The last of the mantel of my mantel clocks - a wedding present for another nephew. Probably my favourite from the range of traditional mantel clocks that I have made.
It is similar to my no.6, though it has more brass inlays - the hardest I've ever done. With its rosewood background its typical of the Regency period in the UK, for both clocks and boxes.
So, the the case is made from a mix of solid Rosewood, and thick rosewood veneers glued onto a jarrah frame work. I bought the rosewood around 50 years ago as veneer 'remains' - what's left when they can't take any more veneer of the flitch!
The style is another variation on the Chamfer top design from the early to mid 1800's. It's an early version of a Pagoda top clock, a design style influenced by the Chinese Chippendale style of furniture from the 1790's. It also has the usual brass side frets and Lion head handles.
Yes, it also houses another Hermle balance spring ting-tang rear wound movement.
You'll be pleased to hear that this was the last of my mantel clocks - Its been around 4 years since I made the last.
I have looked at them, that is a lot of cutting by hand and fitting. They do look amazing, but I have heard they don't keep good time. Seems like I have a book with a few plans laying around, no CNC here either.
I've done a bit of reading on wood gear clocks. They are not excellent time keepers but can be dialed in to within a few minutes a week. The point I remember is that wooden gear clocks are more about being an art piece - everyone knows what time it is these days.
We have a guy down here who does wooden clocks he made the biggest wooden clock in the southern hemisphere, may be the world in Nannup. At 2 tonne it became a tourist attraction for the little town. It's made from local Jarrah and she-oak. It really is a work of art!!!!! I seem to remember seeing a reasonable sized wall clock that had a wooden mechanism but was powered by electro magnets acting on a pendulum so it kept great time.
