my first clock

[mattym83]

hi guys this is my first clock.77224
all feedback welcome, unfortunately colours didnt turn out quite right in the photo

Matt

[Chipman]

Good one Matty:2tsup:

Don't you just love those burls!



Chipman:) (another clock addict)

[Swifty]

Nice one matty :2tsup:!!

[mattym83]

yea love those burls. got a second clock going now and a couple more burls ready to start got any good tips on countersinking the clock movement tried with a forstner bit but its long slow hard work.

[Chipman]

yea love those burls. got a second clock going now and a couple more burls ready to start got any good tips on countersinking the clock movement tried with a forstner bit but its long slow hard work.


I made a template and used a router with a pattern cutting bit (bearing above the cutter). As the burl is usually hard, I would recommend cutting it down to depth in a couple of steps...

Chipman:)

[mattym83]

yeah i was thinking of trying that. Will have to go and buy a router first

[Chipman]

yeah i was thinking of trying that. Will have to go and buy a router first


I bought one of those little ozito ones $55 at Bunnings... works well for small things... only problem is the router bit is almost as expensive as the router! but certainly worth it if you are into this sort of thing... too bad you didn't get one of thos $99 tritons that was on the go recently. Work out what other use you will have for your router and get the best you can afford.

See the inverted flush trimming bit on this page
www.carbitool.com.au/pdf%27s/PageR010.pdf (http://www.carbitool.com.au/pdf%27s/PageR010.pdf)

Chipman:)

[mattym83]

any chance you could post a pic of your template so i can get an idea on how to make one.
also how would be the best way of fitting those 70 mm fit up thermometres and barometres??

[Chipman]

yea love those burls. got a second clock going now and a couple more burls ready to start got any good tips on countersinking the clock movement tried with a forstner bit but its long slow hard work.


To make your template, there are several way to do it.... perhaps the simplest way is to use your forstner bit to bore a hole through a scrap of mdf.. clamp this on the back of your burl and run the router around inside it using the pattern following bit with the bearing on the shaft just above the cutter. .

If you prefer a more squarish pocket, put your movement on a piece of 6 mm mdf and trace around it.. now make the square a little larger and then cut it out with jig saw or scroll saw, smooth it to shape and then you have your template.. if you need a thicker template to match your router bit then simply use your thin template to cut a copy in a thicker piece of mdf.

Regards,

Chipman:)

[Chipman]

any chance you could post a pic of your template so i can get an idea on how to make one.
also how would be the best way of fitting those 70 mm fit up thermometres and barometres??


Work out what size pocket/hole you need, make it in mdf (as it is easy to shape and smooth) Cut it with a hole saw, jigsaw etc... can smooth it off with a drum sander in your drill press if you have one....

Now you can clamp or tape your template to the burl and rout it out with the pattern following bit.

Cheers,

Chipman:)

[mattym83]

how thick was the mdf sheet you used for the template i guess it would need to be fairly thick for the router if you are going to do the cut in a few steps

[Chipman]

how thick was the mdf sheet you used for the template i guess it would need to be fairly thick for the router if you are going to do the cut in a few steps


It was 19 mm thick but if you only have thin stuff, you can always put some scrap wood underneath to build it up a bit higher...You are right, the thickness must match the length or nearly the length of the router cutter being used.


Cheers,

Chipman:)

[mattym83]

thanks for your help Chipman. I got myself a router and a flush trim bit made a template and it works like a treat, really took the head ache out of cutting those recesses

[Chipman]

thanks for your help Chipman. I got myself a router and a flush trim bit made a template and it works like a treat, really took the head ache out of cutting those recesses



Great news!

Now get those clocks made a post your pics for us all to see!

Chipman

[mattym83]

well i finished the second one but got a run in the laquer. when i sanded it back and resprayed you can notice the difference in layers, which sucks because all the numbers are stuck on so thick i might get some of that perfect gloss. they say its self leveling and hopefully that will hide it.
any other ideas? i dont really want to sand it back and go through the whole process again

[Fireguard]

I use that perfect gloss stuff when I do my clocks, Usually two coats does the job quite well.

The best trick I've found with it is when you have mixed it and poured it over the surface of your clock, spread it out with a small paint brush, paying particular attending to the edges, then wait a few minutes, most of the smaller bubbles in the coat should have poped by now, for the ones that haven't, if you get one of the cigarette lighter blowtorch things (about $10 from bunnings) and wave the flame over the top and the bubbles will all pop leaving you with a nice smooth surface. it's also a pretty good idea to check on it again in about 45 minutes because you sometimes get some more bubbles coming up from deep in the wood, hit these bubbles with the blowtorch and you'll once again have a smooth finish...

I usually leave it for about 18-24 hrs then do a second coat if its needed... and after this time the surface is pretty hard so you an turn it over and sand the droppletts of the coat that are hunging from underneath. they usually sand off pretty easily with a bit of 180 grit with a Randum orbit sander.

Another trick with it is to raise your work off the table slightly, a small wooden block underneath usually does the trick and place some newspaper underneath, this way when the coat drips off the end it drips onto the paper and your work doesn't get stuck to the paper or our table :U

[mattym83]

do you think it would hide the difference in layer thickness from the previous laquer underneath? or do i need to pull the numbers off and resand?

[Fireguard]

If you put a coat of gloss coat on it will definately make a new flat layer on top of the existing. As to whether or not you'll see the difference in the laquer coats I'm not sure, but if there is no "dark Lines" where the two layer intersect, or the runs just look like 'bumps' in the surface my guess is the gloss will cover it.

I guess it all depends on what the runs look like, if it is just a height difference in the coats the gloss should work to cover it, but I've never put the gloss coat over laquer so it's only a guess

[mattym83]

i bought and used some perfect gloss but i found that it didnt apply evenly in some spots i think a second coat will fix this problem but i think i got dust in he mix from the brush what would you use to spread the mix out?

[Fireguard]

I usually use a small paintbrush, but I have also had pretty good results using popsticks (usually the same one that I used to mix the resin :U) the tung depresser sticks (the ones the Doc uses to check your throat) are really good at mixing your resin and spreading also.

Another tip for using the stuff, when you mix it together, mix it slowly using the popstick/depresser, that way you get less bubbles in the mix that you need to get rid of later..

[Template Tom]

My method of insertin the clock movements is to decide on a template guide and cutter to be used, then calculate the size of the template opening required.
I offer this as a guide only as you can use a variety of combinations.
If it is a circular clock movement measure the diameter of the clock say it was 58mm.
The template guide used 30mm with a 10mm cutter will mean that you will require the opening to be 78mm or if it is a square movement it will be the size of the square plus 20mm.
The thickness of the template can be as thin as 9mm, I usually use 12mm.
The circular shape can be cut with a circle cutting jig whilst the square can me constructed by gluing sections together to leave the square opening required.
Tom