Cedar Planking Clock
Introduction: Cedar Planking Clock
Another day, another project. This time it's a bit of a deviation from the usual pallet wood stock, and instead we get to play around with some gorgeous cedar tongue and groove planking.
During a friend's basement renovation project, one of the small rooms getting demolished had beautiful cedar tongue and groove planking lining the walls and door (which was the style a few decades ago), and instead of throwing it all away what better use was there for it than giving it a new life as a piece of functional art?
Supplies
Power tools such as a table saw, router, belt and palm sanders.
Clock mechanism: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07W7X8LZZ/ref=p...
Table saw cross cut sled based on Fisher's Shop's design:
Table saw circle cutting jig based on Fisher's Shop's design:
Step 1: Gathering and Preparing the Cedar
Once the basement demolition was underway, we managed to save all the longer pieces of cedar that were still in good shape. Some came off in long strips and some were just cut off the wall in large sections. Once it was all collected, the first thing to do was separate the individual planks, remove and recycle all the nails, and throw out any pieces that were damaged or just too small.
The next step was to glue the planks into sets of three, since each one was about 3/8" (9.5mm) thick which was too thin to work with. When grouping them, the ones with the nicer grain patterns were kept for the outside while any with small cracks or plain colors went inside. The bundles were also grouped by length so as to maximize the yield of the glue-ups.
Step 2: Cutting Material Down to Size
With all the planks now glued into sets of three, the first thing to do was joint one side of each bundle - essentially giving it a clean straight edge. In larger shops you'd have access to a jointer that would quickly do this, but it's quite possible to do with a table saw and jointer sled. 431
Simply attach the bundle to the sled, let the rough side hang off the edge, and pass it through the blade.
When you've jointed all the bundles, you can then start cutting 1" (2.54cm) wide strips by setting the table saw's fence to that width and the passing the bundles through it as many times as they will yield material. In our case, they were all about 2.5" (6.35cm) wide so they yielded two strips each.
And finally, using a cross cut sled, start cutting the individual pieces needed for the pattern of choice. This clock was made using a hearing bone pattern with a 3-1 ratio), so three scrap pieces of the 1" strips were lined up against the cut line, a stop block was set in place next to them, and then all the strips were cut to that length.
Step 3: Pattern Assembly and Glue-up
Here's where the fun begins, as you begin to see the final pattern take shape. The clock mechanism used here has a minute hand that is approximately 7" (17.8cm) long, so by placing the hour markers an inch away from the tip and then giving the clock an extra 1" (2.54cm) of margin that, we ended up with a radius of 9" (22.86cm).
Since dealing with square shapes is much easier than circles (as far as glue-ups are concerned), this would result in a square that was 18" x 18" (45.7 x 45.7cm) for the finished size, so an extra inch was added on top of that to allow for final losses due to cutting and sanding. The final size of the square was therefore 19" x 19" (48.26 x 48.26cm).
For this design we also took the extra step of removing five blocks from random spots in order to make it a bit more unusual, and figuring out the best place for those missing pieces was done by just laying down a template and playing around with a couple of options.
Once the right one was selected, the removed pieces were wrapped in tape and their location was marked on the glue-up mold so the pattern could be easily replicated, and the glue-up process began. All pieces were removed from the mold, and then one by one had glue applied and were repositioned. Once everything was back in place, clamping pressure was applied by using pairs of wedges that were all pushing against a flat surface wrapped in tape.
Finally, while showcasing each piece's face was a great option and would have highlighted the grain and color patterns on it, we chose to leave the pieces on their sides and show the lamination instead. 599