# First serious turning, besides a pen



## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

I picked up a nicely figured piece of Bubinga while I was at Woodcraft spending the nice gift card my MIL procured for a nice prezzie and decided to put it on the lathe and see if I couldn't come up with something. Believe it or not, there is no clock in my shop, so that is what I decided to build.
It's pretty basic...I cut a 6" by 6" block and scribed a 6" circle which I rough cut out on the bandsaw. I then scribed a 3 1/4" circle...this was used to center the lathes faceplate which I attached with a couple of pieces of double sided tape.
First step was to true up the blank and make it a REAL circle...easy enough with the roughing gouge and final touches with a skew. Then I rounded off the corner with the skew and put in a few grooves with the short tip of the skew. To give the face a bit more character, I put in a slight cove using a rounded scraper tilted slightly downward from horizontal to keep from catching. Finally, drilled a 5/16" hole dead center on the lathe. I did notice the tailstock was a wee bit off when the center point of the drill bit scribed a tiny circle...fixed it by shimming with the woodcraft receipt and it was dead on center.
I did get out the router to recess a 3" block on the back for the clock works. Just taped four pieces of 1/4" straight scrap and routed it out doing about 3/32" at a time for a depth of about 1/4".
There is no finish on this wood! It looked so good after sanding to 600 and then some tripoli, white diamond, and carnuba wax on the buff, that I decided to just let it be.
I have some more of the bubinga and may experiment some more, but this one sure was fun and didn't take but a couple of hours. Not too bad for a rank newbie, I think, but I would be interested in hearing from experienced turners. Any ideas for this or the next one?


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Frank that is a fine looking turned clock. Really like the lines in it. Well done.

Here is one I did out of a pine 2 X 12 way back when for practice of a platter. The wife said make it a clock so I did. Will give you another idea.


----------



## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

Nice Bernie. The grain pattern looks good for that. Do you think a 3/4" board is too thin to try something like this? I might be willing to give it a shot, but I do not have any jaws suitable to reverse chuck it.


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

Frank I don't think I would try it myself. I think 6/4 would be as thin as I would go. I use my chuck in expansion mode when doing platters like this. I make the recess 1/8" to 3/16".


----------



## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

That's a very sweet looking clock Frank. I'm very surprised though that two strips of tape is safe enough. What is your opinion Bernie?


----------



## drasbell (Feb 6, 2009)

nice clock that gives me some ideas...


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

harrysin said:


> That's a very sweet looking clock Frank. I'm very surprised though that two strips of tape is safe enough. What is your opinion Bernie?


Harry I have seen a lot of guys use double sided tape. Myself I use a glue block with a faceplate but a friend of mine uses the tape all the time. Shoot Harry might have to give it a try. 

Frank how did the tape hold up?


----------



## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

BernieW said:


> Frank how did the tape hold up?


The tape held up fine...it took considerable force to pull it free from the face plate...the tape was about 2" wide and two pieces covered the entire face plate. Some caution is warranted here. I decided to go with tape because a) I didn't have a chuck large enough to hold the piece, b) the piece was too thin to try to screw onto the faceplate, and c) the piece was small, only 3" radius. Even so, I tested the tape before proceeding and also stood wide of the lathe as I turned it on...at low speed. I kept wary through the entire process...one thing I have learned working with a lathe...it almost always starts talking to me when it has a problem...that unusual chattering sound when the tailstock is too loose, for example. I took light cuts and never had a hint of an issue.
Frank's rule #1, if it don't sound right, shut it off!:yes4:
Frank's rule #2, if it seems a little loose or has hints of being flimsy with the power off, don't go anywhere near the on switch!:nono:
Frank's rule #3, Use common sense!
Frank's rule #4, Don't forget rule #3!

I am interested in hearing more about this glue block, though!


----------



## Glenmore (Sep 10, 2004)

Frank that is neat. You and Bernie have me thinking of making one. It didn't even cross my mind to make a clock that way. Did a lot of fit ups with turning the faces for them but not make them the clock them selves.


----------



## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

Glenmore, it is real simple. I got the clock works for 3.99 at woodcraft and the hands are included for free.


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

I get my movements from wally world. They come with hands, numbers for the dial and movement.


----------



## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

dustmaker said:


> The tape held up fine...it took considerable force to pull it free from the face plate...the tape was about 2" wide and two pieces covered the entire face plate. Some caution is warranted here. I decided to go with tape because a) I didn't have a chuck large enough to hold the piece, b) the piece was too thin to try to screw onto the faceplate, and c) the piece was small, only 3" radius. Even so, I tested the tape before proceeding and also stood wide of the lathe as I turned it on...at low speed. I kept wary through the entire process...one thing I have learned working with a lathe...it almost always starts talking to me when it has a problem...that unusual chattering sound when the tailstock is too loose, for example. I took light cuts and never had a hint of an issue.
> Frank's rule #1, if it don't sound right, shut it off!:yes4:
> Frank's rule #2, if it seems a little loose or has hints of being flimsy with the power off, don't go anywhere near the on switch!:nono:
> Frank's rule #3, Use common sense!
> ...


Frank I hear ya. I am the same way and follow the same rules.


----------

