lighthouse project

[charlie44gs]

Thought I would offer a pix of one of the "lighthouse" clocks six members of Chapter 24 are building. Bernie Tekippe and I will make a presentation on this project at the Chattanooga Regional. I will post a fuller description of our process after the meet. We are in the process of building 10 clocks. Most have octagonal bases but mine has a round base. Our research showed the Willard used several designs for these "alarm" clocks. None of ours will have alarms but some will have passing strikes.
We will be glad to share with any one how we made these.
Charlie Brooks

 

[Isaac]

Very nice clock you have there. I assume it just strikes without a chime tone?

 

[charlie44gs]

It does not strike since there is not a bell attached. Willard made many versions of this clock. Some had a passing strike, a bell was rung once on each hour. The motion works had a pin that lifted a hammer that struck the bell when released. Several had bells but no striking mechanism. The bell was for looks only. Another had a small two-dimensional ship attached to the verge that reflected the motion of the pendulum. I plan to put this latter version on mine. First I have to learn how to paint a ship. Husher and Welch's A Study of Simon Willard's Clocks, 1980, has pictures of all these variations as well as pictures of the variety of cases used. Thanks for the interest.

 

[Joe Hollen]

Charlie:

Wow ! Very nice woodworking ! Is the case a veneer, or is it solid ? Also, did you taper the column portion of the case ? I can't see if you did or not...

This is one I made about 3 years ago. It uses a C.A. Lenderman "passing bell strike" banjo movement...

Nice to see a "Round Base" version !

Joe

 

[charlie44gs]

Joe,
Beautiful clock; I like the brass between the base and the waist. We used veneer since we have a great source within two miles of our shop. Carlton McLendon Rare Woods and Veneers http://www.rarewoodsandveneers.com/pages/home.htm

The round waist section started life as a porch column at Home Depot. We chopped it into 9 inch sections and tapered it on a machinist lathe. Since the original column had a slight taper to it each of our sections is a different size. The round waist I made came from the top of the column and is the smallest. I messed up my veneer by mistakenly gluing it on upside down. The "flame" of the veneer points downs rather than up. The base is also veneer on white wood but the "rings" are solid mahogany. All the other bases are octagonal rather than round like mine. Our movement is a converted "Timesavers" banjo movement. We made new plates and reversed the verge and the winding arbor. My bezel came from a 400 day clock. A local glassblower made the dome and will make us 12 more.

Our goal with this project was not to make an exact copy of one of Willard's clocks but to make a clock that the average craftsman might try to build. We hoped to encourage others to try their hand at building. After the Mid-South Regional I will post a summary of our project.

Thanks for your questions.
Charlie
octagonal base beginning of round base