first furniture project

[oscarl48]

I did make the stained glass panes. One of the many reasons this took way longer than it should have (way too many projects going on at the same time). The clock parts I purchased from a website named klockit (under mechanical movements). They have been a great resource for me and their support staff have answered several questions for me. Having said that there are several online companies out there that have great products. It is not a cheap process though. I bought their economy model which ran several hundred. The top end models are in the several thousands. Another option is to go with an electronic clock mechanism which, still relatively expensive, is much cheaper than the mechanical versions.

[blhutchens]

Great job! I look forward to seeing your next project.
I have been to that site and decided I would stick to the wooden clock works that I can make.
I spent 2 weeks on one I got from sketch up and never got a tick tock out of it. it looks cool though
I decided I needed better software before attempting it again.
Got the software just not the time to attempt another.

[oscarl48]

Thanks. Far from perfect but happy for my first attempt at one.

I am impressed you jumped in on a wooden clock. I guess I am a little intimidated by them. I have been researching for about two weeks on my free time on wooden clock designs/theory and I am just now starting to figure it out. My old brain isn't as spry as it used to be. I picked up a small panel of birch plywood and will be trying to cut some gears this weekend. Also promised the wife a music box this weekend. We'll have to see how far I get. All I really want to do is grab a beer and vegetate but things to do, stuff to build.

[blhutchens]

I bought and built the Mystery clock from the CW store and built it and just sparked an interest.
found a source for brass tubing and started playing.
I did find that for some of the smaller gears you need a 1/16 inch cutting bit.

[oscarl48]

Thanks for the info. The Mystery clock is gorgeous. I know it would be easy to just order it or one of the many patterns that are out there but I got the idea I could design my own. I've read the theory and it seems somewhat straight forward; Minimum three gears with three pinions and an escapement system for the pendulum and a weight for the battery. I am going to initially do a four gear clock (maybe) to reduce the number of teeth required.

I am very lucky that I have most materials available locally. We have a hobby lobby (mega store) down the road that carries a wide assortment of brass rods so I think I am covered. My wood shop carries all the normal hardwoods and can special order most of the exotics.

Okay. The CW did a beautiful job carving out the little music box I am building the wife. Cut the segments to length on the table saw and ready for glue up. I have to pick up either a piano hinge or decorative hinge tomorrow morning and it will be done. Quick and simple and with CW a piece of art.

Now I got to cutting some gears. I am so frustrated. I set the cut path with three tabs minimum and when I cut there are no tabs. Had to stop the cut in fear the cut piece would jam up the bit. I've tried twice now and no luck. I have to figure out what I am doing wrong or I am going to have to build a sled and tape the entire piece down to get what I want. On the positive side the piece/parts that were cut looked pretty good. I bought the gear template generator and it works great.

What I am currently doing: I port the gear jpg into Coreldraw. I cut out the gear with no background and re-save as a gif. Import to CW Designer which picks it up as a clean line clip art. I then trace the design onto the project with outline pattern toggle. I then use cut path on the outline to set tabs and cut depth. The cut depth works great but no tabs.

Might step away for the afternoon and start reading some of the forum inputs. It looks like several people have had the same issue but so far nothing that answers the mail for me though I am sure its in there somewhere.

[fwharris]

You might try setting the tab heights to 1/4". Some times if left to low they easily break out like they are not even there.

[blhutchens]

You may have to set your own tabs as well
so they hit on the top of a tooth instead of the valley

[oscarl48]

Thanks to all. I've read most of the forum inputs and the tips and tricks and wasn't sure what I was doing wrong but have a feeling that low tabs might be my issue (I hope). I will try that next. Starting to get late here and I'm sure the neighbors would not like all the noise so will try tomorrow morning.

[oscarl48]

Thanks again to all. It has been a frustrating but eventually good day. Started the CW first thing this morning and started with a clear board sensor error. After an hour of cleaning and fiddling with the machine, unplugged it and stepped away to finish the music box. Came back to the machine, plugged it in and reset the stock and magically the error was no longer there. The CW has now cut my first gear. woohoo. On the down side it did chop off one tooth on the back end. Not sure what I did to cause the cut but not a huge deal since this was more proof of concept. But I am now sure I can cut gears and can start learning how to make the right gears I need.

Pics of the music box enclosed. Nothing fancy but it sounds good. Carved all the pieces on one board and then cut parts out with table saw. Used simple glue joints since not a lot of stress on this little box (yes it was able to take my weight anyway). Copper nails for interest. Very quick project. Probably only 3 hours total including the carving time.

P.S. I reset the tabs to 1/4 inch for the gears and it worked perfectly this time.

[oscarl48]

Another quick project for the weekend. Another music box but this time for my daughter. Caught her staring at the music box I made for my wife and when she opened the lid and the music started she jumped ten feet. So of course I started laughing. Feeling nostalgic and wanted to give her something that will remind her of her mother and me. She joined the Navy last week and I'm still a little sad about it. I managed to talk her out of it once but the bug was planted. Probably all my talks about the adventures I had in the USAF. Nothing wrong with the military but I wish she would have finished college first. The cherry blossoms on the lid represent me and my wife, the medical symbols is the job she got (corpsman), the sunflower in the front is her, and the daisies on the side are her best friend. I'll rip first thing tomorrow morning on the table saw and assemble. Final pictures of the music box to follow.