Well it’s that time of year again, Daylight Saving Time. For those of you who hate coming home from your 9-5 job only to find that daylight has already passed, this is great news! In honor this extravagant event, we thought we would present to you our favorite 3D printed clocks. After all, if it weren’t for the clock, we wouldn’t have an opportunity to experience turning them forward — at least for those of us in most states and territories in North America, parts of Western Europe, some of South America, very little of Africa, and about one third of Australia.
Number Six Clock
This beautiful design was created by Clayton Boyer, and then 3D printed by a man named John Kennedy. Boyer typically is known for his clocks which he designs for woodworkers, but this one took a turn toward 3D printing with the help of Kennedy. Boyer’s clocks are all very interesting, in that most of them don’t utilize any electronics at all, including this one.
“My clocks are powered mainly by gravity, and only a couple of my designs have any electronic or electrical parts,” Boyer tells 3DPrint.com. “My usual customers are scrollsawers, but within the last few years there has been an explosion of home cnc and laser machines, and my designs fit nicely into those modes of creating projects also. It is only recently that there has been interest by owners of 3D printing machines.”
Twist Desktop Clock
This design was created by someone who goes by the alias “Freshfiber”, and is available to download for free at the Cubify store. It prints in two parts, with the outer section being printed in ABS plastic while the inner section is printed in PLA. Because of the fact that the inner and outer sections are printed separately, this means that you can use complementary colors to make quite the unique looking device.
Chained Sundial
Who needs a modern-day clock when you can have a 3D printed sundial to tell you the time? Better yet, this sundial is just $17.71 on Shapeways. This device is based on the chain design of the equinoctial sundial at the St. Katharine Docks in London, England. If you leave in Seattle, or another cloudy area on the globe, you may want to forego printing this device.
Japanese Retro Nylon Clock
Perhaps the most unique design for a 3D printed clock that we have seen yet, this was created by a Japanese electronics manufacturer called Inter-Culture. Printed with nylon resin, they use Nixie tubes to show the time as well as the radio station you are tuned into. Unfortunately though, unless you have plenty of money at your disposal, you probably won’t be purchasing one of these. They start at a whopping $1,325 and go up from there. More information on this unique design can be found at inventorspot.
The Cuckoo Clock
This is probably our favorite. If you are familiar with the traditional German cuckoo clock, this takes that traditional design and recreates it through 3D printing. In fact, German company Stilnest recruited six artists from all around the world to help create this incredible clock. This clock actually doesn’t tell time. Instead of striking every hour, it strikes everytime someone tweets the hashtag #stilnest. While this project dates back to 2013, we are not sure who the owners are right now or if the little birds still come out every time a tweet calls for it.
So don’t forget to turn your clocks forward an hour tomorrow morning at 2:00 AM. Let us know which of these 3D printed clock designs you like best. Discuss in the 3D Printed clocks forum thread on 3DPB.com.
