grandfather clock finished!!!

Dan Noren

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well, the last of the scheduled major projects has been started. :D
today i made hay while the sun shone (expected rain today around 3, it got here around 7), and did it shine, 80 degrees and blue skies for most of today.:D yesterday i did a lot of the prep work, so that i could do the finessing with a passion. i cut the face frame parts for the clock box and lower case, and smoothed out the arcs of the sides of said face frames. i changed the method of construction, and found that i wasn't that far off to begin with. i wanted to simply butt the sides and top/bottom together, but the woodworker in me said no, that a rabbeted joint would look better, and so it was. i cut the grooves for the glass and the clock face/plywood backer, and discovered that i hadn't taken that into account when i did the sketchup drawing,:eek: so i had to adapt the design to the existing conditions. :thumb: so, instead of 2 seperate hangers going to the supports, there will be one big (double thickness) support going to the supports. i would have gone on to the lower case, but after several hours in direct sunlight (can't get all my vitamind from milk ya know), i decided to call it a day. more to come, as it happens.... :thumb:
 

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That is one project I've always wanted to do, but I doubt I ever will, my wife doesn't like the sound of a ticking clock and to me, that is the only reason to have one :D

I'll be watching the build with interest for sure! :thumb:
 
thanks guys, this is gonna be a fun one.:D

toni, it will be a quartz movement, and i made sure to get one that goes off on the quarter, half, and on the hour (traditionalist in me i guess). i was also thinking about adding 3-4 holes (neatly lined up) so that the sound can escape the clock box.

one thing i forgot to mention, is that this is going to be done in cherry, and finished like it's counterparts. naturally, with my sense of humor (humour for those in canada & england), i'm making sure that only the wildest of grain will be on all of the most visible surfaces.
 
today's progress

not too much done today, not that much time. but i got the middle shelf, lower case back, and lower case top glued up today.:D who knows what tomorrow will bring...:dunno:
 
more progress today...

after a couple of days of down time (wife's computer classes :type:on tuesday, and weeky meeting at work yesterday:zzz:), i've gotten in some progress on the grandfather clock. took the face frame for the clock case out of the clamps, cut the detail work on the front of the lower case shelf, fitting up the lower case, cutting the chamfer on the top of the lower case, and fitting up, and gluing up the back of the lower case.
 

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today's progress

not much could be done today, its been raining all day today. supposed to rain the next couple of days, not good for woodworking outside, but we need it all the same. i managed to get some stuff done though. i pretty much set up the clock case and the lower cabinet, and cut the areas out from the middle shelf. i also drilled all the holes for the adjustable shelf. i also, just for the fun of it, laid it out on the table, with blue tape marking it's full height, and setting the parts on it to see what it will look like full size.
 

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about all i can do at the moment is to fit the hinges to the doors. it looks like its gonna rain the next few days. i'll be picking up the last of the cherry for this project over the weekend, and i will have all the lumber needed. if i get really ambitious, i could glue up the front set of legs tomorrow morning, and probably cut them that night or monday morning. once that's done, its all over but the sanding and finishing. my dad has dropped some non too subtle hints that the clock would look good in a certain corner of the family room, and my wife said it would make a nice birthday present for him too, so i guess i know where its going after the fair. :rofl:

nice thing is that there are enough odds and ends to make 3 nicely sized boxes too, and probably a few picture frames as well. :thumb: (nice xmas presents, and some call me cheap...:rofl:)
 
nice thing is that there are enough odds and ends to make 3 nicely sized boxes too, and probably a few picture frames as well. :thumb: (nice xmas presents, and some call me cheap...:rofl:)

Just tell those some that when they start giving you things like MiniMax bandsaws and 25" Woodmasters you'll start buying wood special for their boxes and picture frames. :rofl:
 
nah, i would never do that... :rofl:

last year, both of my brothers were giving me grief about my odds and ends boxes. so, well in advance of xmas, i had made 10 of the tilting picture frames that i like to make, as gifts. they got thiers in front of the family, and both said that they were really nice. i told them that they wouldn't have gotten anything if i had listened to them and gotten rid of my boxes... :rofl::rofl:
 
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