Rocking Ship Clock - the Mechanism

The final design included three rows of waves in front of the ship, with the front row having larger waves and more side to side motion. The second row had smaller waves with less motion, and the third row had the smallest waves and the least motion. The ship was still mounted on a pivot, but instead of it support coming from the side, it was mounted to the back plate. Each row of waves was hung on threads at each end for very little friction and resistance to movement. The ship was mounted on a pin like those used for Hot Wheels axles, which also minimized friction. One early concern with this concept was whether the waves and ship would move consistently or have random flutter since they were not constrained in any way other than the threads, pins and linkages to the crutch extension.

The first prototype was made from an aluminum can that would be quick and easy to cut. I did find out that if the row of waves had a bow, it would cause it to rotate from the weight being offset from the line between the ends. This was not an issue for the final which was made of thicker steel, and the phenomenon actually helped me fine tune the waves to mate with their pins. Also, the concern about random flutter proved to be unfounded as each piece moved exactly as desired.

This is an early sketch close to the final design, but had two rows of waves in front of the ship and one behind. The one behind was eventually moved to in front of the ship.

Pieces were rough cut using a wet saw for floor tiles, and details were added using a cut off wheel and hand filing.

Here is the front face after being rough cut. The ship is still the aluminum can version.

Here are the final pieces after cutting and priming , except for the back plate.

A quick evaluation of the painted scene uncovered a significant flaw with the scene. The waves on the left and right sides of the front piece would not be moving. I changed the design to include the thatched stone cottage to block the view of the waves, and the tree had to grow a thicker trunk. This image still included the early ship.