a timekeeping device that had all the parts to function, without the extra clutter to be functional, yet simple.

Thingiverse Download Link

Tools-
Fusion 360

This along with all my other design projects are designed in Autodesk Fusion 360. It is a free cloud based modeling software that enables you to develop ideas and into physical products. Click the link below to download a free trial of the software. I don’t think you’ll regret it. Download Fusion 360 for Free!

Boxzy CNC

Use coupon code "clock" for 5% off your order!

Clock Kit- http://amzn.to/2fZLiuu

Materials- White PLA- http://amzn.to/2uryw9J

Wood fill PLA- http://amzn.to/2uryw9J

Before jumping in to things, I like to sketch my ideas to get a feel for how they will look and work. This helps solve problems with the design that you may not have expected. If you are not familiar with perspective drawing, I would recommend watching this video by Syed Rahman.

I will start by creating a 6" inch by 6" inch square, then filleting the corners .5" inches. I will then use the create feature to extrude the shape downwards .125" inches and upwards 2" inches. Make sure to create each of these pieces as its own body.

To give the clock a unique look, I decided to taper the clock from 2.125" inches to 1.125" inches. To do this, I will create a sketch from the side with the line angled to my linking. From here, I will close the shape, then cut the body using the extrude command.

I will start to form the clock face by creating a new sketch on the side of clock. I will then create a .25" inch thick parallelogram on top of the existing base. I will then extrude this 6" inches to cover the entire body. Make sure you do not combine this piece with the base, but rather make it a "new body".

From here, I made the corners flush to the base by using the original sketch. Using the extrude command, I will cut the corners of the face. Once done, the two pieces will be flush.

Finally, I will create a .45" hole in the center of the face.

The clock I am using requires AA batteries that will eventually be replaced. To make this process easier, I wanted to create a clock with a removable face to access the battery area.

I started by creating a new sketch on the back of the clock. I then sketched 4 structures on each corer to allow space for the joint. Next, I extruded these pieces 2" inches upwards. Using my previous sketch, I was able to cut the top of these pieces off with the offset command. This allowed them to be flush with the slanted angle of the clock.

Create a new sketch on the base of the clock for the female joints. Make 4 circles centered in each of the structures, and extrude them until they are hollow. Then go ahead and extrude them again to make the bottom solid.

From your previous operation, there should be a sketch on the back side of the clock face. This was created when the holes for the base were cut. I will use the circles from that sketch along with the ones from the original base to loft the male joints together. After repeating this process for all 4 legs, I will cut the front two pieces .4" inches, and the back to legs 1.25" inches. This will make all of the male joints .75" inches long.

With all of the joints being at an equal size, I will use the chamfer tool to create to make it easier to assemble. The final step for making the clock face is to offset each of the joints .02" inches. This is necessary to account for the tolerances in 3D printing.

After looking at how most artwork is hung(above), I wanted to make a similar mount incorporated inside of the clock backing.

I started by making a new sketch on the back of the clock. I knew that I wanted to mount it using a thumbtack or a nail, so I made the hole .354" inch diameter with a .4" inch long section to slide the screw into. After extruding this, I made another sketch around the hole to leave a gap for the screw or thumbtack head.

To get a better idea for how the clock will look, I rendered my model in Fusion 360's rendering workspace. By changing the appearance, I was able to decide on making a wood backing with a white plastic face.

My desktop machine of choice is Boxzy CNC. It is a versatile 3 in 1 tool that gives you a new level of possibility that didn't exist before in a 3d printer or desktop CNC machine.

Get free shipping on your Boxzy machine by using code "clock" at checkout

I make these Instructables to spread my ideas about design and making to more people. My goal is to empower other to use tools like Fusion 360 and desktop machines to see how easy it is to make your own products from the comfort of your home. If you have any questions regarding this project, Fusion 360, or design in general feel free to message me :)