Welcome to the first installment of a multiple installment on how to building your very own cuckoo clock. This portion we are actually going to talk about what makes a cuckoo clock tick, the clock works. If you don’t understand the clock works, building the actual clock will be difficult, so it’s important you “get it.” After all, we must crawl before we walk. It is important to note that you will need to be able to perform basic wood working (basically building a bird house)and to be able to do some wood carving. Don't worry, though it can be difficult, it really isn't as hard as it looks.

Figure 1

At right you will see the Figure 1. This is the face of the clock work, in other words it’s the portion that faces out of the clock. If you are going to build a clock, I suggest you find a nice working clock work. Ebay actually has some good ones on it, but you must be careful, because you can just as easily get stuck with a dud. I have taken the liberty to mark important parts of the cock you should be aware of.

A: This is the Cuckoo, they come in different types but the one shown here is the most common. Each Cuckoo should have a metal bracket at it’s feet with two holes on ether side. These holes will hook up with a rod that when the bird comes forward, opens the door to the clock. You may note that the bird is attached to a long arm, this arm is driven by the right chain in a two chain system (the one on view and the type we are talking about.)

B: this is the black wedge that is sticking out and attached to a long black arm. Around 5 minutes till the hour our half hour, this arm will begin to raise, which will move the arm to the right of the flywheel marked E to the position seen in this photo. Once it has moved, D (it is the arm that looks like it has saw teeth on it), no longer being held up will drop to it’s current position, or as far as C will let it.

C: You will note that C is attached to the pin for the hands, this is by no means an accident. When D drops, it will fall to the depth that C is set to. The shorter the depth, the less the clock will run through a chime cycle. So the highest point is for 1, and the clock would go through one cycle. The clock here appears to be at about 8.

Figure 2

E: Once the above has happened, it allows the chain drive on the right to begin to run. The right side of the clock (viewer’s right that is) drives the clock cycles while the left side drives the pendulum. (Note: The pendulum does not drive the clock, it only regulates the speed at which the clock runs.) When the right side weight drops, it in turn, turns a series of gears that drives the fly wheel marked E. E has a small rod that sticks out just off of center (you can actually see it almost touching the back side of the middle of the E). When the wheel turns, this will raise D incrementally. As E is shaped somewhat like an ovular cheese wedge with a piece taken out of it, the post on the arm to the right of e will occasionally drop into the void in E. This will drop the foot on the arm to the right, and eventually, slide it under the section of D marked with teeth, stopping the cuckoo process.

Confused yet? Don’t worry, the front part is the most complicated.

Next you will see a picture (figure 2) of the back side of the clock. We have marked A again for consistency’s sake. F is the swing of the pendulum. It is attached to a bracket that limits the speed at which the now right side chain drives (again, we assume we are talking about the viewer’s right.)

G: These are the two hooks that stick out to the side of the clock. These drive the bellows, which produces the cuckoo sound. We’ll have more on that latter. They are hooked directly up to the left I, or the chain drive. Also hooked up to the left I is H, which is the hammer for the gong. That’s really it for the back of the clock. Also included is a picture of the top of the clock work for your convince.

Also, for your general FYI, here are some things you may need to build your clock, or a parts list.
1 working clock work (2 chain type)
2 chains
2 weights
1 cuckoo (if not provided)
2 bellows
1 Gong
1 pendulum
1 minute hand
1 hour had
1 hinge
Wood (depends on how big the clock is)
Clock face (unless you plan on making your own)

Next step we will come up with a plan for your clock.