Most of last week was spend with a jewelers saw in my hand. This is easily the most intricate thing that I’ve ever cut from a plate that’s 1/4” thick. I needed to go slow too because with thicker material it’s important to make sure the blade stays perpendicular. Being a little off can create a taper that makes the design too thin, or even nonexistent on the back side.
Late Saturday evening I finished sawing out all the spokes. Sunday I began to sculpt the design with rotary grinders.
In last weeks post I mentioned that I might put paper inside the little windows to directly mirror the clock but I’m actually leaning toward leaving it out. Having such a direct copy of the clock in the gears would be a little too obvious and even runs the risk of looking a little silly. If I leave the paper out the mirrored design is something interesting to find or notice rather than getting beat over the head with it. It also allows me to get a lot more sculptural with the carving tools since I won’t have to leave the back flat.
Can’t wait to finish this gear!
