Rating: 
Summary: Not for the novice or afternoon crafter.
Review: I purchased a copy of this paper clock in 1985 and set to work building it. I was amazed at the history and ingenuity which went into the design of the clock. Things were going well until I reached the main gear. It turned out the drawing was badly made; the teeth were not evenly set or consistant in size. After a couple frustrating hours I wound up with a useless gear and a useless clock. I kicked the project in the head, tossed it in the trash and thought nothing more of it for almost 15 years. But now I'm ready to give it another go, and this time I understand the scope of the project ahead. If you purchase this book, be prepared to take it one component at a time; this is not a week-end project. The book suggests using beads as bushings for the axles to avoid wear. This is exellent advice. When you get to the main gears, be prepaired to layout your own gears using basic drafting tools and drafting skills. Take care that all folds are sharp and square to avoid twisting of the framework. Expect the project to take anywhere from two months to a year. Don't rush, just construct one component at a time and then put the parts away until you are ready to work on it again. So long as you know what you are getting into I feel this book is well worth the cover price. The fundamental understanding you will gain on how such gravity-driven clocks work is itself worth the [item price]. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: A lot of fun for patient people
Review: I'm building this clock now, and having a ball. Nonetheless, I'm here ordering a second copy because I messed up a key part--you have to be extraordinarily precise in assembling this clock. I have a few bits of advice:- Save yourself some shipping costs and order two of these now. - Use Aileen's Tacky Glue as your adhesive. - Use as little glue as possible (very little). - Have lots of clamps and weights on hand. I am using spring clothespins and lots of coins. I think surgical hemostats would help a lot, if I had any. - Be liberal with X-Acto blades. I may well use 50 on this project. - Spend no more than an hour a day on this. Personally, if I spend more than that, I get impatient and make mistakes.
Rating:
Summary: Good study model
Review: This is an interesting design for a clock. I put mine together in about a month (working several hours a night). When I noticed a couple of design flaws. The gears are not going to mesh very well, no matter how well you put it together. Also, since you must use wire for the pivots the clock hands are going to be extremely difficult to get to move properly since you cannot securely fasten the gears to the pivots. However, it looks great when you finish it! I did not put the cover on because I like to see the gears. Since I don't use mine as a clock I painted the gears and use it as reference for when I build wooden clocks. If you want to make a working clock I strongly suggest looking into making a wooden one. There are lots of free plans available online. I recommend a website called Gary's Wooden Clocks. This website has lots of information, tips, clock plans, downloads and links for the clock building enthusiast.
In short, this is a good introduction to clock making but is not its self a good clock.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is no good!
Review: This project requires considerable time and patience but you *can* end up with a clock that really works. As previously mentioned I think the best strategy to to work about an hour or so each evening, it took me too months to complete the clock with extra hours on weekends. It works! The key is the gears. The main issue is the concentricity of the gear wheels -- in other words, their outer edge rotates a constant distance from the center. Get this wrong and the wheels will bind as they rotate against one another. Two problems: finding the center, and constructing the gear wheels consistently. The first gear you meet is the main drive wheel, it took me a week to construct. Put an axl in it and spin it to make sure it's concentric as you build. Make sure the inner mesh gears of the secondary gear (and others) are consistent (no teeth wider or narrower than others, trim them with a exacto knife if needed. Tip: they should be bent into an straight accordian shape before glue, this way you can see that all teetch are even. The main gear and secondary innner gear are most important -- up to the escapement. The later hand gears are no problem. Once complete you need to patch, trim, reposition axles, cut... Note that on the book cover the squished main gear teeth that the author adjusted to make the wheel concentric!
Rating:
Summary: A very good book!
Review: This project requires considerable time and patience but you *can* end up with a clock that really works. As previously mentioned I think the best strategy to to work about an hour or so each evening, it took me too months to complete the clock with extra hours on weekends. It works! The key is the gears. The main issue is the concentricity of the gear wheels -- in other words, their outer edge rotates a constant distance from the center. Get this wrong and the wheels will bind as they rotate against one another. Two problems: finding the center, and constructing the gear wheels consistently. The first gear you meet is the main drive wheel, it took me a week to construct. Put an axl in it and spin it to make sure it's concentric as you build. Make sure the inner mesh gears of the secondary gear (and others) are consistent (no teeth wider or narrower than others, trim them with a exacto knife if needed. Tip: they should be bent into an straight accordian shape before glue, this way you can see that all teetch are even. The main gear and secondary innner gear are most important -- up to the escapement. The later hand gears are no problem. Once complete you need to patch, trim, reposition axles, cut... Note that on the book cover the squished main gear teeth that the author adjusted to make the wheel concentric!
Rating:
Summary: An absolute blast!
Review: While this may be premature (I'm only on piece 40), I'm having such a great time constructing the clock, whether it actually works or not seems inconsequential. As others have mentioned, an X-Acto knife is essential if you really want to do it right. This fact alone precludes children attempting this study in patience. I've seen some horrific X-Acto blade accidents from folks skilled in their use. I kind of like the idea that the author does not take you by the hand as you build the clock. It's almost as if he wants you to experience the same discoveries he did back in 1947 (as the author's note explains)when he happened upon the book on which this clock is based.I also must mention what a value this book is. For a small investment I will have days of entertainment building the clock and explaining its inner workings to my kids.
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