Among the many useful and attractive pieces of furniture that a boy can make to help furnish a home, clocks and timepieces offer a good field for endeavor. Now, a clock is more often looked at than any other piece of furniture; consequently, it should be a thing of beauty rather than a distracting eyesore. And, since it is no more expensive to construct a clock on good lines than on poor ones, there is no reasonable excuse for the inartistic, commonplace designs that are displayed for sale by jewelers, department stores, and house-furnishing shops.
Several good designs for simple and artistic cases are shown on the following pages, and none of them are too intricate to be made at home by the boy who has gained some knowledge in the handling of tools. There is nothing in their construction that requires the services of a cabinet-maker, and the movements may be had from a clock-manufacturer, or perhaps taken out of an old or unsightly case. For instruction in the use of the pyrographic-point, see Chapter XII.
Thin white-wood or pine boards, sheet-lead, stain, and shellac are some of the simple materials needed; and the tools required will be those that may be found in every household, such as a saw, hammer, plane, awl, square, mallet, compass-saw, and brace and bit. Some steel-wire nails, glue, sand-paper, and black paint will complete the list of necessaries, and the various small accessories may be had at a hardware store at a nominal outlay.
A Bracket-clock
A design for a simple bracket-clock is shown in Fig. 1, and the case is so plain in construction that any smart boy can easily make it from thin pieces of board half an inch in thickness, half a yard of burlap, and some sheet-lead.
The box part of the clock is eight inches square and three and a half inches deep. The brackets are extensions of the sides, cut as shown in Fig. 2 A; they drop eight inches below the bottom-board of the case. The dial and glass frame measure six inches in diameter, and to fit them to the box it will be necessary to cut a hole in the front of the case five and a half inches in diameter, as shown in Fig. 2 B. The shelf-top to the box is bevelled at the under side, and is attached by means of glue and nails; it overhangs one and a half inches at the front and ends. The sides and front of the box are then covered with tinted burlap in a soft, old-green, red, or tan shade, and the exposed wood-work is stained a color to match. When dry it is given a coat or two of thin shellac to lend a lustre to the grain and stain.
To hide the joint between the cap and the body of the clock, a round piece of wood, such as a dowel, should be inserted and nailed fast; or a narrow strip of picture-moulding can be used.
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.
If it is impossible to find the large nails that bind the corners at a hardware store, they may be made from sheet-lead. Disks half an inch in diameter are cut from the lead by means of a small cold-chisel and mallet. The edges of the disks are beaten with a tack-hammer to give them the appearance of a rough, hammer-headed nail. These disks are painted with a dead-black paint, made by adding a small portion of dry lamp-black to thin shellac, and applying it to the metal-work with a soft brush. These heads are attached to the clock, as shown in the illustration, at regular distances apart, with thin, small-headed, steel-wire nails, which when driven in and painted with the black preparation become invisible.
The movement, which may be of either the spring or weight kind, is attached to the back of the case before the dial is made fast, and the pendulum-rod is dropped through a slot cut in the bottom-board.
If the mounting is bothersome, however, a clock-maker will arrange it and adjust the dial and space the hands properly.
A metal hanger at the top and two long, slim screws driven through the bottom of each bracket will hold this clock in place against the wall.
A Mantel-clock
A simple but artistic mantel-clock is shown in Fig. 3. It is seven inches wide, thirteen inches high, and three and a half inches deep. It is made from thin white-wood, pine, cypress, or almost any soft wood.
The top, or cap, is of half-inch wood, and it projects one and a half inches beyond the front and sides. A small moulding, or a dowel, is cut and mitred around the top under the cap. At the bottom the feet are made by cutting out pieces of the wood with a compass-saw. A small pendulum movement is mounted against the back before the dial and glass frame are set in place.
The ornament on the front and sides is outlined with pencil, and after the wood-work is stained a soft-brown, an old-green, or any desired shade, the lines of the ornament are pyrographically burned. Or they may be painted with a dark-brown paint in imitation of pyrography. Below the ornament a half-inch band of sheet-lead is laid around the body of the clock and held on with large, oval-headed upholsterers’ nails painted black.
A Wall-clock
An attractive wall-clock is shown in Fig. 4, page 327. With a movement having a fifteen-inch pendulum, the case should be ten inches wide, twenty-four inches high, and four inches deep. A circular opening is made at the upper end of the box, and an oblong one at the lower end through which the pendulum may be seen. The box is covered with burlap in some desirable shade; it is applied with glue and large-headed nails, or dummy heads.
The ornamental design is cut from sheet-lead and applied with slim, steel-wire nails. The frame around the lower opening is cut from lead and applied over a piece of glass which is cut and fitted to the opening. The stems to the buds are made of thin telegraph wire, bent to the proper shape, and applied with small staples made from pins.
The top is cut from white-wood five-eighths of an inch thick; it overhangs the sides and front two inches. Where the top is applied to the body of the clock, the joint is hidden with a small strip of moulding, or a dowel mitred at the corners, and attached with slim, steel-wire nails.
The large nail-heads all along the edges are made from sheet-lead beaten to represent wrought-iron bellows-nails, and fastened on with thin, steel nails, and afterwards painted black.
The bottom of the box should be arranged on hinges, and caught with a small bolt so that it may be dropped in order to start the pendulum, and also to adjust the screw at the bottom of the rod.
A pleasing combination of colors for this case will be light, olive-green burlap, black metal-work, and old-brown wood-work. The pendulum-ball may be of bright brass or blackened. Equally effective are combinations of red burlap and brass trimmings, or old-gold-colored burlap and Pompeian-green metal-work, made by tinting all the metal parts with a light and dark olive-green paint blended together on the parts.
A High Wall-clock
For the space over a mantel, or wherever it may be convenient to hang it, a substantial high wall-clock is shown in Fig. 5. It is ten inches wide, thirty inches high at the front, and four inches deep, with the bracket-ends and the fancy top-pieces extending five or six inches beyond the body of the clock at top and bottom.
In construction it is somewhat on the lines of the “mission” furniture, the pieces being tongued and pinned, with a heavy slatted front.
The wood-work is five-eighths of an inch in thickness. The cross-rails are two inches in width, and the upright ones and the lattice are one and a quarter inches in width. The ends of the cross-pieces are shaped as shown in Fig. 6. When passed through mortises cut in front of the side boards they are held in place with wooden pins.
At the back, near the top and bottom, two-inch cross-strips are let into the side boards. The ends should project two inches beyond the boards at both sides, and holes are made in them through which screws are passed to anchor the clock to the wall.
An eight-day movement, with a twelve-inch pendulum, is made fast to a back-board, and on the front-board, to cover a hole eight inches in diameter, a large dial and glass are fastened.
HANGING AND MANTEL CLOCKS
Fig. 4. Fig. 5. Fig. 6. Fig. 7.
The ornament at the sides and on the front-board around the dial is cut with a carving-chisel, and tinted to darken the lines. Stain and varnish will be a desirable finish; or the stain alone may be used should an old, dull appearance be desired.
An Odd Mantel-clock
The design for a mantel-clock that is odd in shape and striking in appearance is shown in Fig. 7. It is seven inches wide at the top, underneath the cap, and ten inches across at the base. In width it varies from three inches at the top to four and a half inches at the base.
The case is made from three-eighths-inch white-wood and joined with glue and nails. The top is of core-moulding that may be had at a carpenter-shop or planing-mill. It is mitred to fit at the front and ends.
The metal straps are of lead and the ornament is tinted and outlined. A great deal of the beauty of this design is in its coloring, and, unfortunately, this cannot be reproduced. The wood-work is in light golden-brown, the buds in orange, toning down to a deep red at the base, or similar to the colorings of the California poppy. The stems and leaves are in several shades of green, and the entire ornament is lined by the pyrographic-point, or painted with a line in dark brown. The straps, nails, and glass frame are in dead black, and the cap-moulding is in a darker shade of brown than that employed for the body color of the case. A pale, old-pink dial, on which black numerals are painted, completes this harmonious color-scheme.
A Shelf-clock
A quaint clock is shown in Fig. 8, and it is quite as simple to construct as it is in appearance.
It is fourteen inches wide, twelve inches high, and four and a half inches in depth. A six-inch dial and glass are mounted on the front, and in the bottom of the movement-box a narrow slot is cut to accommodate the swing of the pendulum-rod.
Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10.
White-wood boards three-eighths of an inch in thickness are fastened to corner-posts, having the two upper sides cut away as shown in Fig. 9. Laps are cut at the lower end of each corner-post into which the rail fits, as also shown in Fig. 9.
The same general description given for the other cases applies to this one, and after the ornament is stained and lined the surface of the wood may be lightly lined from top to bottom with the pyrographic-point.
An Old-style Timepiece
A case of old-fashioned design is shown in Fig. 10.
The top measures eight inches square; the waist is five inches wide and twelve inches long; and the base is six inches high and twelve inches long. Two bars are fastened from the top to the base; they pitch at a slight angle.
The average depth is four inches, and the top, or head, extends out over the waist for a quarter of an inch, or enough to make a break in the straight line of the front.
The ornamentation is carried out as described for the other designs, and if properly constructed this clock should present a very unique appearance.