Tall Case Clock

This Tall Case Clock was designed and built as a Christmas gift for my wife for our 37th Christmas together. The clock case is built primarily out of Mahogany. The accent pieces, located just below the pediment molding and in the inset panel in the door of the bottom section, are made from 50,000 year old Kauri. (Yes, 50,000 years old. For the full story go to ancientwood.com.) This wood has been harvested from under the farmlands in the Northern islands of New Zealand.

Altogether, it took 10 months to design and build the clock, 2 1/2 months alone to design and create the routing templates and make the top molding for the pediment. The clock was designed as a 3:1 scale model. The clock is actual only 27 inches tall. The clock face was taken from the 3 inch diameter Dial with Glass and Hinged Bezel from Klockit, I simply removed the bezel and glass and used just the dial face. The Floral face surrounding the dial was a photo composite of a number of Victorian Era paintings glued behind the dial.

The weights are made from brass tubes used in pen making, with turned wooden ends and an old chain donated by my wife from her jewelry box (OOPS. Well now she knows, I guess.) I used the Electronic Dual-Chime Movement with a Pendulum and added the appropriate Lyre. Using the Klockit parts and supplies greatly simplified the construction and assured the accuracy of scale I wanted to achieve in this very special gift.

-- Measure it with a micrometer - Mark it with a piece of chalk - Cut it with an Axe