Fire Engine Clock

[RangerJay]

This is a gift for my youngest son - he was inducted into the city fire department last fall.


I have always enjoyed working with wood - but had never done scrollwork before - so this has been a first - and I gotta say very enjoyable project.


After some serious reading through many threads on this forum - and the advice and encouragement from several members - I think I managed to keep any major mistakes to a minimum and am pleased with the results - having said that - there is lots of room for improvement ..... and the next project will be better .....


The clock is now 99.9% finished - the only thing left to do is swap out the steel washers and finishing nails on each of the wheel hubs for brass (once I get to the "city") ..... add a small engraving .... then deliver the goods .....


Patterns and movements for the next 2 clocks are ordered.


Thanks,




Jay

[will8989]

Very well done. Doesn't look like a first project to me!! I'm sure your son will treasure it.

[Mick Walker]

Jay, very nicely done. Be sure to put s a finsh on the brass fittings.

[Haggard3230]

Awesome work, I need to get that pattern sometime.

[oily]

Absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wjbclocks1]

Thanks for sharing your woundrful work with us. If there are any mistakes on it and you want to gve it away I'll gladly send you my address.
Thank again and keep up your talent.

[north wood clocks]

Hello Jay
Very nice work! The one mistake I see, where is the place to improve?
Norman

[Gettindusty]

Excellent work, that is something that will be treasured in the family for generations. Keep it up

[vw454]

great work, sure don't see any mistakes

[Spirithorse]

That is absolutely stunning!
I wish some of my projects look as good as your first!
What is the name of that pattern and where is it available, please?
God Bless! Spirithorse

[Ron Standley]

Wow, amazing work. Excellent job.

[stephenD]

Amazing. You did a wonderful job. Not a good job for a beginner but a truly wonderful job.

[RangerJay]

Thanks for all the kind words.

The plan was purchased from Wildwood:
Wildwood Designs Scroll Saw Clock Parts

The wood is walnut with maple accent pieces.

The big thing that I think I will try next time is to fill the grain before cutting - and also do some experimenting with laquer before the next project.

In the past I have always brushed on a satin polyurethane then buffed to a lustre.

This was the first time I ever used a semi-gloss spray polyurethane (over a neutral Danish Oil) and I was a bit surprised at how much of the grain was left open - lots more than brushing. I was pleased with the Danish Oil (although it darkened the wood a little more than I expected so the piece likes a bit of light) and I was surprised at how much it cost to spray the polyurethane - the final coat took me into the 3rd can before I finished. I would normally have finished off my brushing projects with a coat of wax applied with 0000 wool - but for this I finished with light pass of 600 grit paper followed by a basic application of wax. It softened the semi-gloss and produced quite a nice lustre.

My mistakes? ....

I learned a couple of times that a bigger blade is not better - nuff said about that ...... a couple of do-overs .....

This project was also the first time I have ever used a sanding mop - had never heard of one before watching one of the videos on this forum - anyway - I purchased one over the internet and really like it a lot - but I was a little agressive through my learning curve - also nuff said about that .... a couple of other do-overs ....

My last lesson had nothing to do with the finished product - but an important one none-the-less ..... that would be the lesson of super glue ..... never used that before either ..... here I learned a few of the basic precautions the hard way ....

Thanks,


Jay

[Wood Dog]

Sweeeet to the max..........bravo mini.gif

[Mike_Fehring]

Terrific work and for your first project awesome. I found I like spraying lacquer better than poly and it is much cheaper and dries much quicker.