New Mantle Clock - my biggest project yet :-)

[ChrisMathes]

For my wife's birthday, I made this mantle clock off of plans from Klockit. As many of you have helped me with questions/ideas over the past few weeks, thank you! I am very happy with this, considering I have only built 1 music box and some picture frames so far. This was a good challenge for me and a perfect next step...I learned a lot.

One of the best parts of this, for me, was to play around with a different finish technique than the gel varnish I had tried. This finished is based on a recent article from FWW. I sanded this to 220 and applied a dye mixed in denatured alcohol. I then applied Seal-A-Cell (tung oil based finish) and let that dry. I used 3 coats of shellac as a top coat, with a 0000 steel wool massage between After that, I applied a glaze to give it an aged look and to define the shadow lines. I used General Finishes Burnt Umber and couldn't be happier with it. It complimented the dye great!!! I applied one final coat of shellac and put it on the mantle! :eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc

There are a few more pix in my gallery if interested. This is a hard one to get a good picture of that shows the beauty of the maple and allow you to see the clock movement inside. Unfortunately, some of the glaze is washed out in this picture, but it's the best I have so far

Chris

 

[KWLTLL]

Beautiful job Chris. I'll bet your wife was extremely proud of that!

 

[McRabbet]

WOW! Great job, Chris! Superb finish and beautiful wood. One would never know you made a design enhancement en route!! An instant heirloom!

Rob

 

[DaveO]

That came out beautiful!!! How did you take care of the additional design element. I can't see any evidence of it. Your finish looks beautiful and your choice of wood is spectacular. Your wife is very lucky to have such a fine crafted heirloom presented to her as a birthday gift (did you get it done by her b-day, BTDT 3 months late:BangHead: )

Dave

 

[cskipper]

Very sharp! I know she had to be very pleased.

 

[clowman]

Super job. I have the same question as Dave does. What did you do with your extra design elements? I bet she sure is happy with it. Does that particualr movement have any chimes?

 

[woodguy1975]

Looks great Chris! :icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

 

[chris99z71]

That looks sweet, Chris! Great job! The grain and the finish look awesome!:icon_thum

 

[Travis Porter]

Gorgeous!! :icon_thum :icon_thum:icon_thum

 

[JRD]

Fantastic. No other adjective applies.

Jim

 

[JohnsonMBrandon]

That is an awesome job on the clock. Looks great.

 

[Canuck]

Superb, I believe would describe it!

Gorgeous finishing. Certainly needs to be displayed in an area prominance in the home to be admired!

Great work!

Wayne

 

[ChrisMathes]

Thanks, all! I am really proud of it It was fun to make and I can't wait to start on something new..haha.

So, as many of you know, my biggest challenge was that I got a little careless on my last router detail of one of the side windows.

So, originally I wanted to try to take this opportunity to add something that would make this clock unique. (of course, I guess I already accomplished that, huh ) So, my first thought was to try to double up the detail. I thought that would give it an interesting look (but just on the sides.) I tried it and...although it was somewhat interesting, I felt that it actually attracted too much attention when looking at the whole clock. It seemed to take away from the overall look imho, for some reason.

In the end, I just joined the two cove's to make a bigger one. It's not really what I was going for, but it 'blends' fine. If someone were analyzing the construction, they may ask why, but I am betting 99% of the people who ever see it will never even notice it..I left the front the original dimension.

:icon_thum Thanks again for all your compliments
Chris

 

[ChrisMathes]

OK, so Dave asks the tough questions, I see The quick answer is of course:eusa_liar Ok..I did not have it done for my wife's birthday..in fact, it's still not 100%...haha. Not all of the glass is installed, yet. So, I was frantically working on it until 2 a.m. most of last week. I had to at least get the finish completed by Friday (her b-day) because it looked horrible 1/2 completed...the dye is fairly bright yellow and I didn't want that to be her 1st impression. So, Friday afternoon, I was putting the glaze on, hoping it would be dry enough to show her after dinner.. :eusa_shhh It was and I brought it in to show her...of course, I had to hold it together... :eusa_doh:

I pretty much finished it over the weekend and it's inside now. I have to re-cut some of the glass :eusa_doh:and then it will be completely finished....so, I was close

 

[DaveO]

Don't worry Chris, BTDT, I finished my wifes birthday present in the beginning of January. Her b-day was the end of August:eusa_doh: :slap: :BangHead: Creating a handcrafted work of art just can be rushed:lol: :lol: Very beautiful work and I am sure she thinks it is well worth the wait.
Dave

 

[Monty]

You did a great job on that - I really like that clock! Nice recovery on that stray bite in the profile, too! :icon_thum

 

[sapwood]

Very nice indeed. It must be a great feeling to face the problems that arise and conquer them

And you got it done in a timely fashion :lol:

Sapwood

 

[Dullblade]

I have tears in my eyes.... Saw dust you know.

That is a fantastic clock. I love the wood and finish and the nice movement makes it rich! Absolutly georgous!
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[Splinter]

Great job. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap As you know woodworkers are their own worse critics. Our little mistakes are usually never noticed by others unless we point them out. :eusa_naug

 

[Steve D]

Chris,

The clock looks great and the finish really punches things up. Nice recovery and creative thinking.:icon_thum