Another hobby. Antique clock case.

Hi,

One day whilst visiting a friend he asked for my advice regarding him restoring an antique clock he had which at well over 100 years old was in terrible condition. He was good at clock mechanisms but lacked confidence at restoring the wooden case. Like an idiot I took the case on and returned home with it. Not in order but here goes;


The top panel with lots of splits and broken; it was also badly bowed.

I couldn't make it worse.

The bottom clamped after gluing; the joints had come apart. Hot hide glue used.

Tradional hot hide glue; definitely not the easiest glue to use.

Using a cabinet scraper to remove the original very poor finish to bare timber.

Old veneer being removed.

One side panel stripped.


Bottom with failed glue joints.

I'm out of time but will continue shortly. Just a wooden clock case but a lot of time and work involved. A lot more to come.

Kind regards, Col.

 

Be interesting to see the finished clock case

 

Hi,

Thanks for your interest @Philippa much appreciated.


New top panel made and installed ready to receive veneer.


Base stripped of old finish ready for staining.


New veneer to left panel.


New veneer to right and top panels.


Hand rubbed french polish finish to bottom.


Hand rubbed french polish finish to top.


Vandyke stain added; after staining and allowed to dry it always looks very dull.


Main case french polished. What a difference finishing makes.

The new veneer is Austrailian Walnut bought from Craft supplies in Derbyshire before they sold out and moved to Doncaster under "Turner's Retreat"

25 years of Turners Retreat

Wonderful store to visit but plenty of money needed; top quality tools and timber don't come cheaply.

https://restoration-materials.co.uk/

Sadly my wonderful wife Bron passed away but we used to go all over buying craft materials for our hobbies; Bron was into card making and we always fully supported each other; happy times.

Restoration Materials is a gold mine of hard to find finishes; we visited both Turners Retreat and Restoration Materials many times often as an excuse just for a decent run out in the car.

Next run of pictures is the front door restoration.

Kind regards, Col.

 

Very interesting Col. When I was a small child my mother used to repaint the clock faces for a clock restorer.

 

Hi,

The first job I actually did was to fully restore the front door because if it became damaged it would end the entire restoration; the glass couldn't be copied.

Door stripped ready for staining. Great care was needed.


Door stained in Vandyke Brown to match the case. Stain applied to all woodwork by hand with a cloth; gloves are a must.


Close up of french polish finish.


Another close up.

Door completed.

Bron and I drove to Craft supplies to buy the veneer and we drove to Restoration Matereials for finishing supplies like Shellac flakes; I make my own french polish from flakes.

I've french polished many vintage radio cabinets each taking ages to complete but I tried something new with this clock case; I brushed on lots of french polish to quickly build thickness; allowing each coat to fully dry; the final coat I hand rubbed using talcum powder as a lubricant; this removed the high gloss leaving a really nice authentic finish.


This is the only picture I have of the completed clock. The door was delicate so when I completed it I drove through three quarters of an hour gridlock to deliver it to get it out of way of damage and to clear the bench. Another three quarters hour gridlock to return home.

Having completed the main case once again I suffered to return it but now I was very poorly greeted with "It's tea time" and I was not welcome. Later when the door had been fitted I received an email with this very poor photograph accompanied by a dozen high focus images of the mechanism. I didn't charge a single penny spending many hours and delivering this clock; he's a former friend.

I hope this is of interest.

Kind regards, Col.

 

Nice job done @Retired on the clock surround. Your pictures are really interesting to see the different stages you go through and what you actually do. The Repair Shop better watch out

 

Hi,

Your mother must have had a steady hand and good eyesight @Escarpment; a late uncle of mine was signwriter and artist.

Thank you @Songbird Whenever I do anything I take lots of digital images for future reference hence I can add the assorted hobby projects I've carried out over the years; my small Kodak PIXPRO FZ53 camera only cost about £60 years ago and it's been absolutely brilliant taking thousands of images. it's gone up in price since I bought it;

Amazon.co.uk

I owned a more expensive DSLR camera but it was too difficult to understand and bulky so I sold it preferring the small Kodak which I bought a cover for and it sits in my pocket.

The Repair Shop was interesting to watch but I believe there's been trouble as reported here;

Jay Blades left the repair shop to take a break to "take stock" after his uncle's alleged murder, but a BBC spokesperson later confirmed he was charged with coercive behaviour. He was also facing charges of two counts of rape. He has pleaded not guilty to the coercive behaviour charge, which relates to events between 1 January 2023 and 12 September this year.

What actually did Jay Blades add to The Repair Shop? we also liked The Great Pottery Throwdown until it went PC.

I still make lots of mistakes and often make the same mistake more than once; an example was when I'd removed the toilet pan and refitting it I flushed the toilet but had forgotten to connect the pipe between cistern and pan; using a towel I quickly soaked up the water wringing the towel into the pan then flushed the toilet again still without connecting the pipe; it gave the bathroom floor a good clean.

I encourage anyone to adopt a new hobby or to tackle something new; I feel it's impossible to fail because even if unsuccessful something has been learnt; I've never failed yet and never will although I've often left my comfort zone light years behind me; time permitting I'll add more threads covering what I get up to. If ever you've fancied trying something but been too timid to start; have a go and surprise yourself. It was when we first married almost 50 years ago I saw an old violin for sale but couldn't afford to buy it; Bron generously bought me my first violin set over four years ago for my 74th birthday and now I enjoy regular practices just for my own pleasure; Sadly my wonderful Bron passed away but she's remains with me in spirit.

Kind regards, Col

 

Thank you for the update and pictures @Retired . Wonderful work and I'll bet Bron is enjoying watching over you and your restorations. Long may you continue.

 

Hi,

You're most welcome @Philippa and many thanks for your good wishes. If our winters weren't so long and dreary I could do a lot more; I've just been driven indoors from the garden by rain and it's so dark.

Kind regards, Col.

 

Aye, pretty much the same down here @Retired . Have you looked at the thread A Joke or Two ? That can put a smile on your face at times.
I'm currently trying to restore one of my deceased tortoises - sods law I'm missing several shell plates. The Indian Star one is completed now so pleased with that.
All best wishes and hope your weather brightens up soon

 

Hi,

Yes thanks; I do look at the jokes; some are a bit too crude for me but others are a huge laugh.

You must be unique @Philippa trying to restore one of your deceased tortoise shells; pets are family and it's nice to remember them; good on you; I hope you succeed.

I'm doging the rain but today has been good after overning rain. I managed two and a half hours this morning and another hour and half in the garden this afternoon without rain but a cold breeze very early this morning; it came over really dark so I've quit for today but I'm pleased with my progress; the next two days are wall to wall rain. Whilst I'm in the garden I graft because otherwise I'll never get on top with rain tormenting me.

The sun's shining now.

Kind regards, Col.

 

@Retired you did a great job restoring that clock case, it's a shame that your friend at that time didn't appreciate your work and traveling.

 

Hi,

Thank you @Logan for your kind comments which are very much appreciated.

I still get caught out as I did a few days ago when I was asked to help with CCTV footage after a car was damaged along the street; the guy asking said he would post his details through my letterbox; I was at the top of the garden at the time. I spent over two hours locating the video footage and writing up the details together with printing a still image; I also emailed the CCTV installer on his behalf. He's been nowhere near since. In future I'll only respond to requests from police; what's wrong with people these days; if I say I'm going to do something I do it; my word is my bond but so many people are just plain selfish.

The lack of appreciation by the owners of the clock completely spoiled the whole restoration for me; the many hours work and cost involved deserved better; it didn't cost them a penny even though we travelled many miles in the car and paid for the veneer and fiinishing materials. never again.

I have done favours totally free of charge where the recipient was over the moon as in this example;


Philips 444 peoples vintage radio back panel.


Drilling jig made of 1/4" thick steel plate.

A very good friend had bought one of these rare Philips radio back panels through eBay costing £30 but when it arrived it was damaged; he was going to attempt to make one because another wasn't available and he'd borrowed a good one to copy from. He intended marking every hole and drilling by hand with an electric drill; each small hole was 3/16" diameter.

I explained doing it the way he intended would most likely end up with hole spacings wrong due to poor drill bit control but I was happy to help him out as an experiment if he bought a full 8' x 4' sheet of MDF which he did and it was delivered to my home. The MDF sheet was cheap and plenty for me to experiment with.

Being a mechanical engineer it wasn't a problem for me to make the metal jig shown. I made twenty of these panels just for the interest; I cut the blanks out on the bandsaw then securely taped ten blanks and using the original I could set the jig and secure it to the top blank using two short wood screws then drilling right through the complete pack of blanks. It was a tedious job and I did this twice. The large holes were marked and drilled with the correct sized Forstner bit. staining but not polishing made them authentic in every detail. I was happy to hand them over but later he responded by selling a large batch of vintage capacitors I made copying for a very rare vintage radio; I made 1,000 of these capacitors and he sold enough allowing me to buy an expensive AVO VCM valve tester from him; he was in the valve business at the time so we scratched each others back so to speak; there are some genuine people still around but sadly in the minority these days.

As I say my hobbies are many and varied.

Kind regards, Col.

 

You just like helping people and don't think at the time.

 

Hi,

The guy owning the clock played a number of unpleasant tricks on me; I was far too soft at first to even suspect he was trying to show himself as far superior to me; he was a moderator of a forum I'm a member of.

I was on the forum showing real time to the world the TV I was attempting to restore and receiving huge amounts of help and encouragement from forum members regarding the chassis restoration which was highly dangerous; having the chassis on the bench and under full mains power it could prove lethal and demanded utmost respect if I wanted to live.

He wanted to scupper my popularity; he and his wife would visit us as we would visit them. One day he said he'd help so we went into the radio den and he spent the next 45 minutes explaining and demonstrating how to trace a fault using my digital multi meter?


Here's the TV chassis as removed from the cabinet. I'd restored over 100 vintage valve radios and was becoming well known on the forum but one day I decided to really push myself to the limit by tackling the restoration of a TV/radio that a skip would have rejected. Cabinet restoration was now easy for me so I completed the cabinet first without assistance then took a deep breath as I tackled this chassis guided by kind forum members keeping me safe as I worked..


He removed the tuning turret as seen above whilst he traced a capacitor; I already knew about the hidden capacitor because it was a very well known problem and had already been alerted to this by kind forum members. He was long winded making out he was so superior in tracing this capacitor. Watching him was boring.


He then had to return home having what he thought would be an end to this very long highly respected thread on the forum; how smug he must have felt leaving me what is seen above; the chassis with the tuning turret still sitting on the bench. The new capacitor is clearly seen which I installed. The tuning turret fitted in front of the capacitor but how did it connect and align; it was a major component hence the one he went for; he had removed it not me?


He underestimated my resiliance and patience; I was overjoyed when I finally got the test card on the screen as seen; the chassis and tube were seperate on the bench but powered up. Who needs enemies when you have friends like these. I was too thick and trusting to notice what he was up to.

It's in my nature as it was with Bron to help whenever possible but now I'm adopting a friends outlook; "DIY = DON'T INVOLVE YOURSELF" but I still get caught out as I've just been with trying to help the guy with CCTV footage.

I enjoy sharing my interests and hobbies passing a bit of time away whilst the weather is dire as it is today. I hope I'm not boring anyone because I've got so many hobbies which are light years away from gardening.


I enjoyed radio restorations for ten years and my radio den evolved until as seen in the picture loaded with test equipment. I learned so much from highly skilled radio technicians to which I'm highly indebted. Having successfully restored the TV I then lost interest because the challenges had gone so I cleared the lot out an disposed of around 70 restored radios. I installed a woodturning lathe and enjoyed woodturning but it was messy and dusty; now it's my recording studio.


My current hobby; setting up a recording studio. Changing from one hobby to another hobby prevents me becoming bored and I'm constantly learning new skills; Bron too enjoyed her hobbies so we were both always busy. The studio will see me out because playing musical instruments is so difficult; I'm a member of two stringed instrument forums so once again I'm on a ballistic learning curve.

Time now for a mug of tea.

Kind regards, Col.