North Coast Imports, Inc.

A Binary Clock is a way of displaying the digital time in binary code. For example... Reading a BCD clock: Add the values of each column of LEDs to get six decimal digits. There are two columns each for hours, minutes and seconds. Here's a fun interpretation of the idea from Instructibles : The Flock Clock uses male and female drinking birds to display time. Binary addition of the female birds (left to right) yields the hour. Binary addition of the male birds (multiplied by five) yields the minute--within five minutes. An Arduino processor provides the signals needed to drive Peltier cells which heat the fluid in the birds and causes the bobbing motion. Here are some other Binary Clock projects by intrepid electronic experimenters, including an analog one. [via Makezine ]

We, at North Coast Imports, love the idea of new and artistic displays of important information. After all, this is the essence of a mechanical clock! Here's a great example from Sean Carney : I took an old clock, removed the mechanism and replaced it with an Arduino (micro-controller) that checks the weather on the Environment Canada website every fifteen minutes and update the hands accordingly. It also has a web server so I can check the weather and update the settings from a web browser. Via: Makezine

Here's a great design, won the NAWCC 2009 Craft Contest, First Place and People's Choice Awards. From Bower Clock Company : "The Vinion was completed in May 2009 and was awarded People's Choice in the Craft Competition of the National Association of Watch And Clock Collectors 2009 National Convention. Nathan Bowers also was awarded first place in the single train clock category. The intricate spoke design was created by Nathan and each gear was hand pierced using a jeweler's saw. There are over 420 piercings in the clock's gears, weight shell and pulley mechanism. An Invar 36 pendulum rod and maintaining power wheel add to the accuracy of this 10 day, weight driven clock. The case style, similar to that of the Solyn, was designed by Nathan Bowers and built in conjunction with Pete Norris. It is made from Bubinga wood."

How does a cuckoo know how many times to call? Why is my clock only calling once when the hands say 3:00? These are great questions, and the ingenious works of a mechanical clock can do it, but a few things have to be in proper adjustment. Here are some things to watch out for to keep your clock working, and keep your cuckoo calling the right number. First, check the hands. We already have an article about the proper alignment of a cuckoo clocks hands. Second, check the rack. Here you can see a picture of one of our cuckoo clocks with the dial removed. Circled you see a black, sickle-shaped part that we call the "rack." This part has a certain number of teeth on it that are counted by the brass pin to the right of the part. Sometimes, through excessive handing upside down, this rack can get stuck in a position that is too high for the pin to count its teeth. In the picture below, you are looking at the clock mechanism from the back. You can see the top part of the rack...

On the back side of the dial there are levers. Two levers behind the 3:00 and one behind the 9:00. The one behind the 9:00 is the chime shutoff. The one further behind the 3:00 is the auto night shutoff. The lever at the front (behind the 3:00) is the date advance lever. Please have your customer follow this procedure in shutting the clock. 1. Move the minute hand COUNTER-clockwise until both hands show 6:30 - that is, both hands should point downward. 2. Click the date advance lever until the date shows one day BEFORE the current date. That is, if today is the 12th, advance the date to the 11th. 3. Carefully move the minute hand CLOCKWISE until the next quarter-hour mark. Wait for the clock to finish chiming and then turn the chime OFF temporarily by engaging the lever behind the 9:00. 4. Now that the chime is shut off, you can freely advance the minute hand without having to wait for the clock to chime. Keep advancing the minute hand CLOCKWISE until the date turns over to t...

The Bahnhäusle (sometimes "Bahnwächterhäusle") design has been an incredibly popular design since 1850. Friedrich Eisenlohr of Furtwangen, Germany first submitted the design as part of a contest for the Grand Duchy of Baden. His inspiration was a railroad guard's house overrun by vines and leaves.