Woooo Hooooo…..Saturday again! Hope everyone had an awesome week and an incredible Saturday. The weather was awesome here today. After some late summer heat this week and a round of big storms, a nice little front came through and it was an amazing day. Mid 70’s with little breeze and a really cool start. This week I traded my shorts for jeans and glad I did.

Started my day with a stop in at Metro to see my buddies and pick up this weeks supplies. As usual went in with a plan….and left with an arm load of wood. The selection this week may be the best I’ve ever seen there! Jeff walked me around showing me the different woods…..and it took all my will power to get out of there with what I did. Several different flavors of Mahogany, Shedua (1/8″ 1/4″ & 3/4″) Bloodwood, Redheart (an awesome selection Brian), Purpleheart, Paduk, and on and on and on. The plan was 1/4″ Paduk…..well there was a piece of African Mahogany (1/8″) that there was just no way I could have left that store without. Sorry the picture just doesn’t do it justice. Dad LOVED Mahogany and we always teased around about it. I would tell him nahhh just not enough grain for me. I’m sure he got a kick out of my reaction today. This worked out good though because today’s plan included several faces for the clocks going right now and I used a good chunk of it.

Once at the shop I started laying out the face patterns on the different woods. I still need to finish up the faces for the 2 Anniversary clocks, the Pyle clock which I am finishing up and the Kellar clock which I am starting. The back panel for the face for the Pyle clock is made from Paduk so I planed a piece down for that. That went well until the very last pass. I flipped it over for a slight clean up pass on that side (ends curled up) and the nice looking knot area exploded the instant the blade hit it.   🙁     But luckily I had enough to get what I needed from it. That knot area was the reason I picked THAT board. Can’t win’em all.

I prepped all the wood to finish out those 3 sets of faces (Making extras as I go to have them) I am doing something a bit different on the 2 larger sets. I am cutting the number circles out of a third color wood. I drew 7/8″ diameter circles on a copy of the pattern….pattern is 1″ diameter circles. Anniversary clocks will be Walnut backer, Ash front with Paduk numbers. The Pyle clock will be Paduk backer, Mahogany front and Purpleheart numbers. The Kellar clock will be Hard Maple backer with Mahogany front. The Anniversary clocks fronts and backers are cut out and assembled. I cut out all the pieces for the Pyle clock and assembled both sets that style. Front & backer I glued and clamped with a couple small clamps. Then just glued the numbers in place….no clamps.

I also cut out, sanded and installed the pediment trim pieces. These aren’t particularly my fav pieces to cut but Dad loved them. I cut these out of Paduk and cut the lengths I needed. I then set up the disc sander and sanded the angles on. Note this is a staged picture…I would be holding it with 2 hands and closer to the disc. I then glued these in place.

Next I attached the back door. I’ve went over these instructions before so if you’ve seen this skip ahead. First step is to attach the hinges to a piece of double faced tape and cut it to the size of the hinge. This time (just tried this and it worked) I cut along the center line of the hinge. I placed them where I wanted (yeah one is a tad crooked) and drilled pilot holes (smaller than the screw) centered…this is CRITICAL. I then stuck the screws into paste wax and installed them using good jeweler screw drivers. I sanded the screw tips flush on the backside and radius-ed the leading edge of the door. Then I attached a door stop on the inside of the clock using a small clamp. To space the door I used old scroll saw blades (that is what created the gab during cut out) and drilled my hinge holes. Once I had the door attached I drilled a small hole and put in a press pin for the knob. I then installed a medium saw tooth hanger and 2 1/8″ pads at the bottom so it will sit nicely on the wall. I left the tape on under the hinge.

That’s it….this one is in the books now. All that is left is the finish and I couldn’t wait. I put the first coat on as soon as I got home and WOW! Look for pictures next week of it hanging on my wall. This one is a fun one to cut out and good for veteran sawyers or anyone new to scrolling clocks. It is currently available on our website.

I finished up the day by starting the assembly on the base of the Kellar clock. Homework went good this week with me getting 90% of it cut out. This week I have the front box panel for the Kellar clock and the 2 main clock body pieces. Also I have the numbers for the Anniversary faces and the faces for the Kellar clock. Be looking for picture next week on the Kellar clock.

This week on Tuesday was the anniversary of Dad’s passing. Tam and I went down to the cemetery for a visit. On the anniversary visit I take a Warsteiner beer along to share with him. That is the last beer we drank together. I open it, say a little something, pour some, drink some, pour some more and drink some more. My ceremonial way of remembering him and celebrating how important he was/still is to me. I will share the last week now….so if you want, skip over this part.

The Friday before, I took off work and did a long bike ride (50 miler) and towards the end a freak storm blew in (had been a miserable dry summer) and I was closer to Mom & Dad’s than my car so I hi-tailed it that way. Well the storm caught me about 1/2 a mile from there. I may have cursed a little. Went in and Dad and I had an incredible 1 1/2 hour visit while I waited the storm out. Little did I know…even though I was upset about my ride getting spoiled by rain….that God had given Dad and I a bonus visit. Moral of the story….never second guess God’s reasons….accept them and be Thankful….rain may really not be rain. The next Saturday I showed up like always….even though our Saturdays were to visit and not work in the shop. We had a great day going down memory lane and talking about things we hadn’t in years. He also wanted to sign the papers that signed WWW over to me…they had been ready for a couple weeks. We were going to supper that evening….Tam, Mom, He & I….and he was adamant to sign them BEFORE we left and not upon our return home. Mom had gotten a special bottle of wine and we shared a glass before we left as we signed the papers. He was in such a good mood and as we left he made it all the way down the stairs without help. The dog went crazy as we were leaving and pulling on his pants leg to try and keep him home. I told her that I promised we would bring him home. The dog still doesn’t trust me and tries to bite me whenever I kiss Mom goodbye. We had a great dinner at his fav German restaurant having his fav meal. We had the Warsteiner as we ate. At the end of the meal he needed to go to the restroom before leaving….he was in his wheel chair. Before I wheeled him in he ask to wait…he was having a moment. After that seemed to pass I wheeled him in and he needed to ‘rest’ before I helped him up. That was it. He passed…..but I believe he waited until he and I were alone. And as rough as that is for me…I wouldn’t have it any other way. He spared Mom of that. At that point not knowing yet, we wheeled him outside and the EMT’s showed up but couldn’t revive him. Sorry if this isn’t appropriate to share here….but a lot of you were good friends with Dad and talking it out helps me. For those of you who knew him…..you know how special of a person he was. I hope you never forget him…..He is the reason any of this even exists!

Well that about does it for another week. Hope everyone has a good upcoming week ….enjoy fall as it arrives. Again this week please keep all of our woodworking brothers and sisters who are struggling or hurting in your prayers. Also be sure to check out our approved vendors and catch us at www.wilckenswoodworking.net and on facebook. Look for our ads in S.A.W. and Creative Woodworks & Crafts. We have several new things available right now along with ALL the old stuff. If we’ve had it…we still do. Don’t forget we have more mini clock books available. These have been popular so far…be sure to get your copy. Don’t be a stranger….drop us a line to say hey….we love talking to ya. Send us pictures of what you have going so we can share those. Also I still plan on pulling out the pieces for the Shop Memorial Cabinet and see what I need. I thought about it again as I was getting ready to leave today. If you are interested in being a part of that let me know. We received about half of the patterns we originally handed out. So if you got a pattern and still want to be a part of this….just let me know. Look for more to come on this. I don’t have much else so have a great finish to your weekend and a good week next week….and as always…

Until Next Time, Keep the Saw Dust Flyin’…..