Project by EarlS | posted 12-20-2020 02:25 PM | 787 views | 4 times favorited | 22 comments | ![]() |
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This is my wife’s Christmas present, from last year. I finally finished it in time for this Christmas. It is based on a 1930’s Climax Emerald radio (see the last picture).
The body is cherry, and the accent pieces are ebonized walnut. The clock face is comprised of a variety woods (Maple, yellowheart, redheart, Bolivian rosewood, katalox, and blackwood with walnut spacers). Overall dimensions are 9 in tall x 9 in wide (disks) x 15 in long. The finish is Arm-R-Seal, rubbed down with some wax. The bluetooth speaker kit is the 2 speaker version from Rockler.
Building Process:
I started out with a SketchUp model:
DaveK offered to make the disk templates using his cool new toy – a Shaper Origin. Many Thanks Dave!!!!
The clock housing was made from 3 pieces of 1-3/4 in cherry with walnut accent strips between the sections.
I didn’t like the way the front oval looked in the model so I wound up cutting the front opening into a 5 in square to allow for a larger clock which also led me to decide to make the clock face rather than using a paper one.
The square opening didn’t look so great which led to the walnut opening cover:
Assembly was a multi-step process with some pre-finishing along the way. The main boxes were glued up first, then the boxes were glued together. From there, the ribs were glued into the 3/8 in slots. The disks took a bit of finessing to slide into place. Two of them cracked but a little glue in the crack and no one will notice. There is a removable piece that allows for access to replace the clock battery and the speakers if they fail.
The speakers sound good and my wife is thrilled with it. Better late than never. Merry Christmas!!!
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
22 comments so far
oldrivers
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2461 posts in 2571 days
#1 posted 12-20-2020 02:47 PM
My that is a Dandy! looks great. I like the design and the wood choices. Good job Earl.
-- Soli Deo gloria!
HokieKen
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#2 posted 12-20-2020 02:51 PM
WOW Earl! That is outstanding :-)) I have one of the kits I was going to make my wife for Christmas. But time ran out so now it’ll wait for Anniversary instead. I’m glad cause now I have one to shamelessly copy.
Your eye for design and mind for execution are a rare combination man. Yes, that was a compliment. Merry Christmas and don’t expect them often ;-)
-- I collect hobbies. There is no sense in limiting yourself (Don W) - - - - - - - - Kenny in SW VA
JimYoung
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#3 posted 12-20-2020 03:00 PM
AWesome! I love the art deco style.
-- -Jim, "Nothing says poor craftsmanship more than wrinkles in your duck tape"
GR8HUNTER
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#4 posted 12-20-2020 03:20 PM
very beautiful speaker clock love the wood combo GREAT JOB :<))
-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN :<))
woodbutcherbynight
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#5 posted 12-20-2020 04:34 PM
That is fantastic looking.
-- Live to tell the stories, they sound better that way.
DanMelander
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#6 posted 12-20-2020 04:37 PM
Looks great! Very well done!
KelleyCrafts
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#7 posted 12-20-2020 04:42 PM
Seriously Earl I knew this one was going to be awesome.
I agree on ditching the square for the round glass.
Excellent job and I agree with Kenny. You definitely have a good eye for design and the means to execute it well. Great job man.
-- Dave - http://kelleycrafts.com/ - pen blanks - knife scales - turning tools
EarlS
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4289 posts in 3352 days
#8 posted 12-20-2020 04:45 PM
Thanks for the compliments. There is something about the art deco look from the 30’s that really catches the eye.
I have a more involved set of speakers that I want to make into a tombstone radio later this spring.
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
wildwoodbybrianjohns
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#9 posted 12-20-2020 05:08 PM
I really love that design, Earl. Particularly like the clockface.
-- WWBBJ: It is better to be interesting and wrong, than boring and right.
Dave Polaschek
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#10 posted 12-20-2020 06:25 PM
Dang spiffy, Earl! Good job delivering the Christmas present less than a year late. How’s this year’s present going? ;-)
-- Dave - Santa Fe
duckmilk
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#11 posted 12-20-2020 07:29 PM
That looks awesome Earl! I agree with the above comments about your design. How are the speakers powered?
-- "Duck and Bob would be out doin some farming with funny hats on." chrisstef
hairy
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#12 posted 12-20-2020 08:33 PM
Way to go, Earl!! Very nice!!!
-- You can lead a horse to water, but you can't tie his shoes. Blaze Foley
HokieKen
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16618 posts in 2143 days
#13 posted 12-20-2020 08:42 PM
Corn syrup
-- I collect hobbies. There is no sense in limiting yourself (Don W) - - - - - - - - Kenny in SW VA
EarlS
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4289 posts in 3352 days
#14 posted 12-20-2020 08:43 PM
+1 – Kenny for the win!!!
Duck – there is a battery and the controller has a USB port on it along with a USB adapter cord so it can be plugged into the wall.
Dave – Uhhhh – what do you mean how’s this year’s present going? I bought the speakers for her last year and made the retro radio enclosure for it this year. Do you think that logic will work?
-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"
jeffswildwood
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#15 posted 12-20-2020 09:13 PM
Just an amazing job Earl.
-- We all make mistakes, the trick is to fix it in a way that says "I meant to do that".
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