Burr elm piece for clock

[OldWood]

I put a query onto the General Woodworking page about this but no one has answered it. It is a 60mm thick planed block some 350mm long and 180 high. The burr and cutting form a nice background mount for the clock.

I think I have questions I need some guidance on.

1 How do I drill / turn an 80mm hole for the clock - and should I make the hole right through or blind ? I do have access to a lathe with adequate throw.

2 How do I treat and finish the burr ? There's also 'unburred' surface which was covered by bark - do I just gently sand that to give good surface for the finish.

Thanks
Rob

 

[monkeybiter]

I don't know about the finish, but as for the hole I'd use a router with a jig or template. You could quickly turn a ply/mdf template on the lathe, then position it where you like, without any unbalanced turning.

 

[OldWood]

I don't know about the finish, but as for the hole I'd use a router with a jig or template. You could quickly turn a ply/mdf template on the lathe, then position it where you like, without any unbalanced turning.

Thanks for that and I hadn't thought of the router. But the piece is 60mm thick and that's going to be a bit difficult to rout. I could use the router to take out a blind hole, but is that recommended for a clock ? I should say that this is an electronic insert mechanism I'm using. Perhaps the option is to use a Forstner bit to take out a big enough through hole for pushing the clock out for a battery change, and then the router to take out the rest as a 'blind hole'.

Rob

 

[jpt]

Assuming this is going to be either a wall or mantle clock and the back is flat, hard to tell the exact shape of the piece from your picture, I would do it as follows.

Decide where you want the clock face to be and mark the centre, then drill a hole right through the piece the correct size for your screw chuck.

Mount on lathe and turn a mounting in the front to take your jaws, make sure this is smaller then the clock face.

Remove from screw chuck and mount on normal chuck, now mark the diameter of the hole for the clock in the back which will hopefully be the same size as a set of jaws you have. Now cut the hole for the clock about 2/3s of the way through making a slight dovetail for your chuck at the same time. Now sand and finish the back and sides I use a hand random orbital sander for this, for finishing I use shellack sanding sealer and wax, some people use oil, I then polish using a rotary brush in the drill.

Remount the other way round and turn the hole for the clock, being careful not to hit the chuck jaws then sand the hole and taper if you have one to a finish. I then use some small brass and plastic brushes to clean up the face and get rid of any loose bits the apply finish as per the back.

It might seem like a lot of messing about but I now use this method for all my burr clocks, such as the one below, as I find it the best and easiest way.

john

 

[OldWood]

John
Very many thanks indeed for that. Your instructions are excellent and answer all my questions. The piece I have is a long way from the nice bit you show - and I like the little bit of detailing around the clock face.

Here's a not to good a picture - it's up there to see if we like it or not !! The clockface is a cut-out photocopy

Rob

 

[jpt]

I think that will work beautifully especially once it has a finish on it.

john