Thread: Waldo’s Grandfather clock

So today I had some tradies in the shed, drilling holes through the slab to fill the void beneath it with concrete. I told them when they arrived that I work from and everything in the shed can be moved as they need access.

They never knocked on the door to get me. At the end of the day showed me where some concrete they were injecting through the slab got all over the back of the router table. They never moved it, but did an okay job cleaning it off. I’m not worried by it.

What pings me off massively is that when I checked the shed after they’d left is that not only did concrete get on my router table, but it splattered all over the dressed Fijian Mahogany. My wife noticed one of the blokes wiping over the timber, stepping back and standing there for a bit.

So now I have some timber that’s totally stained purple and other boards 400mm x 2500mm that have splatters over enough and on either side to make it useless for what it was dimensioned and dressed.

$800 worth!!!

I’ve already paid the idiots and I’m waiting to see if they’re going to do something, or they just don’t care. 😡!

An update on my last post.

After sending photos to the company with the damage to the timber and explaining it, they came back to me to fix things. Which was a better outcome than expected.

The delay now on moving forward with the next milestones to this build, is that Matthews Timber won't be receiving another shipment of the minimum width I need until 6 to 8 weeks time. So this weekend I'll have to look for other components that I can move forward with.

Damn, 8 weeks is a long time to try and be patient. It'll almost be Christmas by then.

It's taken several months for the stars to align and get all the things in from overseas and across Oz, but I'm finally able to get back tomorrow and get stuck into the grandfather clock once again.

Why the wait?

I wanted to get my linear router sled set up. Which meant:

- getting the linear rails, linear guide thingos and T-track in from China;
- sourcing a router plate. Which ended up coming from good bloke DJ. 10 plus years ago I originally got this plate off PWS, when I upgraded to a Incra plate it went back to PWS, where DJ got it from, then it became surplus to him and found it's way back in my shed;
- finding the router bit that didn't cost the earth. I got a 3" spoilboard router bit in from Bistak with carbide cutters for about $140 after seeing some legit reviews on YoutUbe.

Bistak router bit.jpg

- getting my BIL to 3D print using resin and then putting it through his CNC to create the riser blocks for me;
- getting stack of bolts; and getting some aluminium angle and making up the carriage etc.

So what does the linear router sled look like?

Like this...

Linear sled.jpg

The other project to get finished was to get a helix head in from Woodcraft Supplies in Brissy and get that installed. Which I finished over yesterday and today.

Thicky and box.jpg

Installed.jpg

So now I can do everything in house and get my rough sawn boards nice and flat and not worry about tarot anymore when I've got fiddleback etc. running through the timber.

Rough sawn.jpg

Next posts will be progress on the clock.

Good to see you back Waldo . Looking forward to see your next steps with clock

Like I wrote in my last post, after getting the linear router sled set up, it meant I could move onto other stuff with the grandfather clock.

So with 3 weeks off over Christmas my goal was to get the crown moulding fitted and glued, which covers the split crown front frame and the left and right crown frame returns. The split crown front frame shown below is version number 3. After assembling and gluing up the 2nd version I wasn't very happy with it, so I binned it and started over again.

First thing was to work out the positioning of the front frame, and to do so I did two things:

• On the back of the front frame, I marked its centre so I could position it pretty much where it had to go; and

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• I ran a board across the face of the carcass which gave me the position that the front frame would finally sit at, so that when I clapped it up I knew that it would push against it and act as a stop.

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I could now mark the front frame where I would have to run it through the table saw for the mitre cuts. But given I've only got a 10" t/saw, I'd have to come back with my kataba saw to finish the mitres off.

IMG_7777.jpg

Then with the front frame glued, I then moved on to positioning, cutting the mitres and glueing up each of the crown frame returns. The next step before I move on to the next stage of making up the doors was to finding the position of the column end posts, as these would give me the ability to take the measurements for them.

In another thread about some issues I had with installing the shelix cutterhead in my thincknesser, I showed how it dimensions stock full of fiddleback with absolutely no tear out. That stock I've used for the part of the column end posts.In the shot below I've only positioned the top column end posts.

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Below, I've glued the bottom column end posts. The carved components of the column end posts I sourced from a manufacturer in China who carved these to my specs.

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Next update I move on to the door assembly.

As you say “it takes a long time”, I don’t see that as a problem.

You have/are creating a masterpiece which is unique, in the true sense of the word.

There may be some external pressures for you to finish but stick with your plan, do it right.

Appreciate the update.

Hi Waldo,

I am reading with great interest the progress you are making on your clock. Your description and photos are fantastic. How are the doors progressing?

My son is embarking on a very similar project for his HSC (we live in NSW). He was going to use some Blackbutt that I had in the garage, but have read there may be some issues with gluing it, particularly if it is quite old. The stack that he was going to use is also extremely heavy. We were at a Timber Mill the other day trying to source some wide pieces for the sides and back of his clock when the guy there suggested Fijian Mahogany. They have a large supply of it and it comes in some very wide boards, similar to what you have used.

The movement my son is using is a Hermle Chain Drive. Some of the information we received from the supplier suggests that Rose Mahogany should always be well seasoned, if not there is a chance the Oleo Resin escaping the timber in the form of a vapour could harden or thicken the clock movements grease and or oil. They are suggesting that this is deposited onto the fine gears and pinions which may prevent them from turning freely. Sealing the inside of the case and providing ventilation holes can help alleviate the problem. I know Rose Mahogany is not the same as Fijian Mahogany but I am guessing they are from the same family. Do you or anyone else have any information about this issue?

G'day,

Progress has been a lot about trying out ideas, not getting the desired affect and starting again until I'm happy.

For a while now I've been thinking how I don't like how most Grandfather clocks only have the front moulding and from the side seem to be crying out for something more, like the example below.

IMG_7821 2.jpg

My dear SWMBO would probably like that I keep it simpler so it's not like a "Greek monstrosity" but I really like the extra mouldings to the side of the case like the example below.


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So I took some left over moulding an worked how I'd like it to sit and used the split crown moulding template and marked it's position (the following steps I forgot to take shots of)

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And then I had another look at how it sat with the crown moulding. I didn't like it. Because it was the same moulding in the split crown, it was too heavy.

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So back to staring at my navel fluff as I pondered and mused.

I decided on a cut down version of the split crown moulding with the top profile removed to remove some visual bulk.
The notch yo can see will be where screws are fastened through the undone a 1/4 turn into the frame of the clock to allow for seasonal movement.

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I was much happier with this...

IMG_7835.jpg

... and side on looked pretty good too. I haven't finished this component yet, as I've got to drill the spot where the secondary finials will go on each side (this was an earlier shot before I sanded a couple of profiles so they met nicely at the mitre)

IMG_7836.jpg

Next up and even though I did it a couple of months ago now, in the next update I'll give the details of the Chime rod mount sound board. Followed by that, the doors which I'm working on right now.

G'day Bananas22,

For what it's worth I'll be installing a Hermle chain drive movement, model #451.053 I don't know anything about Rose Mahogany, but it'd be fair to say I'm going to guess that they're close enough to each other. What I've found with the Fijian Mahogany that I'm using, while it might be paler when I've dimensioned and sanded it, after time with exposure to the air and light, that it darkens up nicely.

It's a nice timer to use and is very easy to work.

So the next bit on my radar was getting the door started.

I'd already spent a tonne of hours in Illustrator and Sketchup working on the door, but I wanted to leave it until this point when I took all the measurements from the clock and redraw them on a large sheet of cardboard, so a few more hours of careful measurements wouldn't hurt.

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I'm doing all of this so that I can work out the template for the door top intermediate rail

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Once that was done it was onto dimensioning the rails and stiles. What I didn't take a picture was the before shot of 2.4m of rough timber and the linear router sled to face one side and then through it through the thicknesses to get down to 22mm (from about 40 odd mm).

IMG_7845.jpg

Then out comes the glorious Domino and I'm able to cut the mortices in the rails and stiles.

IMG_7848.jpg

Ages ago I'd cut some American White Oak and had cut a 45º on a piece and through far enough ahead that this could end up as a good guide when I was sawing 45º mitres.

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Next was running the rail and stiles through the router to remove excess material.

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At the last shot I posted, everything was seemingly going great and I'd run the stiles through the router for the panel and glass inserts, when it all hit the fan.

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Using a C&T rail and stile router set I have, I realised the combination of too may spiny bits weren't great for climbing on the router and I was headed for a big accident. I had a2 careful attempts on the door top intermediate rail, but the kick back each time wasn't fun.
So had at this point I had:

- stock with great figure running everywhere;
- the straightest long rails I've ever done that weren't bowed in the slightest ; and
- had poured a whole weekend in roughing up, dimensioning the stock.

But, I had to cut my loses and start from scratch again, so that's why this is part 2.

So I went for a simpler profile that was only going to profile on one face, rather than one face and one edge. I'd used this profile elsewhere in the build, so I wasn't introducing a new profile out of the blue.

IMG_7882.jpg

This would mean that to get things sorted for the floating panel insert in the bottom of the door and the the glass panels, that I'd have to use two more router bits.
The next step was to work out where the rabbet would be and work out its dimensions of a test piece.

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Attachment 508862

For the floating panel I'd use a slot cutter bit from another router set for setting up the profiles for glass panel from Infinity router bits.

Keeping the bit at the same initial height I'd also cut the first slot to give me the final depth for the glass panels.

Attachment 508861

Then with a rabbet bit do the final sets of passes in the door rails and stiles for the 2 glass panels.

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Then with the all the routing done, next up was sanding all the profiles in the rails and stiles down to 1500, so I could move on to the always stressful part, the glue up.

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It was at this point that I realised I'd stuffed up with a measurement, I'll come to that in part 3.

Waldo, do you have a timeframe for this project?

It's taken me 2 and a bit years to realise that remotely working from home that I've for a few extras hors each day that I could be in the shed after work, which I've only just started doing in the last week.

I was too impatient to wait until this coming weekend when I could get back into the shed and continue on the door.

So with my offsider helping to pivot the door as I roughed the final shape of the door top intermediate rail on the bandsaw, and then taping the template I showed earlier tot he door, it was then run through the router for its final sizing.

The following shots show the door completed for this stage and put in place to see how things look.

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When I glued up the door I was thinking to myself that the floating panel was a big big. The thing was I carefully planned that the top of the bottom column end cap at its top would nicely cut through horizontally to the middle of the door bottom intermediate rail. It does that on the right and left side of the g/clock, but on the front it sits horizontally to the top profile of the floating panel. So all my carefully planing had gone out the window. The mistake happened when I was laying out the rails to the stiles, that instead of measuring down that I measured up and so the stile that's buggered it all up is 55mm too high.

I'm not sure yet if this will mean a third go at the door. The thing if I do is it means another 2.4m of stock, which I don't have spare.
So I'll elave it until the weekend, when I stand the c/clock upright to see how everything looks and if I can live with it. Hopefully all the careful planning has worked out where the glass panel sits in the top of the door, relative to the clock face dial and the crown moulding above it.

Next part of the door will be to do the remaining profiles around the perimeter of the door and do the rabbets so that it sits into the clock. And at that point I'll explain why the door is 22mm think, instead of being 19mm.

Not sure yet if I'll continue on the door or move not to the side doors.

Originally Posted by Wongo

Waldo, do you have a timeframe for this project?

Wongo, first let me you.

Timeframe? Aiming towards June this year. Is your attention span good enough for that long?