# Recoil anchor escapement: escape wheel and anchor

> How does a recoil escapement work?

- Category: Mechanisms › Escapements
- Kind: Hardware
- Basis: Xem Studio design following Brown No. 288 (1868)
- Page: https://xemstudio.com/objects/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism/ · JSON: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism · Plain text: https://xemstudio.com/objects/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism/sheet.txt
- License: dimension sheet CC BY 4.0 (Xem Studio); linked files under their publishers' licenses
- Use in every chat: add https://xemstudio.com/mcp as a connector (https://xemstudio.com/use-with-ai/)

**Exact dimensions.** True size, with no printing tolerance added.

## Notes

- An anchor rocked by a pendulum lets the escape wheel advance one tooth every two beats: a tooth is locked on one pallet, released as the anchor swings, gives the pallet a small push across its slanted impulse face, and the wheel drops until the other pallet catches the next tooth.
- Recoil (anchor, c. 1670): the locking faces are not centred on the pivot, so after locking the swinging anchor pushes the wheel back slightly (the seconds hand visibly recoils); robust and tolerant, the escapement of most longcase clocks.
- Drawn with a tooth tip resting on the entry pallet's locking face (contact only, wheel turned -5.09°). Brown's No. 288.
- Parts (each has its own page): escape-wheel-30t-d50, recoil-anchor-for-30t-d50, dowel-pins-metric.
- Brown's movement No. 288 (1868) shows it; this model is a Xem Studio design following his figure, every part at true size.

## Sizes

| parameter | value |
|---|---|
| escape wheel | 30 T, Ø50 |
| anchor span | 7½ teeth |
| pivot height | 35.36 mm |
| beats | 2 per tooth (60 per wheel turn) |
| type | recoil |

## Where the files are

- Henry T. Brown (1868, public domain): [Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements — scan on archive.org](https://archive.org/details/fivehundredseven00browiala) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- 507movements.com: [Brown's movement No. 288: figure, his text and an animation](https://507movements.com/mm_288.html) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts

## Free STEP/STL (1 parts, CC BY 4.0, Xem Studio)

Index: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism/index.json

- recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism-assembly: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism-assembly.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism/recoil-anchor-escapement-mechanism-assembly.stl) — Assembled mechanism, all parts placed at one pose (STEP keeps each part separate)

## Questions

**How does a recoil escapement work?**

An anchor rocked by a pendulum lets the escape wheel advance one tooth every two beats: a tooth is locked on one pallet, released as the anchor swings, gives the pallet a small push across its slanted impulse face, and the wheel drops until the other pallet catches the next tooth.

## Fits with

- [Escape wheel, 30 teeth, Ø50, club-free pointed teeth raked forward](https://xemstudio.com/objects/escape-wheel-30t-d50/)
- [Recoil anchor for the 30-tooth Ø50 escape wheel](https://xemstudio.com/objects/recoil-anchor-for-30t-d50/)
- [Dowel pins, 2–6 mm (ISO 2338 / DIN 6325)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/dowel-pins-metric/)