Hi, <!—-><!—-><!—->
I wanted to show some shaker clocks that were made entirely by hand (except the knobs). <!—-><!—->
My bridle joints for the doors are still pretty lame but I am hoping to improve with more practice, maybe they will look good after the 100th joint!… … I still haven’t got the hang of properly fitting the tennon. My cheeks come out a bit uneven. I have had the best results using a Stanley 92 shoulder plane but I am finding it hard to keep the plane even. <!—-><!—->
***I am posting these here to say “thank you”.. these clocks would not have happend without without knots. I have been reading it now for about a year. All work done during nap times and bed times (I have 2 little guys ) <!—-><!—->
The first one is in walnut – finished with a mix of minwax cherry and walnut strain followed up with garnet shellac.<!—-> <!—->
The second one is in pine left over from t&G stock I saved when remodeling my panty. Its nice to recycle at times.. It is finished with amber shellac <!—-><!—->
The third one currently under construction is in cherry. I started to finish the case already and am using tried and true varnish oil (no flames please.. I read all the posts and decided to try it anyway) I thinned it by adding 1 part tried and true “danish oil” to 3 parts varnish oil. Then heated the mixture to about 130 degrees and applied a very thin coat.. I have basement shop and live in long island (NY) and the first coat dried in 4 days. Buffed it out and so far it looks great..<!—-><!—->
Please take a look. Constructive criticism and suggestions welcome. I am most interested in improving.. <!—-><!—->
Replies
Sorry, the files were huge!... I resized them here..
Rob,
Sorry, no criticism from me!
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Thanks Chris...
Like everthing else in life it looks better when you take a step back (or shrink the pics)... Right now I think its the joinery thats needs the most help.. Once i get this one down I want to try dovetails...
looks good! keep at it, its the only way to learn to fly.
ChaimMake your own mistakes not someone elses, this is a good way to be original !
Very impressive. I have thought about making them for Christmas presents for this year. What plans and inter-workings did you use?
I am in the same boat as you. I can only do my woodworking during naps or after they go to bed. So I do a lot of the process with hand tools.
Shaker
Shaker01,
You need to buy the clock face and then dimension the clock off of those dimensions. I bought my stuff at Woodcraft, the guys over there suggested Clock-it as another source.
FYI... I tried something a little different... I downloaded a clock face pdf (found one on Google) and printed it on my photo printer. This allowed me to put my name in small print on the face. The paper was then backed with some 1/4" birch plywood I had left over from another project. As for the dimensions of the clock. I started with Christian Becksvoort's plan (love his stuff) and made some modifications to accommodate the smaller (8 1/2" square clock plate) I also removed the side stopped rebates he has top section of the case. This allows me to use the same size hinges for both the top and bottom doors. I also shortend overall length case a to fit because of my own personal taste.
RobD,
That was smart Rob, I like CB's plans too, but once I could not find the clock face size he used the plans did not fit so well. I made two and gave to family as gifts, they have been very appreciated. One I made slightly shorter, both are maple.I put in an access door in back for replacing the battery, did you do the same?..I don't think it was addressed in the plans.
I never thought of an access door.
That's a great idea.
Here is another way.. I used 3 small rare magnets to hold the dial plate to the rest of the case. The face plate already "rests" on the bottom of the partition divider. The magnets just keep it from flopping around when the clock is handled. If I need to replace the battery, or the movement or if my photo printed dial fades in a few years, I have an easy way to deal wit it I just reach under the partition divider and pop the face plate out. I also use the magnets to hold the doors shut.
By the way, when I was working off the the CB's original plans in FWW with regards to the top door joinery I noticed that the glass holder strip would extend across the the shoulders of the tennons inside the glass door. I did not know if this was an error in the plans (or my misreading them) The gap is due to my cutting the rebate on all the glass frame parts before assembly. I did not like the way it looked so on the later clocks I made the inside shoulders of the tennons about 1/4" shorter than the outside ones...this made fitting the the parts for the top door harder for me but the filler strips looked better. Did you run into a similar problem?
RobD,
Those magnets are another good idea...nice easy access to replace the battery. My Woodcraft purchased clock face is metal and would have been perfect for the magnets. I had this notion that flat brass hooks would look nice to keep the doors closed...what a pain to find in a local store.
"I noticed that the glass holder strip would extend across the shoulders of the tennons inside the glass door".I kinda remember that issue, but I have encountered it before so I had my own solution and had pretty much stopped looking to the plans at that point. I either run a rebate after glue up or on the router table do stop rebates on the rails before glue up. I also made the rails and stiles for the clock face a bit narrower than the lower case...makes the overall look a bit less clunky (personal taste)
Hi Shaker,
See my previous post with regards to a plans. As for the movement, I went with a quartz one with hands from Lee Valley, but you can get them anywhere. Very inexpensive. Once the cash flow improves I go with a good wind-up movement.. if you want more details of my mods let me know.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled