Clocks
This was the first clock I made, and it was a learning piece. After a long lay-off from woodworking I wanted to restart from the ground up and learn the basic skills. So I needed to make something that really focused on the use of hand planes.
To that end, I got myself a good hand-plane and some pretty rough 100mm wide oak and began by preparing the timber in the usual way. Then I had to edge joint it to get it to the width for a wall clock, and once that was done I had to cut the octagon and do a lot of hand-planing on the edges before finally working the diamond-faceting with a block plane.
The clock movement is set into a recess behind, which I cut using a hand-held electric router - my first serious brush with that particular tool which I've never learnt to enjoy but can't deny its usefulness.
Finally, I cut some cross-grain pellets from walnut to let into the face as hour markers. This completed my first woodworking project in about 30 years and helped me build up some confidence in hand-planing.
I used this idea in a number of different ways in order to turn skills practice pieces into useful artefacts. And when I decided to master the hand-cut dovetail (a joint that I had never really been happy with even before the long lay-off) I realised that I could take the same approach as the dovetail is a very decorative joint - not to mention a way of showing off my newly hard-won skills!
To that end, I got myself a good hand-plane and some pretty rough 100mm wide oak and began by preparing the timber in the usual way. Then I had to edge joint it to get it to the width for a wall clock, and once that was done I had to cut the octagon and do a lot of hand-planing on the edges before finally working the diamond-faceting with a block plane.
The clock movement is set into a recess behind, which I cut using a hand-held electric router - my first serious brush with that particular tool which I've never learnt to enjoy but can't deny its usefulness.
Finally, I cut some cross-grain pellets from walnut to let into the face as hour markers. This completed my first woodworking project in about 30 years and helped me build up some confidence in hand-planing.
I used this idea in a number of different ways in order to turn skills practice pieces into useful artefacts. And when I decided to master the hand-cut dovetail (a joint that I had never really been happy with even before the long lay-off) I realised that I could take the same approach as the dovetail is a very decorative joint - not to mention a way of showing off my newly hard-won skills!