Project by EarlS | posted 03-15-2019 10:00 PM | 1548 views | 7 times favorited | 37 comments | ![]() |
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For the Spring Surprise Swap I decided I wanted to make a clock that looked something like this for my swap recipient – TomGrin:
After a lot of tinkering around I settled on a 1” A&C style mortise and tenon frame that was 18”x6”x9” to hold the clock cube. The side panels are QSWO with cutouts to provide some negative space contrast.
Since I like to make inlaid panels, I made the clock face from maple, oak, chestnut, katalox, walnut, and black palm. I also made a spare:
The clock opening was made using a circle jig and routering a hole in the walnut front, then making a oak inset ring. The glass (poly carbonate) is held in place with an oak spacer that has a slightly smaller round opening cut into it for the hour and minute hands.
A hole in the bottom of the cube allows the pendulum to freely swing between the supports. There are 2 pins that hold the cube in place on the supports. Access to the AA battery and the interior of the cube is from the back by removing a sliding panel through the bottom of the cube.
The pendulum is made from a straight piece of oak glued to a piece that had a circle cut out of it and then the top of the arch was rounded out. The bob is another piece of walnut that is held in place on the back side of the pendulum.
I wasn’t sure how well things would turn out so I made 3 clocks. Tom received the oak and walnut version. The cherry and walnut version went to Brandon as a side swap. The last version (cherry/walnut, hybrid A&C with squared plugs and tapered legs) is sitting on the hutch next to the lidded vase that I received from PoosPleasures.
All of the clocks have quartz pendulum movements from Schlabaugh and Sons. They were finished with Arm-R-Seal and a final coat of poly, lightly sanded to 2000 grit and buffed with Behlen’s deluxing compound.
A couple folks asked if I could put a blog together with more build details. I will work on one this weekend.
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
37 comments so far
KelleyCrafts
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4413 posts in 1745 days
#1 posted 03-15-2019 10:11 PM
AMAZING Earl! I love love love this. Seriously, I’ll be on a mission soon to get something similar made.
-- Dave - http://kelleycrafts.com/ - pen blanks - knife scales - turning tools
Dave Polaschek
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6817 posts in 1588 days
#2 posted 03-15-2019 10:22 PM
Very pretty clock, Earl! Excellent work.
-- Dave - Santa Fe
Bill Berklich
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1176 posts in 1394 days
#3 posted 03-15-2019 10:25 PM
Definitely inspiring me to give something like your clock a try
-- Bill - Rochester MI
oldrivers
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2461 posts in 2572 days
#4 posted 03-15-2019 11:03 PM
Outstanding! Excellent work and finish.
-- Soli Deo gloria!
Oni
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77 posts in 893 days
#5 posted 03-15-2019 11:05 PM
Wow, I can’t imagine how many hours and tools this took to make. Beautiful, Earl.
Rick Dennington
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7133 posts in 4200 days
#6 posted 03-15-2019 11:15 PM
Stellar job on building the clock……!! Beautiful project, and I have to say that I’ve never seen a pattern quite like that before….Outstanding , that’s for sure….!!
-- " There's a better way.....find it"...... Thomas Edison.
GR8HUNTER
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8302 posts in 1718 days
#7 posted 03-15-2019 11:21 PM
is there just the smallest hint of GG in this wonderful swap clock GREAT JOB :<))
-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN :<))
fivecodys
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1723 posts in 2642 days
#8 posted 03-15-2019 11:31 PM
What a fantastic design. I really really like this.
Superb job!
-- A bad day woodworking is still better than a good day working.
builtinbkyn
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3027 posts in 1946 days
#9 posted 03-15-2019 11:39 PM
Wow Earl. Beautiful work as usual. I’m coming to visit for lessons since you obviously have a lot of time on your hands and made three ;P
-- Bill, Yo!......in Brooklyn & Steel City :)
LittleBlackDuck
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6478 posts in 1826 days
#10 posted 03-16-2019 12:21 AM
That is one impressive time piece EarlS... Gonna need a bigger band to strap it to your wrist.
Like the pendulum. Do they serve a functional purpose?
I haven the time to read about the above specs… that’s why I asked whether the pendulum serves the correct purpose or is just for show to complement the mechanism. If it is part of operations, I’m interested in the maths to determine weight and swing (or whatever clock speak is appropriate) etc… and please don’;t tell me to RTFM.
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
LittleBlackDuck
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6478 posts in 1826 days
#11 posted 03-16-2019 12:21 AM
That is one impressive time piece EarlS... Gonna need a bigger band to strap it to your wrist.
Like the pendulum. Do they serve a functional purpose?
I haven the time to read about the above specs… that’s why I asked whether the pendulum serves the correct purpose or is just for show to complement the mechanism. If it is part of operations, I’m interested in the maths to determine weight and swing (or whatever clock speak is appropriate) etc… and please don’t tell me to RTFM.
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
torus
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525 posts in 1419 days
#12 posted 03-16-2019 12:41 AM
Prettiest clock I’ve seen. It should be on the cover of WW magazine!
-- "It's getting better..." - put this on my RIP stone!
EarlS
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4292 posts in 3354 days
#13 posted 03-16-2019 12:42 AM
Duck – it is decorative, not functional. I looked at mechanical movements and they were crazy expensive. I didn’t spend too long looking to see if there was even one for this size of a clock.
Tony – I try to incorporate G&G, A&C and FLW in everything I build.
Oni – I spent way too much time working on this since I didn’t really have a plan or a design. There was a lot of looking at it, holding something up and trying to imagine what it would look like.
Edit – I took out surprise
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
duckmilk
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4445 posts in 2330 days
#14 posted 03-16-2019 12:43 AM
Awesome work Earl!! I love the design and features. Looking forward to the blog.
BTW, your project didn’t show up with the other swap projects. You tagged it with the added word “surprise”, whereas the others are tagged simply “2019 Spring Swap”.
-- "Duck and Bob would be out doin some farming with funny hats on." chrisstef
LittleBlackDuck
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6478 posts in 1826 days
#15 posted 03-16-2019 01:09 AM
To me that makes it more impressive as it’s then obvious you din’t work from a plan (which you confirmed in one of your comments).
Well done++!
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
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