Solid Wood Mantel Clock

Instructions

Choose a nice piece of 8/4 lumber for the clock, it will need to be approximately 8"x10" or bigger. For the clock in the photo, I used pyinma burl. Mine ended up around 1-2/3" thick after all the milling. I placed this in the intermediate category due to the need to use a jigsaw and a pattern bit to complete the cut. Alternatively, you can glue two pieces of wood together to get approximately 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 thickness, in which case, you will only need Shaper to do the cuts and it turns into easy-intermediate. However, these instructions are for a solid piece of lumber. There are several places to buy the mini quartz mechanism. I purchased mine from clockparts.com but a simple search should turn out several other vendors. Make sure you get a shaft long enough to go all the way to the other side. Setup (1) Setup your workspace such that Shaper is supported during the cut, secure the pieces and align the front design to the workpiece. Cutting (2) Cut the shaft hole and the outer cut using the 1/4" bit, as deep as it can go. Use several passes and a finishing pass to accomplish this. (3) Cut the circular outline 1/8" deep using the 1/8" bit. (4) Cut the clock numbers using the V engraving bit. I don't remember what depth but it shouldn't be too deep so that the serifs merge into each other. Test for correct depth with some other piece of scrap wood. For a smoother cut, use auto-mode. (5) Use a small drill bit, centered on the shaft hole, to punch a hole all all the way through to the other side of the wood. You may want to take it of prior to drilling the hole if you don't want to have new holes in your workbench. The second photo shows the face after I've cut it. (5) Flip the piece over and secure it to your workbench. (6) Locate the hole you drilled from the other side and use it to align the cutout for the mini quartz movement. (7) Pocket the backside pattern to allow the shaft enough space to reach the other side. On my clock (1-2/3" thick), I pocketed 1" deep. At this point, you are done with Shaper. (8) Remove the piece from your workbench. Cutout the outline all the way through using a jigsaw or similar implement. (9) Use a pattern bit to waste away the extra wood from the cutout. Finishing (10) Put some small drops of superglue around the digits and spread it thinly. Avoid trying to get it into the digits. Don't use anything made of cotton to spread the superglue (see wikipedia for details). (11) Fill the digits with the turquoise powder then carefully wick the thin CA into the digits. Sand to level a bit and expose air pockets. Search the web for instructions on how to do the inlay. This is the step that's most difficult for me as I always seem to get air pockets and it required several tries to get the digits (mostly) filled-in. Superglue only dries fast if it's spread thin and sandwiched between two materials. It takes longer to dry when it's used to fill-in gaps and cracks. This is where the CA accelerator is helpful. For usage instructions, follow the product label. (12) Once you are satisfied with how the digits are filled-in, spread superglue on the rest of the wood. Repeat several times sanding lightly with 120 grit sandpaper once it's thick enough to do so. This step is to mostly keep the CA glue level. (13) After several coats, it will be time to finish sand. Start with around 220 grit moving up to 2000-4000 grit depending on your preference. Wet sand once you reach around 1000 grit. The finish may look cloudy at first but it should clear up once you move into the higher grits. Final sanding to 4000 should leave the surface looking almost like one of those automobile dashboards. Make sure the superglue is dry prior to sanding the piece. Again, if you bought the CA accelerator, a few spritz should do it. (14) Attach the clock mechanism, put in the battery and set the time.