Wood Clocks Process #2

In  part one of the wood clocks process series (read here) I talked about cutting a number of angled pieces of wood.  A box-full of wood pieces, in fact.  I lay all the pieces out on a table and go to work creating a pleasing composition.  With some fussing, this process goes easy until the clock circle is about seven-eigths full.  Then it’s time to trade out triangles here and there to make a 360 degree circle.  To make certain of this, I tape the pieces securely together.  Once I have a working circle I move some of the triangles around to fuss with the layout.

Happy Bungalow Wood Clock Process 06 Walnut Cherry Dryfit Layout

Next comes the glue.  I lay down some wax paper on the table to keep the clock from gluing itself to the table.  There’s between 25-35 pieces in each clock and each side needs glue applied evenly.  I have to move quickly so the glue doesn’t set before I’m finished.  You can see the glue squeezing out in the picture below – this is a good thing as it means the joints are filled.

Once all the glue is on and the pieces are in place I put a strap around everything – that’s the black band in the picture.  I cinch the strap then insert blocks of wood around the perimeter.  The blocks help to make up for the different lengths of wood and give added clamping pressure.  Then I wipe all the excess glue away with a damp cloth.

Happy Bungalow Wood Clock Process 06a Walnut Cherry Wet Glue

Next comes another sheet of wax paper and some MDF spacers to clear the wood blocks on the perimeter.  I pile on my heaviest tool box and anything else that’s heavy and handy.  This weight keeps the pieces flush.  You can see some glue squeezing out on the sides – but this isn’t a problem as the clock will be trimmed later.

The picture shows a wood-strip clock being glued up – more on that below.

The clock dries for a while before the weight is removed.  You can see a little glue that leaked through, but it’s nothing a little sanding won’t clear up.

Happy Bungalow Wood Clock Process 07 Walnut Cherry Glueup

The picture below is one of the wood-strip clocks.  It’s like the other clocks except it only has one angle, so there’s much less math involved.  I lay out the strips, then cut each strip roughly to length so I don’t loose any more wood than necessary.  On the left you can see a rejected angle piece and a buddy angle that I used to clamp everything together.

The strip clocks don’t need the belt clamp – just a pair of bar clamps (and the heavy weight on top).  More on trimming, sanding, and finishing in the next post.

Happy-Bungalow-Wood-Clock-Process-09-Strip-Clock-Post-Glueup

Read the next post in the series here