This clock is made mainly from mild
steel. The shape was worked out on paper, marked on the steel and then cut
out with a welding torch. The numbers were small brass rivets polished
then inserted. The legs were three pieces of fine steel wire twisted
together and flattened at each end. The legs were brazed to the base. The
central stem was brazed into a pre drilled hole in the base and brazed
directly to the back of the face. The twist was made by bending 4mm steel
wire round a 10 mm diameter bar and brazed to hold it centrally round the
stem. The finish was polyurethane varnish with hand painted gold edging.
A frame was made from pitch pine and
grooved all the way round. Mitres were at each corner. The small squares
at each corner were made from mahogany. The four large outer pieces
housing the numbers were made from beech. The centre square was made from
oak. All the pieces were grooved on the edges and fixed to each other
using the loose tongue method with glue. The finish was polyurethane
varnish.
Two views of a clock made from
mahogany with a brass face and aluminium rivets for numerals. The top and
bottom were dowelled onto the sides using 5mm dowel. The right hand side
(looking from the back) was recessed to take the door (it can be seen).
The door was drilled from top to bottom using a 3mm drill and a brass wire
inserted which was longer than the door height. The top and bottom of the
clock were drilled to receive the protruding wires, thus making a hinge.
The finish was polyurethane varnish.
Made from brass, aluminium and
mahogany. The star was marked out and cut from sheet brass. The aluminium
hexagon was milled from a solid piece 10 mm thick and riveted to the brass
using brass rivets. The aluminium rivets were to highlight the missing
numbers. The piece of mahogany was hand planed to fit into the aluminium
hexagon. The stem was made from 6mm diameter brass silver soldered to the
star. The leaves were marked out, curled and engraved with veins to give a
more realistic appearance. These were silver soldered to the stem. The
finish was polyurethane varnish.
Four squares were marked on a brass
sheet and folded using folding bars to produce a hollow square. The join
was silver soldered. The square was placed on a sheet of brass and silver
soldered to it. The excess was cut off. The whole (topless) cube was
polished and the inside coated with felt. A thin groove was cut into a piece
of oak and slotted over one side of the cube and glued with araldite. The
lid was shaped at 45 degrees at the top and recessed to fit into the
aperture of the cube (recess can be seen). A short length of piano hinge
fixed top to glued oak strip. The finish was polyurethane varnish.
A view of a clock with a carved oak
face. The mechanism has been recessed into the wood as it has with many of
the wooden clocks. The shape was cut using a coping saw and jig saw. The
carving was hand done using traditional gouges. The stem was glued with
araldite into the flower edge. The leaves of sheet brass were soft
soldered onto the stem. The legs were silver soldered into a round bush
which was drilled with two holes at right angles to each other. The bush
was silver soldered onto the stem. The finish was polyurethane
varnish.
Heavy brass was used for top and
bottom (5mm thick) the end bars were silver soldered into pre drilled
blind holes in the top and bottom plates. The mahogany face was
drilled to accept small rounds of brass for the numbers. The mechanism was
recessed into the mahogany. The finish was polyurethane varnish.
The outer case was made of beech, lap
jointed at the corners. The face, from sheet brass was slotted into a
groove cut into the sides as was the glass. The rear door was hinged on using
two very small cut brass box hinges. The rivets for numbers were brass.
The base was screwed on from underneath. The finish was polyurethane
varnish.
This clock was machined from a solid
piece of wood. The mechanism was recessed into the wood. The face was made
from three layers of plastic glued together. The top layer was black. The
second layer was yellow and the third layer was white. The gold circles
were drilled to reveal the third (white) layer and then filled with gold
paint.
This is a sample of clocks made from a variety of
materials. All were hand made and were accompanied by a project of about
30 - 40 pages.