The Wood Whisperer » Clocks

Jeff’s Clock & Marble Elevator

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:12:36 +0000

From: Jeff Collins

Location: Cincinnati, OH

Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist

Project Name: Clock and Marble Elevator

Wood Species: Bocote, Jatoba, Yucatan Rosewood, Zebra Wood

Finish Used: Wiped on clear shellac

Project Description:
The inspiration came from a video I saw of a design Steve Good made and then significantly modified. The joinery used was biscuit-reinforced miter joints and mortise and tenon joints for everything else.

Here’s a little video of the marble elevator in action:

Jeff’s Elephant Clock

thewoodwhisperer — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:00:32 +0000

From: Jeff Collins

Location: Cincinnati, OH

Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist

Project Name: Elephant Clock

Wood Species: Jatoba, Zebra Wood

Finish Used: Wiped on clear Shellac

Project Description:
This project was a gift to my wife, who LOVES elephants. The inspiration came from wanting to combine an African theme (to tie in with the elephants) with the skeleton movement I used. The end result also incorporates some Greek styling as well.
Lots of mortise and tenon joints were used and the base was married to the clock platform with screws so the movement could be replaced if needed.

Tom’s “Cool” Clock

thewoodwhisperer — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 19:35:04 +0000

From: Tom Giacchina

Website: www.tomwoodworker.com

Location: La Mesa, Ca

Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist

Finish Used: First coat of shellac then top coats wiped on with a 50% dilution of Naptha and Alkyd varnish.

Wood Species: Black Acacia, maple, and holly

Project Description:
A friend wanted a clock that could sit on her dresser with a “cool” piece of wood. This was an open invitation to create with very few restrictions. I looked around the shop and found quite a few pieces but kept coming back to this piece. It was cut from a bigger piece because I needed to be aware of the size. Once I made the cut I started working on the base. At first the base was of acacia and the same width. It just didn’t look right. Then I thought to use the maple to bring out the little bit of white in the acacia.The maple has neat spalting that really adds to the piece. I then kept planing down the maple to get what looked like the right thickness and cut it to a width. It still didn’t look right so I played with a couple of feet designs to get the clock some height and air. The clock hands that I bought just brought the whole thing down, so I made my own from some scraps of copper. The dial markers are made from holly. I felt they would be a little brighter and better visible in low light.

Devin’s Mahogany Clock

thewoodwhisperer — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 06:20:40 +0000

From: Devin Larsen

Website: SpudWood

Location: Rexburg, Idaho

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: 3 coats of a 1:1:1 ratio of poly, Danish Oil, and mineral spirits. Sanding between coats with 320 sandpaper.

Wood Species: Mahogany

Project Description:
This clock is my best piece to date. I finished it just in time to give to my mom for Christmas. The design is not my own, but a design that I found to be challenging. The main body of the clock is a simple carcass construction using rabbits and dados. I made a book match panel for the back behind the pendulum. The broken colonial style top was made using a combination of the band saw and router. Creating the finial was my first time using the lathe, it was a great experience.

The best part about this build was the incredible highs and lows that I experienced each time I was in the shop. I made plenty of mistakes which would just eat at me. Despite the few negative things that happened, I can look at it now and be proud of the thought of this clock hanging on my parents dining room wall.

Bob’s Black Walnut Clock

thewoodwhisperer — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:16:29 +0000

From: Bob Lossie

Website: www.makingtimeclockshop.com

Location: Lake City, PA

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: Clear Satin Finish

Wood Species: Black Walnut

Project Description:
My wife and I have two great friends that live across the street from us. We traditionally exchange a gift of some sort with them at Christmas time. Whenever they are over at the house they always comment on how much they like the Anniversary Clock that I designed and built. This year I decided to build one for them. I hope they get as much enjoyment out of it as I did making it for them.

This clock was built using Black Walnut. All the trim was fabricated and the top was covered with Black Walnut veneer. The clock features Glass Panels on all four sides with a door on the back to allow easy access to the battery and setting the time.

I have been a weekend woodworker for over 25 years. Recently I have been designing and building clocks. I am a draftsman and in my spare time enjoy making blueprints and then building the clocks. With every design I try to improve my woodworking skills with something more challenging than the previous design.

John’s Mahogany Clock

thewoodwhisperer — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:39:33 +0000

John is a student at the Palomar College Division of Cabinet and Furniture. Let’s check out his recently completed project:

I just completed the 100 class Fundamentals of Woodworking and am looking forward to the next class CFT 105. I am sure many might ask what did you learn this semester. Of course the list is long, but it can be distilled down to three simple things.

One, we learned how to operate the equipment safely and gained some simple techniques along the way.
Two, we learned how to square lumber, sounds simple, but this is so basic and important I separated it out.
Three, we gained some confidence in woodworking, not comfort but we are moving in that direction.

I think you talked about the comfort level in one of your Wood Talk online podcasts. We are using really good wood and the word cautious was on our minds everyday. The best part though is that even if you make a mistake, you can either fix it, make a design change or do it over. Many of the class projects are different than we originally planned, however they still look great.

The class project was a Clock, and we had four choices to pick from. I selected the simple arch clock because it was a challenge but not as difficult as the pendulum hanging clock. My goal was to complete the clock correctly in the time allotted. I have included some pictures. By selecting African Mahogany, I was able to work with a beautiful wood that did not give me any problems. Unless of course I caused them. We used dado’s and groves In the carcas and dowels in the door. The finish is three coats of tung oil. The dial board and the back are book matched. We started with 4/4 stock with finished thickness at three quarter inch. I learned that the woodworker sees the project as individual parts and all the things that could be different. Most people however see the clock as a whole piece not individual parts. Aren’t we lucky.

A Bunch of Clocks – Viewer Project

thewoodwhisperer — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:38:36 +0000

This Viewer Project comes from Tom. He decided to try his hand at making one of my clocks, and instead of making one or two, he decided to make 19!! Let’s see how he did.

I am now in the gluing stage of the clock project and I thought I would send you a few progress pictures. I took your advice on doing the finish work for the inside of the clocks before the glue up so two of the pictures is the wood being laid out for spraying and the second two pictures are of the jigs I setup to drill out the bulk of the wood for the clock works and then the setup for routing the remainder of the wood that was left. I used a 50 percent solution of Shellac as a sanding sealer and then three coats of lacquer on the inside and I will be using the same sanding sealer and five coats for the outside. My goal is to finish up gluing this week, I can only glue after work and I only have enough small clamps to glue four clocks at a time. My goal is to finish all the gluing by Friday night then start cutting the splines and final sanding on Saturday and then starting the final spraying on Sunday. I will be sending you pictures when they are finished.

Three weeks later……..
Well, it seems that I under estimated the time it would take to make 19 clocks. Just making, sanding/fitting, gluing and trimming all the spines (152) took me about 8 hours not counting the four hours that I waited for the glue to dry. Sanding each clock between each coat of Lacquer added an hour to each layer I applied. Over all it was a good experience in doing production type work, and I did loose one clock in the process. I didn’t have enough parallel clamps to clamp more that two clocks at a time so I was trying to use some cheep bar clamps so that I could glue up at least four at a time. On one clock it took too long to get the joints lined up and the glue started to set. I tried taking it apart and fixing it but my attempts just made things worse and the holes for the dowels were getting too off center. It was taking too much time away from finishing the other clocks in time so I just moved on. I still didn’t make it for Christmas.

Anyway here is the final picture. I tried a few different shots but couldn’t get a real good one. The wood combinations that were used were Wenge and Maple, Zebra and Peruvian Walnut, Purple Heart and Peruvian Walnut, Purpleheart and Maple, Walnut and Oak, Mahogany and Maple, Bubinga and Lacewood, CA Walnut and Lacewood, Peruvian Walnut and Oak, CA Walnut and Oak.