Wheel clock: painted or natural finish

[DickB]

I made the black wheel clock per customer specification, but I generally don't like painted wood so I made the natural finish one for me. Which do you prefer?

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[bergerud]

I like the dark but I also like wood grain. How about ebony stain and a clear finish?

[Dale]

I'm like you, I do not like painted wood but in this case I think the black one looks best.

[DonCP]

I like the natural finish. Very nice work.

[ladjr]

I like them both. Did you think about making the nut heads silver or chrome.

[cestout]

I think I would have cheated and used ebony stain. I like the grain the way you glued up the 5 pieces. What angle would that be?
Clint

[SharonB]

I think the black would be suitable for a commercial type business but if used in a home setting I would pick the natural wood.

[normrichards]

The black looks like you could just get a plastic wheel cap from the auto store and put a clock on it, the wood one is obvious that someone made it. I also just like the wood (is that oak?) best.

[DickB]

I think I would have cheated and used ebony stain. I like the grain the way you glued up the 5 pieces. What angle would that be?
Clint
Ebony stain might look cool.

Here's how I made the blank:

I edge glued a board 6" by about 24", then made cuts at 36 degrees.
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I arranged the parts into two half blanks and glued them together.
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If the angled cuts were not exactly 36 degrees (and they never are), the bottom edge of the half blanks would not be perfectly straight. If I had a jointer I'd straighten the edge with that. Instead I fastened each blank to a scrap but square board using some screws at the half blank corners (which will be scrap) and ran it through my table saw.
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The half blanks were glued together.
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Finally I trimmed one corner to get parallel edges for fitment into one of my sleds.
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[DickB]

I like them both. Did you think about making the nut heads silver or chrome.No; I finished per customer request. On cars, black wheels are usually fastened with black nuts.

[Smoken D]

Wish there was a choice for both. I do like both but would depend on my mood. I may have chosen different colors for usage. For a kids room maybe red, white, & blue. My room would be natural.

[cestout]

I have a jointer but for this the table saw works better. Your glue-up had some end grain that could tear out. I will have to remember 36 deg for pentagons.
Clint

[mtylerfl]

I definitely like both. The black with white hands is easier to read the time and would be great in a contemporary decor home or office (or nice garage!). The natural wood is very, very attractive too. That would fit into my personal home decor better than the black finish.

[DickB]

This project is now available in the pattern depot:
http://store.carvewright.com/product.php?productid=25611&cat=&page=1

Designer Basic (1.187), 1/6" carving and 1/8" cutting bits.