Building a clock PART 1: The Body

Gathering materials  The wood that you will be using is called Maple. You can identify it by knowing that it is: Heavy Very hard Cream coloured

Need to know info  The final size of the clock body is: 20” X 7 ½” X ¾”  The clock body is made of 2 pieces glued together. Why? What is the rough size?

Step 1: Mark the rough length  Make 2 pieces 20 1/2” long per person  Use chalk and a square  Check the board for cracks and staples

Step 2: Cut to rough length  Use the mitre saw to cut all pieces to rough length  Make sure your piece is “stable on the table”  Wear safety glasses

Step 3: Joint a reference face  Joint pieces with the face down  Mark the reference face with a checkmark  Use a pushstick

Step 5: Plane until smooth  Plane each piece with the reference face down (your check mark goes down)  Take off as little as possible!

Step 4: Joint a reference edge  Joint 1 edge on each piece  Make sure the reference face goes against the jointer fence

Step 6: Rip to width  Use the table saw to rip each piece to 4” wide  Your check mark goes down and against the fence  Each student will need 2 of these pieces to make the clock body

Step 7 : Make a panel  Put the pieces together so that they look good  Try to arrange them so that anything that looks bad is on the back

Making a panel continued…  Look at the ends of the pieces THE GROWTH RINGS MUST ALTERNATE!

Making a panel continued…  Once you have everything figured out draw a triangle so that you don’t forget where they go!

Step 8: Joint the edges to be glued  Joint the edges so that the glue joint is nice and tight  Check that the fence is square  Use a pushstick!

Step 9: Glue the panel  Put the triangle back together  Wipe the glue down flat with your finger

Gluing the panel continued…  Use 3 bar clamps to clamp the panel together  Make sure that all pieces are flush

Step 10: Scrape off all the dried glue  Use a glue scraper to get the excess dried glue off  Any leftover glue can damage the thickness planer

Step 11: Plane to finished thickness  Once all the glue is off you can thickness plane the whole panel  Plane both faces to make sure both are flat  The panel must be ¾” thick

Step 12: Joint a reference edge  The edges will be dented from the clamps  Make one edge flat by using the jointer

Step 13: Rip to finished width  The jointed edge goes against the fence  The finished width is 7 ½”

Step 14: Trace the clock body template  The edges should line up, only the curves get traced  Use a sharp pencil

Step 15: Bandsaw the curves  Lower the blade guard  Cut to the waste side of the pencil line!

Step 16: Sand the curves  Use the spindle sander to get into the curves  Sand carefully to the line

The End?  That’s enough information for now… We will next learn how to make the clock face using some of the same techniques  Remember that you must get full marks on your safety test for each machine before using them  You must also demonstrate to Mr. Huber that you can use each machine safely the first time you use them  Good luck on your project!