UNMAKING AN ALARM CLOCK

(My first OMG blog entry!)

Hi, I’m Jessie, and I am an OMG Tech Kid ambassador and today I will be taking you through how I took an alarm clock apart.

Why? You may ask. Because it’s fun and we can learn about how things work. 

I searched for something simple and safe (no major chemicals) to unmake and found this alarm clock in a second hand shop. 

I put a battery in and checked that it worked, so that if I did somehow manage to get it back together all in one, I’d see if I could get it to work again.

Now let’s get started!!! 

What the back looked like before I started.

First, I took out the three tiny screws on the back of the alarm clock.

Now we’re down to the real stuff!  I wonder what will be in here?        

So the back cover then came off.

The clock hands

And the front.

 The cover

The front of the clock without the hands.

 The back of the mechanism casement.         

 WOW!!!  It’s amazing!!!

There’s so many parts.   

Zoomed in on the on/off lever

Even more things!

Why is there so much wire?

Other gears

Almost everything out!

Now I’ve gotta put it all back together again. 

It’s nearly all back together again!!!

I got the cover back on again!!!

It’s a real shame the circuit wire broke; otherwise the clock would have actually worked!

 I did it!!!  ☺️

YAHOO!

Unmaking, eWaste & 3D Printing

Now I know that this is meant to be the unmaking section, but when I read this article I couldn’t resist crashing right into the 3D Printer’s department. The Poly University of Hong Kong has created the Curiosity, a cheap 3D printer made from e-waste. Check it out here.

The tools of the trade

Unmaking is serious stuff.

For those that think we just tear things apart with hammers, you’d be wrong… we tear things apart with screwdrivers and pliers too. One thing we do teach at unmaking is how important it is to have the right tools for the job. Especially when we catch one of you using a screwdriver as a hammer (or a screw-hammer as we like to call it).

Even though the ones we use are found in most houses, or garages, here is an interesting article about electronics tools that you might not know about.