a new commission....

Dan Noren

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last weekend at the holiday boutique at the ymca, i spoke with this older gent about my woodworking, and he asked if i made larger items. i said that i did, and what did he have in mind? he told me about their trip to normandy,
and how they were smitten with the monument they saw on omaha beach called 'the brave'. smitten to the point where it had influenced the redecorating their living room. almost all curves, he said, and using influences of the
monument. he said that they had just had a walnut mantel put in over the fireplace, and wanted a mantel clock for it, that would be in keeping with the rest of the living room. i told him that i would be happy to give it a try, and
send him a rendered version of what i came up with. he liked the first version, and asked for a modification. they liked the second version, but asked to see what it would look like with one of the items moved behind the main
item (no problem since it was still electrons). he said that the third version was perfect, and wanted to know my price, and possible delivery time. i reminded him of our conversation at the y, and that the shop was shut down for
the winter, and that the earliest i could get to it would be early march. they were happy with the price and the march delivery time. i told him that the time until then would be spent doing up working drawings, ordering the clock
insert, etc. we were in complete agreement that i should take the first version and enter it in next year's competition at the state fair. here are the pics....
 

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Very nice! My vote would have been for #2, but all three designs do a great job of capturing the feel of the monument.
 
I like #1 the best as well :D Nice pieces, should be fun to make.

What insert would you use for this? Looking at the klockkit site I'm seeing depths from 3/4 to 15/16 for the round inserts so was curious about that part..
 
i've just ordered the insert from clockworks, it is an #f7, 3 1/2" diameter, ivory face with arabic numbers, fits a 3" diameter, 11/16" deep hole. both upright parts of the clock are 1 inch thick each.
 
quick update: plans have been transferred to the cardstock and cut out. the good michigan chocolate showed up on saturday (thanks again larry!), the clock insert showed up today (had to swap out the gold for the silver bezel), and the patterns have been laid out on the lumber. now i just have to figure out what wood (maple, birch, hickory...) will stain to a nice sandy color for the base. other than that, its bide my time until spring time, and the shop is open again.

on a different note, one of our guards wants me to design a pair of shoe racks, one for him, and one for her.... (gonna be very busy this spring i think....)
 
another quick update: picked up a nice bit of sandy colored white oak, with fairish straight grain for the base today. also picked up a nice bit of white oak with crotch grain for the clock for the fair.
 
been a bit, but here's what is new with this project (other than waiting for spring to get here). now that i have pics of the items in question, the large and small walnut scimitars, the white oak to be used for the base, the finish to be used (wipe on poly, with a satin finish), and the clock insert to be used.
 

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well, another step has been taken on this today. stopped over to forest product supply today, and they will be cutting a good, snug fit for the clock insert with their big cnc machine. i was thinking about using a 3" forstner bit, but it would have been a close call as to it having it's point poking out the backside. estimated time to getting it back, considering their schedule, is roughly the end of this month.
 
well, another step has been taken on this today. stopped over to forest product supply today, and they will be cutting a good, snug fit for the clock insert with their big cnc machine. i was thinking about using a 3" forstner bit, but it would have been a close call as to it having it's point poking out the backside. estimated time to getting it back, considering their schedule, is roughly the end of this month.

Won't be much longer and you'll be cutting those yourself!

One of the items I want to do as gifts sometime is some clocks, but hesitated because of the drill bit issue. I think I know what I'll do now!
 
what they will be doing bill, is setting the bit at the center of the circle, and working their way out from there, until they hit the finished depth. smaller clocks are ok, as they aren't so deep.
 
I would also vote for the first one, but I would not put the clock in any of them. I'd just leave the hole. But Jim says, the customer is always right.
 
got the walnut back yesterday, and the clock is a good snug fit. now all that is left is the cutting and the sanding.
 

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Dan,

I am another #1er. It is interesting that Toni came up with the same thought I had. It would be exciting to see what kind of interplay could develop with the hole empty and the wood shape that would show through the hole. Think of wood types, grain types, stains, the inside surface of the hole itself, etc.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
got a bit more done today. planed the bases (client and state fair entry) flat and smooth, then make all of the angled side cuts. then trimmed up the scimitar blanks a bit in order to cut the tenons.
 

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