For whatever reason, I have long been fascinated by clocks. Several years ago I began collecting them to my wife’s chagrin. Most are unique but not worth mentioning, cheap and picked up from catalogs in the mail. A few are works of craftsmanship that I’ve chosen to invest in. However, while attending the IWF in Atlanta a few years ago I stumbled across a vendor that provides a kit of templates and jigs to cut the gears necessary to make a wooden movement.
Clocks and wood, how could I not? Purchased from Woodline USA, I began this project nearly a year ago. Between turning, household chores and a few other major projects I slowly but meticulously followed the directions with a few exceptions.
Considering the effort put forth, I could not envision one of these with the cheap plywood provided to cut the gears. I glued up my own custom plywood with 15 layers of exotic veneers I obtained by trolling E-bay late at night.
While the kit provides the templates for the purpose of recreating perfect gears I found there were some imperfections which of course were passed to the final product. However, with some jeweler’s files and determination over several days I was eventually able to adjust all to work.
Frankly, I am too lazy to wind any of our weighted clocks on a regular basis. Being a 12-hour movement I am even less inclined with this one. The first night it ran in our house, I awoke several times through the night to hear the Tick-Tock and fell back asleep with a smile on my face. It’s hard to imagine that so much work can be such fun, but it’s true!
