Clockmaker Rick Stanley turns ordinary objects into extraordinary timepieces. In this Wired: Obsessed video, we get to see some of his truly wonderful creations and hear how they work from the man who made them.
Making clocks isn't Stanley's full-time gig. When he isn't building clocks from bicycles and beer bottles, he uses his degree in mechanical engineering to work as a technician in the power generating industry.
As an outlet for his creativity, Rick often resorted to his clocks, manifesting a "what if" attitude. What if the clock was stretched out laterally rather than circular? What if the mechanisms were displayed so that everyone could actually see the inner workings of the clock? What if we built a clock around a particular theme?
From these curiosities arose such designs as the Walking Clock (the pendulum actually "walks" from side to side, triggering particular points which maintains the accuracy of the timer), the Train Clock (which displays the front of a train, with a small model engine rotating out of it's caboose every hour on the hour), the Fluid Clock (a resemblance to a very large chemistry tube-within-a-tube), the Timber Frame Clock (a 700-lb, 10-foot high wooden structure which uses large rocks to maintain its accuracy) and many more unusual yet fascinating designs.
