All sculpted and darkened. Time to make some hands!
I’m having a lot of fun with this design. It’s leaning into my usual decayed organic thing, but this one has a lot of nice movement to it.
I should be finished with it in a week or two!
Tabletop Tick Tock
Finished!
After months of work, I’ve finally completed my first tabletop piece. This one took a bit longer than I expected, but it was worth it.
I’m really happy with the way the inlaid “Six” and “12” worked out. I might have to incorporate that look into some future projects.
Soon this one will be on a plane to Western Australia. I’ll be holding my breath for a safe delivery.
Small and fun
The fabrication of the next quartz piece is underway.
About two weeks ago, while I was waiting for some materials to finish up the tabletop piece, I started the first cuts on a new quartz clock. This one will be small, delicate, and detailed; leaning into a more organic and unbridled style.
Estimated completion in a couple weeks.
Dial Markings Finished
The dial markings have been cut, carved, and fastened.
Next I’ll be making the hands, but first I need to answer a question. Originally I’d planned on having my often used, tattered and weathered paper treatment for the dial. But I’m kinda liking the way it looks metal-on-metal.
Decisions decisions….
Getting Close Now
Quick update as I come down the home stretch.
I’ve finished the back plate assembly, along with the rolled piece in the center. The whole clock body is finished, and I’ve applied the patina to all of it.
Now I just need to make the dial and the hands.
Finished front
The front of the tabletop piece is finished!
Sort of.
Okay so as I was putting the patina on this one I realized there’s still one piece on the dial that I still need to cut out by hand and attach. The thin broken ring of markings that are in the center of the clock.
But other than that, the front is finished!
Coming along nicely. Looking forward to the finish line of this one!
Piece by piece
The front of the clock is starting to take shape now. Slowly grinding away. There’s a stack of six layers that make up the front part of this clock. I’ve finished sculpting the front two layers, which make up most of the visible details. Now I have to go a few layers deeper and carve the smaller numbers (words) and the back layers of the front plate assembly.
The next post should be a good one!
Taking shape
The framing around the numbers is starting to take shape. With all the depth in this piece I’m really looking forward to applying the patina. Once the low spots are darkened and the high spots are popped it should look very nice.
However, before I can get to that I have a lot more carving to do. The two “wings” of the base, and the layer below that, and the layer below that….
Headphones and mask on - Let’s goooo!
Hands!
There’s been a small, but important addition to my latest mechanical project. “Three” (working title) now has hands. It first had a pulse back in March, but with the addition of a finished pendulum and hands, I can now use it to tell time. It’s been running well, and telling really accurate time.
Gotta love the steady and reliable tick of a traditional dead-beat escapement.
I’ll be getting back to the tabletop clock exclusively for the next month or two. In the meantime, it’s nice that I can now run this one, test the accuracy, and use it as a clock.
I'm back!
I’ve been away from the workbench for a couple weeks, but I’m back at it, carving away at the new one. I started with the fun parts, which to me are the Six and 12.
The other job was smoothing out the on the sides of the clock body. A lot of my clocks are constructed with a carefully thought out “sandwich” of metal layers. Once I screw everything together I have to smooth out the sides so it feels more like one, solid, sculpted piece.
I also made the hands for the new mechanical I’ve been working on. I’ll post those next.
Tabletop Progress
Update on the new tabletop piece - Assembly is 99% complete.
There’s only one little thing I still have to attach - The rolled drum that goes around the center of the clock is just sitting on the interior lip between the two plates. I’ll need to drill, tap, and screw the drum to that lip. Right now, if you look carefully at the top (especially in the first photo) it tapers a little instead of having a consistent gap. That’s because it’s lifting off it’s seating a little. But it has some flex, so once it’s fastened it’ll be be good to go.
Next step is to grab the rotary grinders and make these flat pieces into a 3D sculpture.
Something New
For my next piece I’m trying something a little different than my previous work. Assembly has begun on my first tabletop clock. Or is it a mantle clock? I think the name changes depending on where you put it.
Everything is fitting together nicely so far.
Should be a fun one!
Mechanical clock progress
New clock part, fresh out of the acid drip.
I’m slowly working away at this mechanical piece on the side. This panel is the visually the most dominant part of the clock, so I wanted to give it the love it deserved.
I originally was going to use painted paper panels on this clock, but when executed, it felt a little lifeless. I eventually tested some things, and arrived at this. A carved “3”, with a hand engraved “Three” under it.
Anyone familiar with old english lettering will spot the way bottom of the number 3 completes the old english T.
New Clock
Sometimes a design sings, and when that happens it’s fun to explore different iterations. I’ve made a few of these now…The oversized “Six” on an eroded vertical frame. They all have their personalities and unique details, and I like them all.
This one will be boxed up and sent to Australia. Fun fact - Australia is top three for most frequent landing spots of my work. Great taste on that continent.
Next on the workbench - I’ll be creating a tabletop quartz piece, and making progress on a new mechanical clock. Should be fun!
I never thought I’d be this excited for things that move and progress so slowly.
New one arriving soon
Just the hands, face, and paper trimmings remain. The finish line is right around the corner!
This is my latest quartz commission, and I should be finished with it in about a week. I’ve created similar designs before, and each one has its own group of special details. I really like the deep cuts on the upper left and lower right of the “Six”.
If you’re interested in commissioning a clock of any kind, there’s currently only about a four month wait. Now would be a perfect time to reach out.
Finished pics soon!
Sculpting Begins
Back at it!
I was away from the shop for a couple weeks, but now I’m back at the bench happily working away on the newest quartz piece. I’m just getting started on the sculpting part of the process. Excited to see this one take shape!
More soon.
Turn, thread, drill, assemble.
The latest quartz piece is all put together and ready to be sculpted with the grinding tools.
More soon!
Succesful Test
One of my favorite concept drawings uses a tellurion mechanism. A couple years back I figured out the math for the necessary gear ratios, but now I thought it was time to cut some (a lot of) gears to test my math, and make sure everything works as it should. It’s a little crude, but certainly adequate for a mock-up.
A quick breakdown…
-This display mimics the movement of the earth and moon around the sun. Because it moves in a one year cycle, it also indicates the months, and the solstice/equinox.
-The center of the carriage will have a sun on it, as you can see from the drawing of the clock. The entire carriage, along with the earth and moon, will rotate once every 365.25 days. I used that number so that it aligns with a Julian style perpetual calendar mechanism.
-The earth rotates so if you were to draw a line through the place you live, it would point directly at the sun at noon each day.
-Then the moon moves around the earth with its synodic cycle. If you note the location of the moon in relation to the earth and sun, you can see what phase it’s in. If it’s directly between the earth and sun, it’s a new moon. If it’s on the other side, it’s a full moon.
The math for this mechanism was deceptively tricky, for me at least. That center gear needed to turn .99726215 each day. Then the carriage, which works off that gear, needed a .99726215 to .002737850 gear ratio. This necessitated some very strange gear tooth counts.
After a lot of work, I finally (nervously) turned the 1/day gear through it’s yearly cycles, and I’m happy to say everything is working perfectly!
Now, should I get the opportunity to move forward with this design, I’ll know it’s good to go!
Road Trip!
Last week I rented a large SUV, and drove from Michigan all the way to Seattle to deliver “Perpetual No.1” to its new home. The scenery was absolutely stunning! I thought I might regret committing to such a long drive, but I’m so happy I had this experience. Obviously some car ride iPhone pics can’t capture it (not even remotely close), but here are a few snapshots from along the way.
The clock was successfully installed, and it’s now ticking away in its new forever-home. I’ll definitely miss it, but it’s in good hands.
Now I’m back home, with a bench full of new projects and a hunger to get back to it!
Finished Gears
I just finished carving up the new set of gears for the mechanical clock I’ve been working on. They’re all balanced and ready to put back into the clock.
Things have been a little busy lately, so I wasn’t able to make video footage of the process. If you’re interested, at the bottom of this post I added a youtube video of a gear being made for “The Grasmere Commission”
