I made the base for this clock from a very nicely grained block of solid cherry. I turned it with a new JET mini wood turning lathe, which I like a lot. It's quite rigid, which is desirable in any lathe. It has a variable speed, which I set to the lowest speed to turn the base. While the lathe's bed is too short to turn a table leg, it's long enough to turn most clock case parts.
I finished the base with some Minwax cherry stain and Minwax Antique Oil finish. Both of these products are very good. The finish is an oil finish, not glossy.
This clock must be exactly level to run properly, since if it's out-of-level it will cause the balance staff to press against the jeweled bearing -- the balance must hang centered in its jewel. So I made a set of levelling feet for the base of this clock which are like those found on an anniversary clock.
The levelling feet are made from 1.125" brass. I cut a 1/2" by 1/4" spigot on one end, which I threaded with 1/4" SAE threads for the adjustment. The 1.125" disk itself is knurled, and there is a nob on the lower end that will contact the shelf or table where the clock sits.
To prevent scratching table or shelf, I put leather pads on the feet. I punched these from shoe sole leather scraps, using an inexpensive hole punch and a sturdy hammer. The pads are cemented onto the feet with epoxy.
The feet screw into 1/2" pieces of brass, 1/2" long, threaded internally to 1/4" SAE. I used a Forstner wood bit to cut holes in the base for the feet. These bits cut true holes in hardwood, without ragged edges. I drilled the holes on a circle drawn on the bottom of the base, so they would be uniformly located on the edge of the base.
The dome for this clock is large and expensive, so I wanted to lessen the chance that it would be chipped or broken in use. Most domes get cracked when they are bumped on the rim when being set on and off a clock, so I decided to make a protective ring for the dome rim.
The ring is made from a sheet of 1/4" aluminum. I began with a 12" x 12" piece of aluminum, which I cut to size with an old metal-cutting bandsaw we have. Then I mounted the piece on the 6" rotary table in the large Enco mill, and milled it round. Then I mounted the round piece on the face plate of the Enco lathe, where I trepanned a groove in the material, 1/8" wide, for the glass of the dome.
I sized and centered the groove in the aluminum by first making a center in the aluminum using a center drill in the tailstock of the lathe. Then I used a pencil compass to make a circular line on the aluminum which is the size of the dome circumference.
I used this mark to begin a tentative cut with trepanning bit in the lathe. Before going very far, I removed the faceplate from the lathe -- without disturbing the aluminum -- and tested with the dome itself to be sure I was cutting the groove in the right place. I did this several times during the machining of the groove, to be sure nothing was awry. The groove ended up at 1/8" wide and 3/16" deep.
These domes are often not cut squarely, and this one leaned to one side a bit. So I used the ring to make it square. When gluing the ring onto the base, I shimmed up one side of the dome a bit, putting a 1/16" thick bit of wire in the groove under the low side of the dome.
I glued the ring onto the glass with a transparent silicone-like sealer from the hardware store.
I also used a Deltacad template to locate the holes in the base which mount the two columns, and thus the clock. These are 1/4" holes, also drilled with a Forstner bit.
Todays links:
Base
Feet
Feet
Leather punch
Forstner bit
Base bottom
Base with feet
Trepanning ring
Ring
Ring edge
Dome and square
Base template
Dome finished