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
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