Grandfather clock

[Rocker]

At last, after about six weeks of more or less full-time work, say 250 hours, my Pennsylvania tall clock is complete. As you can see by comparing it to the card-table, the clock is indeed tall.

Fitting the movement was a fiddly busines that took most of today. The clock goes, but I haven't yet regulated it or got the chimes going.

I am very happy with the fiddleback blackwood that I sourced from Lazarides. They said that it was grown in Queensland.

The darker-looking pictures were taken without a flash, and give a more realistic rendering of the real colour of the blackwood.

Rocker

[Auld Bassoon]

G'day Rocker!

Wow! What a beautiful long-case clock; a real treasure to keep for generations. I love the timber - I think it makes a real Australian statement.

Six weeks of work, too. I can believe it.

I'd guess that you're pretty pleased with this lovely piece!

Cheers!

PS Tried to send a greenie, but couldn't for the usual reason. IOU offered :)

[John Saxton]

Hi Rocker, great Clock and nicely turned out.

Was it built off a plan or of your own design,are the movements chain/weight/ pendulum.

I personally like the access door to have glass as well as the face but that is my choice ,the timber has really come up a treat and you're to be commended for producing a fine clock.

Something that WILL stand the test of time,pun intended.

Cheers:)

[jow104]

Compliments from Devon, another fine piece of furniture added to your home. You must have suffered the past 6 weeks or has Queensland been having a cool summer?

PS, are you hiding anything in the cupboard like bottles?

[Rocker]

John S,

Yes; the clock was built to the design published in Fine Woodworking #171-172, and the clock has a traditional weight-driven, pendulum-regulated movement. I don't think that a glazed door would be appropriate for this style of clock

John J,

There would be plenty of room in the clock's base for a number of bottles; but I have a wine rack anyway:)

This summer has not been unduly hot here, but I suppose I have lost a few litres of sweat making the clock.

Rocker

[MajorPanic]

David,

The end product is outstanding, congratulations & well done!! http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif

[oges]

bl....dy beautiful clock

[Harry72]

Beaut work Rock, def worth a green

[Clinton1]

Fantastic.
Not much I could add to that except GREAT work.

[Wood Butcher]

Beautiful work Rocker!
That is something worth having passed on for generations.
Well Done!

[Jill]

Fantastic work, Rocker. Well worth the time taken. Love that timber, too.

Cheers,

Jill

[BobR]

Great work. Have enjoyed watching its progress.

[ss_11000]

Rocker

the clock looks great.

pity i dont have that much free time,

[Wongo]

Rocky, you don't mess around do you? How did you finish it so quick. Thats beautiful mate.

How did you get 250 hours out of 6 weeks?

Well done.:)

[Rocker]

Scott,

I worked every day, and quite often started at 6 a.m. As you probably noticed, there is not much else to do in Elimbah.

I had to resaw all the timber from 38 mm stock, and the waist sides, the door and the base panel were all laminated; that is, I used the 10 mm thick offcuts from the resawing by gluing them with epoxy to other timbers, such as cedar, silver ash and american walnut, of which I had offcuts. All this was pretty time-consuming. Making a grandfather clock is not a project that I would recommend to anyone who is not retired, who doesn't have a very understanding spouse, and who is not a woodworking fanatic:)

Rocker

[Rocker]

ss 11000,

It would be sad indeed if at the age of 13 you had nothing better to do than woodwork. However, as you reach the later stages of life, your priorities change - you begin to think about what you may be remembered for. As Dr Samuel Johnson said, "If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend my life driving briskly in a post-chaise with a pretty woman". Unfortunately, I have never owned a post-chaise, or even a BMW, so I am beginning to think of my reference to futurity instead:)

Rocker

[Wood Butcher]

Making a grandfather clock is not a project that I would recommend to anyone who is not retired, who doesn't have a very understanding spouse, and who is not a woodworking fanatic:)
Well, I've got the last one right :o. Might take me a long time to get the first two though :(.

[ss_11000]

ss 11000,

It would be sad indeed if at the age of 13 you had nothing better to do than woodwork. However, as you reach the later stages of life, your priorities change - you begin to think about what you may be remembered for. As Dr Samuel Johnson said, "If I had no duties, and no reference to futurity, I would spend my life driving briskly in a post-chaise with a pretty woman". Unfortunately, I have never owned a post-chaise, or even a BMW, so I am beginning to think of my reference to futurity instead:)

Rocker

oh well:(

now a days i'm either at skool:mad: , at hockey :D or in my garage using my lathe :D

(its not that sad)

[AlexS]

Great result, Rocker, you're certainly putting your 'retirement' to good use. You've sure made the most of some beautiful timber too.

[Groggy]

Rocker, that's a beauty, one I wouldn't mind seeing up close - great job!

ss11000, it looks like your priorities are right, enjoy them!

[dai sensei]

Well done Rocker.

Wish I could retire and work in the shed full time. I was planning to retire at 55:cool: , but with 2 ex-wives:o it looks like it won't be for at least another 20 years:eek: :eek: :eek: . At least I don't have to worry about an undertanding spouse anymore.

[mickp]

beautiful work rocker

[ss_11000]

ss11000, it looks like your priorities are right, enjoy them!


i rekon so:D and i will for many years to come:)

[BrettC]

Rocker,

Well done great work, I liked that clock in FWW too and thought one day I'd have a go but geez you've knocked it damn quick! How much did the movement set you back??? I liked the ship idea used in FWW but it looks like there he had an artist paint it for him. Anyway you've made an outstanding piece:D
PS Did you find that the intructions were adequate from the mag? If not where did you have to improvise? What was tricky?

[BrettC]

Rocker,

Just found your other posts which pretty much covered it. That Minwax wipe on really looks good on that wood...

[Rocker]

BrettC,

The movement, dial, and pendulum totalled $890.

The only problem I had with the FW article was that they showed the hood of the clock without any rebate for the back. I decided a rebate was necessary, so routed one with a rebate bit after having made the hood. Otherwise, the only minor problem was a typo in the measurements of the specifications for the columns of the hood.

The only other hassle was that the hood in the article was designed for a 305 mm square dial plate, whereas my dial plate was only 280 mm; so I had to modify the dimensions of the hood door and dial frame.

Some of the mouldings needed to be made in two or three sections, but this was not made clear in the diagrams.

One other problem was that I had to mount the gong on the outside of the back and insert it through a hole, since the hood was not deep enough to allow the gong to be mounted on the inside, even though I only had a 12 mm thick back, rather than 19 mm as specified in the article.


Rocker

[Gra]

Wow. That is absolutly beautiful. it only took you six weeks. it would take me all year and still wouldnt look that good.

Greenie launched

[RufflyRustic]

Beautiful Work Rocker! Love the fiddleback - looks totally awesome!

Thanks for sharing the journey with us.

cheers
Wendy

[Tex B]

Another outstanding piece. You've given us all something to strive for.

Well done.

Tex

[Andy Mac]

Top job, and the timber looks superb!:D
I'm sort of pleased for you things didn't go exactly true to plan...you wouldn't have had the satisfaction of working around them!

Cheers,

[silentC]

Brilliant work as usual, Clocker. :)

[BrettC]

Rocker,

Thanks mate, your thoughts are now printed off and filed with the article, now to source some wood....oh well at least I know where the intructions will be when I get some wood and.....umm...skills. :D

[j.stevens]

Hearty congratulations are in order Rocker. Its my ambition to make one of these - have made a few smaller clocks using movements from Carbatec.
You've done a first class job. And this from another ex-Devonite! Cheers:)

[Pete Vivian]

Very very nice work ONLY 6 weeks, I've been putting off making a long-case clock 'cos I figured it would take me a lot longer!

[Rocker]

Thanks to all for kind words.

I am happy to report that, two pendulums later - Carbatec twice sent me the wrong one, which caused the clock to gain five minutes per hour - I have got the clock working properly. In the end, I had to contact the Hermle direct, and they were able to tell me the correct length of the pendulum for my movement. I think the debacle was mainly Hermle's fault, since the pendulums were not labelled with the code number, so it was easy for Carbatec to make a mistake.

I am still fiddling with getting the chimes synchronised with the hands, but that should be no big deal.

Rocker

[TassieKiwi]

Wonderful use of fine timber for an hierloom piece.

[Max Ripper]

Magic clock rocker, them clockcase hinges done the trick.


19758



Max Ripper Anyone have the time please lol

[Rocker]

Max,

The lift-off hinges from Lee Valley were pretty reasonable at US$10.40, and the pivot hinges for the hood door (see http://www.merritts.com/store3/main/productlist.asp?search=Hinges&submit1=Search ) from Merritt's Antiques were only US$3. I used a 'washer' made out of a 1 mm thick slice of cocobolo beneath the lower pivot hinge of the hood door to ensure that the bottom edge of the door would clear the base of the hood. This worked well, and the hood door opens and closes easily without binding. I used rare-earth magnets with both doors to keep them closed.

Rocker

[Auld Bassoon]

G'day Rocker!

Glad to read that the clock is now working as it should.

Somewhat surprised that Hermle didn't label the pendulums (or package them as a set with the principal mechanism), if, indeed, that was the case.

You realise, of course, that you'll now have to produce a video clip, with sound, of the synchronised time, hands and chimes :)

Cheers!

And again, congratulations on a super job!

[zenwood]

However, as you reach the later stages of life, your priorities change - you begin to think about what you may be remembered for. ... I am beginning to think of my reference to futurity instead Just think, Rocker, in a thousand years' time your clock will very likely have turned to dust, your surname will have morphed to something else, and the English language will be all but incomprehensible to you. Yet some of your genes may well survive a million years hence.

Beautiful clock BTW:)

[Rocker]

Yet some of your genes may well survive a million years hence.


Not mine - no children of my own, but plenty of nephews and nieces - so I shall just have to be content with the thought that my clock might last a few hundred years in the extended family:)

Rocker

[zenwood]

Not as many, but still some. Your nephews and nieces would still share 1/4 of your genes. (I think that's how it goes. Any biologists out there?)

[Dean]

Nice work, as usual!

Except I'd check your machine setups, and your squares. That clock has a lean already :p :p

[Rocker]

Dean,

One day, when I have made a little more progress with Photoshop, I will post some pictures that will hide the lean:) Actually, I was pleasantly surprised at the verticality of the back of the clock. The gap between it and the wall is consistent within a mm or two all the way up.

I did have one or two problems with dimensions, though. I think I mentioned before that the gong had to be mounted on the outside of the back because the hood is not quite deep enough for the movement. And I had to fiddle with the precise positioning of the movement, so as to ensure that one of the weights cleared the doorstop as it descended. Also, the waist of the clock is quite a bit narrower than the minimum specified by Hermle for my pendulum, so the bob comes within about 20 mm of the sides of the waist in its swing. However, all is well, and everything is working correctly now.

Rocker

[Dean]

:) :) :) :) :)

[RufflyRustic]

Ding Dong Bell, Rocker's in he.... um, drat, no good rhyming word.... other than one I don't want there...:rolleyes:

I'm with Ashore, would love to hear it chiming.

cheers
RufflyRustic