How to Make a Clock Pinion

No matter how long you stare at the clock, it's not going to move unless you have a pinion that works properly. The clock's pinion is the set of small gears that turn the inner mechanisms of the clock. Making the pinion of a clock is no simple task, but it can be done with the proper cutting tools and some precision craft work. Creating the first pinion from brass and a second from steel allows you to get the measurements as precise as possible.

Brass rod
Steel rod
Arbor press
Tape measure
Metal file
Emery paper

Instructions

- 1
  Set the brass rod in place on an arbor press, and set the press at the required diameter to match the size of the pinion you are getting ready to cut.
- 2
  Heat the arbor until it is dark blue in color.
- 3
  Wrap a tape measure around a chuck, and then scribe lines on the cylindrical metal piece that you intend to make into your pinion. Mark these off at the appropriate distance needed for your pinion to work properly. You will need to measure each line as precisely as possible.
- 4
  Cut into the metal using your arbor so that the cut is made at the halfway point between each line.
- 5
  Place the pinion cylinder between a pair of vice jaws, and then increase the size of each initial saw cut all the way down to the bottom of each leaf.
- 6
  Cut a small gauge using a piece of flat brass that is the width of the pinion's original leaves. Make the gauge by marking lines at right angles to the face and then doing a saw cut down to about half the depth of the old leaves. Create a wider cut by using a flat file to open each cut until it matches the width of the pinion leaves.
- 7
  Widen the leaves on the pinion using the same method until the leaves match those on the gauge.
- 8
  Repeat the entire process using steel instead of brass.
- 9
  Smooth each pinion using emery paper that has metal backing.

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