Stuart's Rolling Ball Clock Page

If you have found this page you probably share my fascination with the Rolling Ball Clock. I have maintained an interest in these clocks for over 20 years. These amazing timepieces still have a substantial following. Not a day goes by that I do not receive emails regarding these clocks. I created this site to share the information that I have gathered on the Rolling Ball Clock.

Idle Tyme Corporation.

The original Idle Tyme Clock made of wood.

The Rolling Ball clock was the brainchild of Harley Mayenschein. He patented the design and founded Idle Tyme Corporation who manufactured these clocks before the rights were sold to Arrow Handicraft. For a more detailed history on the inventor, read a letter from his daughter Patrice Gunville which gives a good chronology of the clock's history.

Arrow Handicraft Corporation

The following text was included with the literature from the Arrow Handicraft version of the clock.

.... Time never stands still with the Arrow Electric Ball Clock. A unique addition to the world of timepieces, the Arrow clock uses the principles of gravity, balance and motion to record the passage of time. "It lets you sit and watch the time go by without becoming bored," says the inventor Harley Mayenschein who designed this accurate time machine with the clock watcher in mind. Combining a Rube Goldberg-like structure with the small nickel-plated steel balls, the maze-like clock was inspired by a broken gum ball machine. "Something seemed to click," recalls Mr. Mayenschein. "Why not use rolling gum balls to record the passage of time?" Three months later, the inventor had developed an accurate working model. The gum balls had been replaced by steel spheres and an electric clock motor arm dispensed one ball per minute. The balls rolled along a maze of tracks, coming to rest at numbered positions on special racks to tell time. Mr. Mayenschein began making hand-crafted wood versions in his shop. Popular demand for an economical model led him to search for a reputable firm that could produce and market the invention.

How the Ball Clock Tells Time.

The clock works by using steel balls to indicate the exact time. There In this example the time is 11:24 are 3 main rails which are numbered for hours and minutes. The bottom rail represents the hours. The middle and upper rails are used to represent the minutes. An electric motor scoops up a ball every minute. Every five minutes, the top rail will dump and deposit a ball on the second rail. Every hour, the upper and middle rails dump and one ball is transferred to the bottom rail to increment the hours. The part that most people like to watch is the 1:00 drop. At 1:00 all three rails dump their balls to the feed rail at the bottom. If this sounds like a noisy timepiece, you are right. The time in the picture to the left is 11:24.

Some Assembly Required

The Original Arrow Ball Clock box says "Can be assembled in an hour." If you actually get a chance to assemble an original kit, expect more like 3 hours. It's a daunting task if you aren't good with assembly. Below are the assembly instructions. Click on the thumbnail to see full size.

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Someone who purchased one of my Arrow Clock Kits has taken an excellent set of photos documenting each step of the assembly from start to finish. You can see the level of patience that must have been involved here. Click on the thumbnails to see the full size pictures.

The Arrow Handicraft Deluxe Rolling Ball Clocks

At a period of time in the 1980's a "Large" version of the Arrow Ball Clocks appeared. It was called the Arrow Deluxe Ball Clock. The Deluxe Rolling Ball Clock The deluxe versions were also featured in various Sports themes. This version of the Ball Clock was about double the size of the original and used plastic balls. If you think the standard version was noisy, this one will rattle the windows. I believe there were three different Sports themes. Two of them were Tennis and Golf and I think the third may have been basketball.

The Arrow Handicraft Electric Domino Clock

Here's a really

cool clock by Arrow that you do not see too often. It's called the Domino Clock Kit #677. It uses 3 metal balls and 3 rows of Dominos that rise and fall to represent the time. Each minute a ball is scooped up which forces one of the dominos to rise. Every 10 minutes the entire right side row will topple. Every hour the middle and right side rows topple. The real show is at 1:00 when all 3 rows are toppled. This clock is much noisier than the ball clocks. Do you have a Domino Clock with a dead motor? See the motor repair section for info on fixing these motors.

The Time Machine

This is the current version of the Ball Clock from the company "Can You Imagine" and is now known as the Time Machine. It is built by Hoffman Products inc. This new version of the Electric Ball Clock retains many of the qualities of the original with some changes. Assembly is no longer required. Personally I enjoyed assembling the original version, but some people would be daunted by the number of pieces when opening the carton. The Time Machine is ready to go right out of the box. All you have to do is put the balls on the rails. The motor has been changed also. Unlike the original where the pickup arm continuously spins, the new style spins quickly at the end of a minute to scoop up a ball. The Time Machine also now has a "seconds" wheel which lets you see exactly when a ball is about to get scooped up. Also required are four C batteries. I find that my clock runs about 3 or 4 months on one set of batteries. There is a jack for and A/C adapter but they don't include the adapter. Personally I like the original Arrow Clock much better. I don't like how the pickup arm is stationary on this remake. Only at the last second it makes a quick pass to scoop up a ball then stops. Since there is no assembly you don't experience the pleasure of sitting back and enjoying the rewards of assembling it yourself.

Motor Repair for original Arrow Electric Ball Clocks

The most frequent issue with the original Arrow Ball Clocks #675 is the motor has stopped turning. The motors in the original Arrow Clocks Motor for the original Arrow Ball Clocks only. are Intermatic WG-1420, WG-1420-2, WG-1420-3 and WG-5094. The most common cause of this failure is due to the armature gear that has cracked or worn out from age. Sometimes the armature may appear ok, but actually it has swollen and distorted so it cannot spin on the shaft. The result is the motor will not run. I have the resources to get your motor repaired. Repairing your Intermatic Ball Clock motor will cost $30 plus $6.00 for priority mail return postage. I highly recommend that you do not attempt to pry the motor housing apart as it may cause damage to the motor. Please send me the entire motor and wire as shown in the picture. See the "Parts" section of my page regarding replacement motors.

Stuart Singer
PO Box 78715
Charlotte, NC 28271-7040

So You Want to Fix the Arrow Clock Motor Yourself?

Very important! Do NOT pull the electric wires off the motor. There is no reason to do so and you will end up breaking the extremely fine copper windings. I've seen this many times and people are ruining perfectly good motors by pulling the wires out.

If you are reasonably handy and would prefer to try fixing the motor yourself, then contact me for a "Gear Kit" which consists of a replacement armature and idler assembly. Based on the many emails I receive from this site, these gears will resolve the problem with most of the Arrow motors (Intermatic WG-1420, WG-1420-1,WG-1420-2 and WG-1420-3). I have learned that the gears will also fit an Australian version of the clock which is 250v (Intermatic WG-5094) motor. You can also repair your Arrow Domino Clock motor with these gears. Gear Kits are $15.95 plus $2.50 S/H for domestic U.S. You can use your credit card through Paypal to order a gear kit. Click the Paypal button below to place your order.

Click here to see detailed instructions on replacing the gears. If you feel comfortable performing these steps. then you will need to order the replacement Gear Kit below.

If you prefer to mail your payment, please send your payment to

Stuart Singer
PO Box 78715
Charlotte, NC 28271-7040

Various Ball Clock Pictures
(click thumbnails to enlarge)