Review on Timeless Elegance: Abong David Wooden Gear Clock - A Must-Have for Classic Décor by Tim Crowder

This is a beautiful watch. I gave it to my son for Christmas. He did a really good job putting it together without much help. However, there were some design issues that prevented it from being functional. This applies primarily to the clock's gears/shafts/bearings. 1) The holes that the bearing is in are slightly larger. The bearing is not tight in the space provided and the outer ring of the bearing spins freely in the bore. 2) Shaft dimensions are not compatible. The attached shafts fit tightly in some bearings and fail in others. This also poses a problem for the gears as they do not stay in the position inside the watch that they need to stay in to avoid rubbing against each other. Why they went with a cheap plastic stock I have no idea. For the money required to purchase these problems could easily be solved with a good quality set of pre-cut length brass shafts at minimal cost. despite all attempts to do so. I actually bought a second set in hopes that a different shaft/gear set would allow my son to submit it to the show as a 4-H project. He worked for hours collecting these watches. If the design had more depth to allow the gears to be spaced further, this problem could be solved. However, without more depth, the gears will rub. It wasn't the first watch my son built, but by far the most difficult. Bearing/gear/shaft issues just create a lot of friction to keep the watch running. If the inner and outer rings of bearings are so loose that the bearing rotates or the shaft does not engage, there will be more friction than with a properly installed bearing. The rubbing and sliding of gears also creates more friction than the weight can overcome. Very disappointed with the development of this design.