Wedding Gift Wall Clock in Walnut

comments (0) January 14th, 2009 in The Gallery

woytek, member

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The finished clock: About 40 pediment to crown. The finish is General Finishes Seal-A-Cel followed by three coats of Arm-R-Seal Glossy and one coat of Arm-R-Seal Satin.

Case pieces cut, all of solid black walnut.

The door was built with a mortise and tenoned frame with mitered bead detail. This is the first time I had done this, and used a technique from the Andy Rae Furniture and Cabinet Construction book that cut the miters on the table saw for clean, accurate and repeatable cuts, then did the final fit with sharp chisels. The back was rabbeted for the glass panel.

Full-size patterns for some elements, and details drawings with dimensions help to reduce errors and solve problems before cutting parts. The design for this clock was completed entirely in SketchUp, modeled in 3D for volume and general aesthetics, then printed as 2D dimensioned drawings for reference in the shop.

The case sides were joined to the top and bottom by way of sliding dovetails. Since this clock uses a movement with weights and the case would be asked to bear the full weight of the movement hung from the top panel, I wanted to be extra-sure that it wouldnt want to fall apart after years of stress. These slots were cut with a router with a guide bushing and an MDF template, registered such that the slots on the top and bottom were in exactly the same positions and square to the pieces. The dovetails on the case sides were cut with a router using the same bit with a home-made jig and edge guide.

The finished clock: About 40" pediment to crown. The finish is General Finishes Seal-A-Cel followed by three coats of Arm-R-Seal Glossy and one coat of Arm-R-Seal Satin.

Photo: Jonathan Woytek

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This clock was designed and built as a gift for my sister-in-law's wedding. My wife has four younger sisters, and I myself have two younger sisters. I decided a while ago that I wanted to build something special for each sister's wedding. Of course, shortly after I decided I was going to do this, the first sister announced her upcoming wedding.

After reading about and looking at as many clock design posts online as I could find, I decided that I would build a wall clock. I wanted it to be a Vienna Regulator-style clock, with a movement utilizing weights instead of springs for power (I'm kind-of "old-school" like that). I spent a long time working on the design (probably over a month of elapsed time, but only working on it for a few hours per week). I agonized over small design decisions. I took forever to decide what kind of wood I wanted to use. I debated over which movement I wanted to use. Finally, about three months before the shower, I started major work on the case.

My wife and I hosted her wedding shower on a Saturday in May, and that was when I was supposed to give her the clock. The local glass shop misunderstood that I needed the door prior to Saturday so that I could finish finishing it. I called on Thursday wondering what was happening, and they promised to have it ready for me early on Friday. They did, and they did an absolutely beautiful job. They earned all of my future business. I thought I was going to get a loose piece of glass, but they did a great job installing it. The cut is perfect, installed with glazier points (I followed-up with some silicon, too, just because I am nervous like that), and they pencil-rolled the edge. It is absolutely beautiful, from an install point of view.

I had just enough time to get the finish on it, and my dad helped me mount the door to the case about half an hour before the shower started. During the shower, I would sometimes take a break (I was the caterer, too) to come and install some other piece of hardware, like the knob on the door, the door catch, felt pads to soften the door close and to protect the wall, etc. It was exciting.

This was one of the first complex projects that I had ever undertaken. I started from the ground-up with detailed plans and drawings, making sure to find and solve as many potential problems as I could before I started to cut wood. This approach saved lots of stock and shop time fixing problems, and allowed me to focus on building the clock well and making it look as close to perfect as I could. In addition, having the plans allowed me time to photograph and document the entire building process, which ended up as a CD that went along with the clock as part of the gift.

This was a fun project, and hopefully the inspiration for many more.

Design or Plan used: My own design

posted in: The Gallery, period interpretation, dovetails, tenons, walnut, carving, clock, beading, glass

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