Project Information
Hello, this is my first woodworking project on this site, and one of my first successful projects in general. (I am just going to not make any posts on the failed predecessors). I wanted to make my dad something something special to commemorate his retirement, and this was the result. He is a coin collector and loves to travel, so I selected an uncirculated gem clad proof state or national park commemorative quarter for each hour of the clock (2001-2012) that was special in some way to him. I then placed them in clear acrylic cases and set to work on the clock body. The actual body is made from a nice piece of birch plywood I found at Home Depot amongst other lesser panels. I marked out an appropriate sized square from a cardboard template that lined up with a nice section of grain pattern and cut it out with my jigsaw and drilled the clock kit hole in the center. I've been inspired with plywood sculptures and wood turnings I have seen and wanted to take advantage of the end grain banding instead of using edge moulding. This led me to the idea of simply rounding off the edges, accomplished with my handheld belt sander, careful to maintain the corner edge best I could. After a final shaping with the sanding block the applied finish was simply minwax cherry stain wood finish and rattle can clear coat polyurethane. From there it was a matter of installing the clock mechanism and clear epoxying the coins in their holders and while I was at it I epoxied the clock mechanism itself as well. Important to use epoxy on acrylic since research showed me cyanoacrylate super glue will cloud acrylic as it dries. There are plenty of blemishes and the finish probably could have been more refined, but I am quite proud of the result. Hope you enjoyed and I am always open to tips and tricks for improving on future products.
