New Tellurion Design

A tellurion is an earth/moon/sun orrery. The sun is in the middle. The earth spins once a day, and also orbits the sun once a year. And the moon orbits the earth.

After I worked out the gearing for this complication I wanted to see what it would look like in a clock. The quickest way to do that was to draw up a variation of my “Perpetual No.1” style layout. It visually worked well, but I’ve always wanted to come up with a design dedicated to this new mechanism.

A few days ago I was doing some thumbnails, and stumbled on to this one. I’ve refined it over the last couple days, but I still have to tighten it up, and work out some mechanical things. I really like the way this one is shaping up.

The little dial on top is for the time. If I keep it clean and simple enough, it won’t need to be very big. This allows the tellurion orrery to be the hero of this piece.

I’m going to set this one aside for now and get some mental separation from it.

Creating this one would land in the ‘thousands of hours’ category, so I won’t be able to tackle it anytime soon. However, it is at the top of the stack, prioritized alongside a couple other favorites. 

Safe Arrival

Yesterday I got a picture from the recipient of my latest tabletop piece, confirming that it arrived in Australia unscathed!

Shipping is always a little (okay very) stressful. And the nail-biting is amplified when a piece is going half way around the world. To alleviate some of that stress, I really went overboard with the packaging. Direct quote from the client: “I think it would have survived a small IED the way you boxed it up.”

As you can see from the picture, he is now the proud owner of not one, but two of my clockwork sculptures. He’s an awesome client, and my work found a good home. 

On the flip side, the room in my house that used to have multiple clocks on the wall now has zero clocks. I didn’t realize how much I used them until they were gone. It’s so much easier to glance up, rather than have to reach for my stupid phone to see the time.

Guess I need to get back in the shop!

"Twisted Branch"

In my recent post of this clock I promised a couple things.

The first was a new photo set featuring a worn and aged vintage wallpaper background. After wallpapering, sanding, and repeated oil paint washes, I have a stack of panels with vintage wallpaper that I can use to photograph my smaller work. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. It’s a technique I used in the past, and it was a good way to keep my clock photos from looking too repetitive.

The second thing I promised was the reopening of the shop here on my website. For the past six years I’ve been working on very large commissions, which took years to make. I loved the challenge, and seeing what I could do if I committed such a significant amount of time on larger work. One downside is that the inventory in my shop ran out, and I didn’t have any time to replenish the collection of smaller work. I eventually closed the perpetually empty shop.

But now that the larger work is behind me, I’m happily getting back to my old routine. I have a lot more work on the way, and I’m looking forward to having the walls in my house full of clocks again.

But not too full.

Enjoy the new photos!

The next piece is already in the works.

New clock finished

New clock finished! Here are some preliminary photos. I have something special in store for the final photo set.

I really like this one. The romans are completely broken apart, and have a good gnarled flow to them. I like the half-bladed hands too. And even though this one is smaller and less structured, it’s still very readable from across the room. 

A couple pieces of news:

One

I used to make interesting backgrounds for the photo shoots of my smaller clocks. A lot of my work for the last five or six years has been too big for that treatment, so I got away from it. But I’m bringing back the tattered and aged wallpaper backgrounds that I used to use. It takes a little work, but it’ll be worth it.

Two

Awhile back, I deactivated the shop on my website. During the fabrication of the larger commissions the supply in the shop disappeared, and I never had the chance to replenish it. I’ve gotten back to creating work for myself, and I’ll soon be reopening the shop on my site for the first time in six years.

More soon!

Dark and branchy

All sculpted and darkened. Time to make some hands!

I’m having a lot of fun with this design. It’s leaning into my usual decayed organic thing, but this one has a lot of nice movement to it.

I should be finished with it in a week or two!

Tabletop Tick Tock

Finished!

After months of work, I’ve finally completed my first tabletop piece. This one took a bit longer than I expected, but it was worth it.

I’m really happy with the way the inlaid “Six” and “12” worked out. I might have to incorporate that look into some future projects.

Soon this one will be on a plane to Western Australia. I’ll be holding my breath for a safe delivery.

Small and fun

The fabrication of the next quartz piece is underway.

About two weeks ago, while I was waiting for some materials to finish up the tabletop piece, I started the first cuts on a new quartz clock. This one will be small, delicate, and detailed; leaning into a more organic and unbridled style.

Estimated completion in a couple weeks.

Dial Markings Finished

The dial markings have been cut, carved, and fastened.

Next I’ll be making the hands, but first I need to answer a question. Originally I’d planned on having my often used, tattered and weathered paper treatment for the dial. But I’m kinda liking the way it looks metal-on-metal.

Decisions decisions….

Getting Close Now

Quick update as I come down the home stretch.

I’ve finished the back plate assembly, along with the rolled piece in the center. The whole clock body is finished, and I’ve applied the patina to all of it.

Now I just need to make the dial and the hands.

Finished front

The front of the tabletop piece is finished!

Sort of.

Okay so as I was putting the patina on this one I realized there’s still one piece on the dial that I still need to cut out by hand and attach. The thin broken ring of markings that are in the center of the clock.

But other than that, the front is finished!

Coming along nicely. Looking forward to the finish line of this one!

Piece by piece

The front of the clock is starting to take shape now. Slowly grinding away. There’s a stack of six layers that make up the front part of this clock. I’ve finished sculpting the front two layers, which make up most of the visible details. Now I have to go a few layers deeper and carve the smaller numbers (words) and the back layers of the front plate assembly.

The next post should be a good one!

Taking shape

The framing around the numbers is starting to take shape. With all the depth in this piece I’m really looking forward to applying the patina. Once the low spots are darkened and the high spots are popped it should look very nice.

However, before I can get to that I have a lot more carving to do. The two “wings” of the base, and the layer below that, and the layer below that….

Headphones and mask on - Let’s goooo!

Hands!

There’s been a small, but important addition to my latest mechanical project. “Three” (working title) now has hands. It first had a pulse back in March, but with the addition of a finished pendulum and hands, I can now use it to tell time. It’s been running well, and telling really accurate time. 

Gotta love the steady and reliable tick of a traditional dead-beat escapement.

I’ll be getting back to the tabletop clock exclusively for the next month or two. In the meantime, it’s nice that I can now run this one, test the accuracy, and use it as a clock. 

I'm back!

I’ve been away from the workbench for a couple weeks, but I’m back at it, carving away at the new one. I started with the fun parts, which to me are the Six and 12.

The other job was smoothing out the on the sides of the clock body. A lot of my clocks are constructed with a carefully thought out “sandwich” of metal layers. Once I screw everything together I have to smooth out the sides so it feels more like one, solid, sculpted piece. 

I also made the hands for the new mechanical I’ve been working on. I’ll post those next.

Tabletop Progress

Update on the new tabletop piece - Assembly is 99% complete.

There’s only one little thing I still have to attach - The rolled drum that goes around the center of the clock is just sitting on the interior lip between the two plates. I’ll need to drill, tap, and screw the drum to that lip. Right now, if you look carefully at the top (especially in the first photo) it tapers a little instead of having a consistent gap. That’s because it’s lifting off it’s seating a little. But it has some flex, so once it’s fastened it’ll be be good to go.

Next step is to grab the rotary grinders and make these flat pieces into a 3D sculpture.

Something New

For my next piece I’m trying something a little different than my previous work. Assembly has begun on my first tabletop clock. Or is it a mantle clock? I think the name changes depending on where you put it.

Everything is fitting together nicely so far.

Should be a fun one!

Mechanical clock progress

New clock part, fresh out of the acid drip.

I’m slowly working away at this mechanical piece on the side. This panel is the visually the most dominant part of the clock, so I wanted to give it the love it deserved.

I originally was going to use painted paper panels on this clock, but when executed, it felt a little lifeless. I eventually tested some things, and arrived at this. A carved “3”, with a hand engraved “Three” under it.

Anyone familiar with old english lettering will spot the way bottom of the number 3 completes the old english T.

New Clock

Sometimes a design sings, and when that happens it’s fun to explore different iterations. I’ve made a few of these now…The oversized “Six” on an eroded vertical frame. They all have their personalities and unique details, and I like them all.

This one will be boxed up and sent to Australia. Fun fact - Australia is top three for most frequent landing spots of my work. Great taste on that continent.

Next on the workbench - I’ll be creating a tabletop quartz piece, and making progress on a new mechanical clock. Should be fun!

I never thought I’d be this excited for things that move and progress so slowly.

New one arriving soon

Just the hands, face, and paper trimmings remain. The finish line is right around the corner!

This is my latest quartz commission, and I should be finished with it in about a week. I’ve created similar designs before, and each one has its own group of special details. I really like the deep cuts on the upper left and lower right of the “Six”.

If you’re interested in commissioning a clock of any kind, there’s currently only about a four month wait. Now would be a perfect time to reach out.

Finished pics soon!

Sculpting Begins

Back at it!

I was away from the shop for a couple weeks, but now I’m back at the bench happily working away on the newest quartz piece. I’m just getting started on the sculpting part of the process. Excited to see this one take shape!

More soon.