Thread: Routing a "French" balloon clock

A very good project and photo tuitorial.
Am trying to workout how to do reverse template routing and this goes in the right direction.
Many Thanks
burk

Originally Posted by burk

A very good project and photo tuitorial.
Am trying to workout how to do reverse template routing and this goes in the right direction.
Many Thanks
burk

Wow, that was a long time ago! Here is another one in pdf format Burk

Good work Harry hopefully it might encourage more to use the router with the aid of template guides.
For those who may wish to give this project a go here is a dvd made some 15 years ago that might assist you in the production of the clock. A much smaller version of what Harry has posted but using the same techniques.
Routing with Tom O'Donnell Balloon Clock - YouTube Balloon Clock

Just to set the record straight, I produced the first routed balloon clock in the year 2000, years before tom and his merry men produced one!
The photo shows this clock, the large Jarrah one which was followed soon after by the small one made from American Oak. I have produced many routing projects and have posted them on various forums in pdf format. I have also produced a few slide shows with commentary, this link should take you to them.

Router Forums - Woodworking Videos, Router Videos, Woodworking How-to, Woodworking Video Directory, Router Video Directory

As a matter of genuine interest, and please don't spare my feelings, which format, the way that I present a project or the way that Tom does makes the total procedure easier to follow and gives the viewer sufficient information to go ahead and and make the item concerned.

Originally Posted by Template Tom

Good work Harry hopefully it might encourage more to use the router with the aid of template guides.
For those who may wish to give this project a go here is a dvd made some 15 years ago that might assist you in the production of the clock. A much smaller version of what Harry has posted but using the same techniques.
Routing with Tom O'Donnell Balloon Clock - YouTube Balloon Clock

Just to correct the time of producing the video It was not 15 Years ago it was 5-7 years ago when a group of router enthusiasts, (Tom's merry men as Harry calls us) ,used to meet every Saturday to listen and observe demonstrations at the local tool shop. This was followed up with a practical "Hands on" session at one of the members workshop and you can observe by the variety of hands and clothing there were a number who contributed to the construction of the smaller clock. In this instance it was a practical demonstration where each member was able to produce their own clock over a period of a number of weeks in my workshop meeting on a Saturday Morning. They were quite merry happy to find new techniques to produce a number of routing projects.

Harry is quite correct when he said it was in the years 2000 when he produced his first clock, I do not dispute because I was there with him and if he can recall I taught him a few techniques to produce the very large clock he refers to. I could not open the pics posted in Harry's first post but I have been able to view the PDF file showing the procedure. Which I said the presentation was good and maybe it will get others interested in the us of the guides. There are a few processes that need to be explained more clearly to achieve the final results

I am in the process of putting together a number of pictures of the stages of producing the Balloon Clock that I recorded on the days I visited Harry's workshop (His old one). Due to recovering from an operation I was not prepared to do the manual work and I left this to Harry to complete and I was convinced at the time he really did'nt mind as I was teaching him some new routing techniques, and also introducing him to Greater Safety awareness with the use of the router. These pics may assist others to get a better overall picture of how the various processes were achieved.

Tom