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Project Information

A gift for Ben and Jenna.

I apologize for the quality of the photos. Too much glare and reflection in the clock face. I snapped these on my way out the door, headed to my sons with gifts in hand. Typical for me,right down to the wire. :)

This is one of the more difficult projects I have done. Mostly it was getting the design right. I have countless hours playing with different ideas, then making a full scale drawing and then onto mockups, then jigs and templates, and finally many, days actually woodworking. Whew! But, I am very happy with the end results and it was well recieved. I miss it already. :-( At least my son only lives about 30 min away. My wife wants one now…so of course I will have to fiddle with things a little. I dont like making two of anything exactly the same. But it should go alot faster.

Concept: I based this design on elements from the Arts and Crafts, Greene & Greene, Mission, and Art Deco styles. I wanted to capture the feel of a 1930s radios. I tried to keep the lines simple, to show off the wood. The arched "feet", along with the arch of the bottom rail, are meant to lighten the feel of the design and convey a sense of movement.

No stain was used.The finish is oil, then top coated with laquer.

Dimensions=14" wide x 12" high x 3" deep.

The body is Leopard Wood,( I selected the darkest piece I could find)the dark accents are Wenge, and the cabachon/Sun disc is Bloodwood.I spent a fair amount of time just on the bloodwood disc and sanding to size by hand, then fitting in the Wenge grill pieces. Notice that the grill projects out a little more than the disc.

The joinery is kerfs and splines, which hold it all together, but they also make up the frame around the clock, which draws the eye to the cloud lift detail made popular by the Greene brothers. The diamond tipped pegs are for accent only, no tenons to pin on this piece.

FYI: Leopard Wood ($11.45 bft) -I selected the darkest board, the majority is more red,which is beautiful, but I was after a richer color for this clock.This is a very dense wood, about like Purple Heart. Its appearance is very similar to lacewood or even some QSW Oak with its pronounced ray fleck. Very difficult to plane smooth even after wiping with a wet cloth, but scratches sand out fairly easy. Sharp tools are a must, or you will get severe chipping on cross grain cuts. Overall a nice wood to work with. I could have used QSW Oak and tinted it with a dye and acheived a similar look,( nothing wrong with tinting wood but just not something I want to do on this piece) It would have been a lot cheaper though….......Hmmm

Gallery

Comments

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255 Posts
I would say you captured the look & feel you were going for. Excellent job.
 

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536 Posts
That is something to look at. I love it, the lines are great WOW! I just added that to my favorites.
 

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1,429 Posts
Very nice looking. Love the finish.

CtL
 

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67 Posts
Wow … you have some really wonderful pieces … but this one is my favorite … that's a beautiful piece … great job!
 

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1,236 Posts
Very cool. Love the little details. Bloodwood?
 

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83 Posts
Nice looking project, caught my eye very quickly this morning, Thanks for sharing
 

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Thanks everyone,I am glad you all like it!

John,the bloodwood I used for the red disc/cabachon is also known as Satine and Cardinal Wood. It is a wonderful wood to work with.It smells spicey when cut,reminding me of granpas pipe tabacco.It gums up sandpaper a little,but takes a high polish and machines very well.Unfortunately it tends to darken up with age,but waterbase finishes keep the red color going longer than any other finish.I wanted this disc to darken up to a more reserved deep red,so I used lacquer.
 

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167 Posts
Absolutely Stunning, great use of beautiful woods and a fantastic design….Can't say enough…simply outstanding!
 

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Andy,
You certainly captured the intent. Before reading the blog entry, I was sure it was an A&C radio.
I assume it's a quartz movement. Can you tell us how you get to the controls, batteries etc?
Another top flight project.
 

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Oh man what a great design! Your time spent most certainly paid off.
 

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Thanks Douglas. I dont have any pictures of the back at this time but plan on doing a photo shoot in the future and will post some soon…. I hope.
 

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Well, not many projects have that extra special WOW factor but this one does, an excellent piece of work I would like to have one in my house. Excellent work
 

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Thank you Colin,very nice of you to say so!
 

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I really like all the different elements in the design. Great selection of wood. I'll favor this one.
 

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24 Posts
Incredible, I echo what others have said. Nice job!
 

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Thanks Dennis and Larry.I appreciate all the positive feedback.
 

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143 Posts
Can you provide some details on the clock face? Did you design and build it yourself? I like the southwest elements in the face. Thanks in advance.
 
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