Here are the final photographs of the mantel clocks (please see the construction post & photos here).  They are all 100% wood.  No mechanical fasteners. no plywood or MDF.  These are heirloom, will to your grand-baby quality.  They are easily worth $400 -$500 each.  We’re offering them for well under market value because we realize the economy is depressed, not because the craftsman ship doesn’t warrant a higher price tag.  Each clock (without shipping box or padding) weighs ~5-6 pounds.  We will ship it properly padded and fully insured.  The shipping may seem a little high but it’s what USPS.com estimated.   Local pickup is available, email to discuss.   The links below are Paypal which allows you to pay via credit card. You do NOT have to have a Paypal account to use the links.

Clock #1 – Garnet Maple

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  Garnet Shellac & HVLP Sprayed High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~8 7/8″ wide x ~15 3/4″ tall x ~4 1/2″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

**** SOLD*****

Clock #2 – Spalted Cherry

Wood:  Spalted Cherry
Finish:  HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~9 1/2″ wide x ~18″ tall x ~4 1/8″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $125.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

Clock #3 – Garnet Maple 

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  Garnet Shellac & HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~9 1/8″ wide x ~16 3/4″ tall x ~4 1/2″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

Clock #4 – Maple 

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~9 1/4″ wide x ~15 7/8″ tall x ~4 5/8″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

Clock #5 – Maple 

Wood:  Combination of Tiger (Curly) & Birds Eye Maple
Finish:  HVLP Sprayed  High Quality Urethane
Dims:  ~8 3/4″ wide x ~15 1/2″ tall x ~4 3/8″ deep (flat back so it will fit flush against a wall)
Movement:  Quartz AA Battery Powered with Brass pendulum & bob

Price:  $85.00 + $25.00 US Shipping (insured)

We tripped across some beautiful Peruvian Curly Walnut, Spalted Cherry, Tiger Maple and Birdseye Maple that just cried out to be made into beautiful mantle clocks.  We brought it to the shop & set our sights on creating 8 clocks that would be sold at Christmas and hopefully make someone a really nice gift.

We started out as usual with rough lumber.  It was dimensioned to ~3/8″.  Next we cut all of the pieces for the clock carcasses (back & sides) and the face boxes (the box that holds the clock face and its working parts) to their proper & respective sizes.

From there, we planned to used our tried and true favorite method of joinery – the mortise and loose tenon.  The mortises were cut in all the sides and backs at the same time.  We had a small assembly line going and there might have been some sea shanty singing.  After all, Dr. Sheldon Cooper says rhythmic work songs increase productivity.  Ummm… maybe I shouldn’t have gone there ….there is no proof of singing…. moving on…

A dado was cut into the inside of each of the 4 sides that make up the face boxes to ultimately receive the clock face when constructed.  There is a hole drilled through the clock face for the battery operating quartz movement spindle to come through (where the hands attach).

The architectural arches were cut from a rough rectangular piece of stock and mortises cut into the side so it would provide that 4th side to the carcass and be structural.

Next, The top and bottom stacked molding pieces were cut to size.  We made the side corner moldings from strips.  Since we’re using long grain to long grain glue joints (see this post for explanation) for the moldings, we didn’t need to add mortises here.

Next comes the glue up.  The most intense part of any woodworking project because you find out just how many clamps you have vs how many clamps you wish you had,  you try your best not to reinvent the English language when something that fit perfectly 15 minutes ago now doesn’t seem to want to line up and because this is for all the proverbial marbles!   The face boxes were clamped up using high tech clamps (rubber bands) because none of our band clamps were small enough.  Now mind you rubber bands work perfectly fine given the size, design etc of the boxes… Shop Minions just like to find excuses to use their fancy smancy tools.  The french cleat was glued onto the back of the face box (long grain to long grain joint again) to make changing of the battery and any maintenance needed on the clock movement much much easier.  This also allowed for us to use a solid wood back without evil screws.

We then glued up the carcasses using our Beech loose tenons.  The arch was added in and everything allowed to “cook” for a few days.

The side molding we created was cut to final size and added to the carcasses with every single clamp we own!  (OK I exaggerate a bit … we didn’t use the 5 footers or the pipe clamps …. but it wasn’t for the Shop Minions’ lack of desire to try and get them in there).

Once the side molding was completely dry, we stacked (gluing & clamping each piece to each other) several pieces together to create a stack or stair step style molding for the top and bottom.  The top was beveled to create a crown effect.  We were careful to keep everything proportional with a nod to Mission inspired styling.  Each set of molding is a little different to give each clock its own character.

At this point, all of the constructions of our little soldiers is complete.  We do some obligatory finish sanding and send them off to finishing.

For the Maple Clocks (made from a gorgeous combination of Tiger (Curly) Maple and Birds Eye Maple) we needed to add a layer of shellac to avoid the uneven absorption of finish (also called splotching).  On 2 of them we sprayed on some garnet shellac.  That gives Maple a beautiful lightly reddish tint.   For the other 2, we used standard shellac so as to celebrate the natural beauty.   The Spalted Cherry and Peruvian Walnut clocks didn’t need shellac so they skipped this step.   All of the clocks have several coats of high quality water based semi-gloss urethane finish.  Tough as nails, very durable and beautiful.

Update:   Update:   Here’s the finish photos & purchase info