Clock case fabrication

Besides restoring scuffed, damaged and broken clock cases, we also fabricate entirely new clock cases.

Here are some examples of clock cases fabricated from scratch. All the cases are made from planks. No plywood or blockboard is used. The cases are completely hand made (including the molding) and then french polished.

This case was made for a Gustav-Becker chiming movement. The case design and dimensions were matched to the old case. The old case had a wood borer infestation which had caused severe damage.

Incidentally, when this clock came in for repairs, it was missing the strike rack. That meant that the clock only struck once on every hour instead of striking according to the hour. A new rack was fabricated and the clock now strikes as it should. I will put up photos of the newly fabricated rack elsewhere.

The old and new cases side by side. The original door glass was transferred to the new case.

And here are the two cases after the color was matched to the original.

Here's a closeup picture of the case.

Below is a case fabricated without having the original case to copy. The dimensions were worked out on the basis of the size of the movement, the length of the pendulum, the length of the gong and the size of the glass panes.

The entire case was fabricated from one single plank of Canadian Pine. This ensures that the colour and grain matches throughout.

The same case after the decorative work was done.

As this was made from scratch, the customer opted to keep the color of the case light so as to let the veins in the wood show through.

Here's a picture of both the new clock cases. You can see the chime rods and the wall stabilisers fitted in the larger case.

All the woodworking is done with hand held tools. No power tools are used. Sawing, planing, grooving, sanding, polishing -- everything is done by hand. Authentic shellac based french polish is used.