Thanks for the tips on the compound pendulum Tony. My general strategy is to move both weights a similar distance from there respective ends until I am within 1 second per minute accuracy, then just move the top Bob only 1 click at a time for fine adjust....there may be a better method.
I do not intend to use the weight for time keeping adjustments, the main reasons I am playing around with the amount of drive weight is "A" I still need to procure good ballast weight that will not rust or absorb moisture, and "B" I read a kit review where the builder could get no tick at the 4.4 lb weight recommended so he filled the flour sack full....then added a claw hammer hung on the bag extra!
With all this weight he could only manage less than 2 minutes of run time, so he obviously had excessive drag issues. I was pleased my clock would run on less than the 4.4 lb as a measure of the drag my graphite lubed clock has, but feel your suggestion of the pallet clearing the escape wheel by a measured amount is good advice for weight. I want enough power reserve to allow for weather conditions and balloon opperation but not a lot more than needful to prevent unnecessary wear.
Yes, I am pleased with the clock and it was big fun to build. I Really enjoy the challenge and reading the kit reviews to see what others struggle with so I have a bit of a game plan going into the build to see if I can get it to perform better. I really like the reviews where even if the reviewer has not gotten it to work, they at least describe the nature of the problem....other reviewers say things like..."impossible to make tick"....3 stars because fun to assemble and looks good when built" this is entertaining to read but does not help me prepare for every possible issue, for this reason I will likely build the clock again as now I am familiar with it, I know I could build a second clock better. The clock can be disassembled so I can make improvements to this clock as well. An added note: if you assemble these type puzzle kits with the bare wood, the fit of the square pegs can be quite snug to the point that if you need to take apart for repairs, you can easily damage the smaller square peg features especially as the dry wood on wood friction fit kind of grabs or wants to chip out on disassembly. Wax is very beneficial if rubbed on joints that may need to come back apart as it prevents galling. The Kiwi shoe polish wax base that I rubbed on with brush had the effect of pre lube all the square holes so it was a time saver for me....as with most things there is a down side and that is a wax lubed joint can work loose if it is on a part that received intermittent loads, an example of this is the clock hour face and minute face on this clock can be spun in reverse (on a ratchet feature) to set time, it's pretty easy for these joints to open slightly when reset time and the effect is my clock faces are now a loose fit. I can correct this eventually by wicking thin super glue into the problem joint while holding firmly seated. I am very reluctant to lock joints in this way as it is so permanent it would likely damage the clock to separate at a later date, but I will lock some of the joints as the floppy fit is annoying to me.