The first thumbnail in the adjacent gallery reproduces the page devoted to this prize winning model in the Meccano 1914-15 Book of Prize Models. The other successful entries in this competition: Motor Chassis, Loom and Pendulum Clock mark the commencement of serious modelling in the Meccano system. They are also the fountainheads of streams of modelling subjects that are to recur in the manuals, instruction leaflets and Meccano Magazines up to the demise of Binns Road.
As far as I am aware, this competition entry is the first documented clock made with Meccano. Having said that, I suppose I should add the caveat that one never knows what will turn up next and there may well be earlier recorded mechanisms that are so far undiscovered. The clock, itself, is quite an achievement, given the state of the system at this stage of its history.
When I first looked at the Wood clock I discounted it on the basis that the ratio of 12:1 needed for the motion work could not be obtained with the range of gearing available at that time and so the display would never have been accurate.
There the matter would have remained, but for a chance enquiry about the clock by a Dutch member of the Spanner Group. Dave Denner asked me what I knew about it and foregoing was the gist of my reply. Part of the query related to whether it could be built and whether it would run. My answer to this was it should be possible to reconstruct the clock from the two views available. As to whether it went, I supposed it could be made to work but I wasn’t really sure. However, my curiosity had been piqued.
A first step was to consult the Appendix to HCS Volume 6. The list of the Contents of Outfits for 1914 seemed the best place to start, given the timing of the competition - the 1914-15 Northern winter. Careful comparison suggested that an augmented Outfit Number Four was sufficient to build the clock frame. A few pennies for extra strips and many shillings worth of extra gears as well as a clockwork motor of the period were also required.
At about this time, Nick Rodgers, Editor of the Runnymede Guild Gazette, posted that about 25 years ago, the late Noel Ta'bois had written some notes on the Wood Clock. Nick said that had published them in an early issue of the WLMS Newsletter. He confirmed that Noel's notes provided enough information to reconstruct the clock. This was the confirmation I needed. I decided to attempt a reconstruction myself, and compare notes with Noel's version after the clock was finished.
In order to make things interesting I decided to use parts from the 1914-15 period (or earlier) where I had them. The photos show that in the process, a part that was straight but exhibited some surface rust won out over those with nice plating but having manufacturing flaws or other physical damage.
