Wooden Clock - Trial & Error

[KtownScroller]

Originally Posted by wood-n-things

Well,
Now you 've gone daffy. I am with ya brother in spirit. Good luck.. I'd never have the patience for this one. Looking forward to the journey with you though.

Daffy as in Duck? WooHoo! WooHoo!

At the start this project looked intimidating. Now that I have "fooled around" a little cutting prototype gears I am feeling better and better about the prospects of knocking one out of the park! I thrive on a challenge, as long as it is a challenge that I want to pursue. This project is going to be so cool! So strap yourself in and welcome aboard!!!

[Haggard3230]

Nice job so far Rick. I built one a few years ago from Wildwood and have never got it to run more than a few seconds. Someday I will start all over and maybe git r done.

[minowevie]

looks like your getting it down pat. nice cuttings. love it. your friend Evie

[KtownScroller]

Today work started on the clock frame. I cut the back frame first (the frame with the fewest number of holes). Since the back frame came out pretty well, I decided to cut the front and middle frames. I nailed together the front and middle frames and used the front template as a cutting guide (if you notice the hole pattern in all three frames are a little different). I drilled the common holes through the front and middle frames and then lined up the back frame with the two nailed together frames and drilled the four corner holes, This way all the frames will line up perfectly when it is time to assemble the clock. I then cut the front and middle frames as one component. After I finished the scroll saw cutting I pegged the front and middle frames together and sanded the edges. Finally I separated both frames and drilled the additional holes required for the front frame. I then proceeded to finish sand all three frames. As you can tell by the pictures all three frames line up nicely. One thing I noticed is that the front and middle frames do not have the exact contour as the back frame (the back frame was cut separately). I think I will peg together all three frames when I get back into the shed and sand the contours even. There is not much of a mismatch, so the sanding should be minimal. Actually I could leave all three frames as is, no one will ever notice the difference, but what the heck.

[KtownScroller]

I need to fabricate several rope sheaves. I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion on how to go about fabricating the groove?

I was thinking of several ways to fabricate a sheave. I could make three pieces and glue them together. Parts 1 & 3 would be 1 7/8" OD x 3/8" ID x 3/16" TK. Part 2 would be 1 3/8" OD x 3/8" x 1/8".

The other method I was thinking of might be a tad bit dangerous. I was thinking of cutting a disk 1 7/8" OD x 3/8" ID x 1/2" TK. Then I was going to set up my router with a 1/8" bull nose cutter and route the groove in the middle. To do this I might need to make a jig to hold the part safely in position over the cutter. I know this would work with a flat piece of wood so why wouldn't it work with a round piece of wood held in a jig?

Any ideas or comments are welcome.

I will be fabricating the main body of the clock Monday. I am going to use 3/4" pine even though 1/2" oak is called for. I need to keep the cost of this clock within a budget and pine works out perfectly. Besides, I think pine will look fine.

[Haggard3230]

Looking good so far Rick. I take it you don't have a lathe to make the pulley?

[KtownScroller]

Originally Posted by Haggard3230

Looking good so far Rick. I take it you don't have a lathe to make the pulley?

No Merle. No lathe, either wood or machine. I will make due one way or the other. I have some interesting ideas. I will see if they work tomorrow.

[dragyn]

Rick;

Me personally, I would go with the multipart process. I used to make pens on the router table with a jig, but still had some scary moments so broke down and got a lathe and never looked back at the router for making pens.

With the multipart I would round the inside corners of the outer pieces just a bit as well.

just my tuppence worth. Hope it helps.

[Wood Dog]

Lookin good so far......you sure have a steady hand. Eager to see more.

[KtownScroller]

I just finished my experiment using the router to make the groove in the rope sheave. I constructed a jig/fixture to pitch the sheave blank to 15 degrees. I used a 1/4" round nose straight router bit, that I had available, to make the groove. This was accomplished by placing the jig/fixture against the router table fence and slowly feeding the rope sheave blank into the router bit while rotating the blank. After the first side was complete I flipped the rope sheave blank and routed the other side of the groove. As you can tell the procedure was a success. I need to pick up a 1/8" router bit to make the rope sheave that is listed in the clock plans. I am quite satisfied with the results!