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Antique Grandfather ClocksThe very earliest clocks did not have pendulums, dials, or hour and minute hands. These early clocks were not very accurate, and typically chimed on the hour, give or take 15 minutes to a half hour.In the 1600s, Galileo designed a clock mechanism based on a pendulum. He had observed that the rate of motion of a swinging pendulum could be adjusted by adjusting the length of the pendulum. Galileo died before he could build his new type of clock, but not long afterwards, a Dutchman, Christian Huygens, added a pendulum to one of his clock designs, and he found that it was able to keep time very well. In keeping with the observations of Galileo, he regulated the speed of the pendulum swings by adjusting the length of the pendulum. Soon, clocks were accurate to as little as 3 minutes a day -- a vast improvement over the previous 15-30 minute level of accuracy of previous clocks. The grandfather clock is based on the pendulum design, and a well-constructed antique grandfather clock is not only beautiful to look at, but can be an extremely precise time-keeping machine. Grandfather clocks were built tall because they needed long pendulums for accuracy. Initially, the clockworks were exposed, but soon grandfather clocks were being built with wood casings conceal the internal mechanisms. |
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