Giant Pendulum Clock Amazes Shop Visitors

Giant Pendulum Clock Amazes Shop Visitors FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 28-1-2 Harry Benjamin doesn't have any excuse for losing track of time when working in his farm shop. That's because one entire wall is taken up by a giant 16-ft. pendulum clock he made out of old farm machinery parts. The clock's pendulum is a lugged, 5-ft. dia. steel wheel from a 1930's IH tractor. The clock has a 2-ft. dia. face and four chimes made from 7-in. dia. oxygen bottles. They're painted gold and cut to different lengths to make different sounds. "It draws a lot of attention whenever anyone walks into the room," says Benjamin, of Shelby, Montana. He told FARM SHOW the secret of his clock. Although the pendulum moves back and forth, it's really just for show. The clock movement itself is electric. All the clock's components are attached to steel brackets that are screwed to the wall beams. The pendulum wheel is supported by a 2 1/2-in. dia. pipe, which rides on a roller bearing at the center of a serrated steel wheel located just below the clock face. Benjamin made the serrated wheel by welding metal fins onto an old implement wheel rim. The serrated wheel is attached by a horizontal steel bar to another wheel with weights suspended from it. The weights ride on a chain that leads over to the serrated wheel and put constant tension on the wheel fins to keep the pendulum moving. A rope attached to the bottom end of the chain is used to rewind the clock. "The weight keeps tension on the fins and is what keeps it all going," says Benjamin. "The clock stops whenever the weight contacts the floor. When that happens, I use the chain to pull the weights clear back to the top again. Every time the serrated wheel clicks it lowers the weights an inch or so." The chimes are not working yet but Benjamin plans to make them sound every hour. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harry J. Benjamin, 205 S. Devon Rd., Shelby, Montana 59474 (ph 406 432-2196 or 406 460-2196).

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