It has been a while since I have executed a new clock for Studio 285 Clockworx. One gets to the point where he is making duplicates of established designs to meet demand and the conception and execution of established designs takes a back seat. There was also an inordinate shift in priorities towards wood turning. To re-balance this ‘wood-art’ cosmos one of my New Year’s resolution is to introduce AT LEAST one new ‘major’ piece a quarter.
The piece that will be rolled out this quarter is a fusion of steam bending and wood turning techniques. It draws upon what I have learned to date plus details of execution developed with prior clocks. The intent is to develop larger pieces that are more sculptural, organic and ‘plastic’ in nation.
The original concept sketch was generated a few years ago, as you see here:
From that I developed a rendering in sketchup:
The design then languished for a more than a few moons until I finally decided to execute it. In the rendering, the curvy fish/cobra shape would be executed in steam bent oak. The half brown ‘half-football’ shape is something like the hard outer husk of a hard shelled fruit/nut, such as a coconut. It would be executed in walnut. The orange part is representative of what would be the ‘soft’ inner fruit, ironically formed out of one of N. America’s hardest woods, Hedge (Osage Orange). The dark black nut in the center would be shaped out of Ebony. I have yet to successfully turn anything close to a perfect sphere. Considering the price of ebony, there will be considerable practice before I get to the point where I turn that part . . . or I will ‘cheat’ and get a master turner from the Kansas City Wood Turning Club to turn it for me. The sphere the piece sits on will be some round, found bit of marble. The circular base will be walnut. Don’t ask me how I’ll hang the floating part. I have not figured that bit out. I have a couple methods form a few other clocks that might work here.
Thia picture shows in the background the form that will be used for steam-bending the curvy shape. In the foreground are half walnut ‘husks’ glued and clamped.
Here the two husks suitable for making two clocks are shown with a bottle of hide glue. The original intent was to glue the two pieces together with regular yellow wood glue, then split them apart on the band-saw. Hence the dorsal fin-like appendages that would provide a stable base for making the cut after the shape was turned. I realized that I could use hide glue to glue the shapes together. As hide glue is reversible (it is used for that reason on string instruments) I can undo the glue joint and not have a rough saw-cut face to true up. The hollow space is reserved for the clock movement.
The two husk halves are clamped together and the glue is setting. I could attempt to turn just one half on the lathe, but it would be unbalanced and I don’t have the courage to try. This will give me the parts for two clocks for the effort of one, and make it easier to get a good result. When the turning is done I should have a nice sleek football shape that I’ll split apart with hot water and a dull knife.
Wish me luck and stay tuned . . .