Sometime in the past years, I wanted to build a mechanical wall clock. When I found at Woodcraft a suitable Hermle mechanical pendulum mechanism I began a long journey towards my goal. Now, it looks finished, though I may never finish designing and working on it.
The entire project was done to suit the size of the mechanism. I had no plans except a pencil drawing of the front I did on millimetric paper, to keep things somehow orderly. No side projections or other plans. However, I got the inspiration from a wall clock seen in an online shop. Since I made it for me I don't woory about copyright. Please consider this if you plan to do the same.
All of it is made of cherry since it is a very stable wood, has a soft mellow tonality (musically speaking) when the gong beats, and the color is neutral, both classic and modern.
The hardware is common brass small box hinges and latch bought from Lee-Valley. The back plate has two sharpened nails driven into the lower part, to serve anchoring vertically to the wall.
Unfortunately, I doccumented only the last thing I done, the painting and gilding. Maybe the next one will have the chance to be pictured from wood milling to painting.
Wall clock, overall appearance. |
Before painting, a printed paper pattern was applied on the back of the door glass. |
First I traced the outline using India ink and a fine dip pen. After this, I filled the voids with oil paint using a very fine natural sable brush. |
Tools used were: fine point dip pen, fine sable brush, scalpel for scraping ink overflow. Brown oil paint was thinned with natural turpentine. |
I applied 22 karat gold leaf with an oil based sizing. There is no need for varnishing since it will not oxidize. |
The upper part of the glass door after gilding. |
