This new craftsman style mantle clock is almost 18″ high, and features a solid copper etched clock face. This piece also features a large selection of fine woods, including cherry, walnut, walnut burl, ebony and paduak. I designed this piece.
The tile inset is by the world famous Motawi tile works.
The clock movement is a standard battery operated quartz mechanism – but can be upgraded. Comes with brass pendulum.
Buy it on Etsy!
$495
Simple sophistication with comforting tones is The Concord. A mighty presence, The Concord is not just about height, but a more evolved mission style. Embracing the traditional and dramatic quarter-sawn white oak, with it’s sparkling ray fleck, The Concord is perfectly matched with walnut.
The quarter-sawn white oak is fumed; this is the traditional method often used by Stickley and others early in the Arts and Crafts (or “Mission”) style. Fuming is the process of placing the piece in a confined space with industrial strength ammonia for about 2 hours, which causes a chemical reaction with the tannin in the wood, changing it’s color to an ashen gray. Once a top coat (a satin polyurethane, in this case) is applied, that beautiful, rich mission-brown color comes through. The color won’t fade or change at all, because it is a chemical reaction, and not a dye or stain. Even if it is sanded, the color is still there – up to 1/16th of an inch deep. Fuming also allows for a consistent color all over the piece – if all the pieces came from the same board(s). It can be a technically tricky finish to use, but the results are outstanding. Top coat is polyurethane, either satin or semi-gloss.
Inset is a complementary 4”x4” leaf ceramic tile, made by a local artist (style subject to availability; contact New Mission Workshop for more info). In the photo shown here, this is a copper clad ceramic tile the customer ordered from another vendor; it is still available from that vendor at this time of writing.
“Mr. Ashley’s clocks are literal works of art! The materials are of the highest grade and the workmanship is outstanding. Not only are the products of top quality, but the service provided by Mr. Ashley is unmatched. He truly cares about quality; both in material and service.” – Charles, Minneapolis, MN.
“There are not enough superlatives to describe how beautiful and wonderfully made this clock is and what a delight the artist is. And Patrick made this just for me! Such care and craftsmanship – it is truly a work of art. All materials are exceptional and the whole is a treasure for generations. I adore it and will be a repeat customer. Enjoyed the whole process. Thanks, Patrick!” – Karen in Georgia
Materials: Quarter-sawn white oak, with walnut embellishment; 4”x4” tile (varies)
Dimensions: Approximately 17“H x 9“W x 5“D
Finish: Amonnia fumed oak; Paduak; polyurethane, either satin or semi-gloss
As per my previous post, I made a small clock with curved two panel sides, as a technical challenge. It’s now in my stable of clocks for sale.
I’m happy with the results; the curved sides add a unique flair you don’t see a lot in clocks – especially Mission or Craftsman style clocks (hence the name of my shop – NEW Mission Workshop).
The hardest part was of course the curved panel sides, but I made a jig for a router that makes pretty quick work of those side panels. Essentially, the router rides over a long crescent; the I rip the crescent down the middle, and voila! I have the two sides of the clock. That’s not quite the whole deal, it’s a bit complicated to explain in this blog, but that’s the gist. The paper clock face was my design as well; it’s done on archival quality paper, very thick, and then sprayed multiple times with poly to protect it.
All in all, I nice technical challenge with a nice result.
Oh, the name of it? Childwold. It’s a very small blip of a hamlet in the Adirondack mountains, near to our summer cottage, and the name just came to mind for this piece.
You can see a close up of the side in this shot. It’s maple and cherry. You’ll note I didn’t put a “rail” on the bottom of the curved panel to firm up that panel look; I tried it, but it just didn’t look right to me.
I’m developing a small mantle clock with a low price point for the Christmas season; I’ve been made aware that could be what people are looking for. Low price point, handmade, good styling – should translate to sales.
One tool of the trade I use often is Google’s Sketchup program. Usually, I’ll just work up the piece in that, and go right to building the piece. However, sometimes things don’t translate right, or I don’t see things in Sketchup that I see in a real piece; this is speaking from the experience of past projects.
SO, this time, I made the Sketchup drawing, produced a rough prototype, and lo and behold, found some things that needed to be changed, both technically and aesthetically. So, made the changes in SU (Sketchup) and will now go right to a finished piece.
Between those steps, however, is yet another. Since this mantle clock will be a small run production piece, efficiency is important; I don’t want to have to mill 8 different kinds of thicknesses, for instance. So I have to make sure the parts in the SU drawing have a minimal amount of different thicknesses, and will also make a cutting diagram to minimize waste and time. Like the saying goes, time is money, and the more quickly I can make these mantel clocks, the more money I make per piece. I actually need a play book – what I’m going to cut, how to buy the lumber (milled or rough), and so on.
Two panel doors or sides are handsome on their own; however, how do you bend them? I think it would make a great look for a small production clock I’m designing – but how to carry it off without bending wood?! I liked the Mission Style look that this piece add – with some added flair.
While looking for some furniture ideas, my wife and I came across a cherry credenza with two-panel sides, seen here. Very handsome. What really caught my eye, both atheistically and technically, was that the two panel sides werecurved. Having made two-panel cabinet doors before, my mind immediately went about trying to understand how the craftsman carried off that little technical feat. The panels are usually made of thin plywood, to control expansion (among other reasons), and if they were steam-bent, seemed like quite a bit of work for production pieces. Not to mention this is suppose to be “Amish made” stuff, so you’d think all the technical stuff would be kept rather simple.
I also happen to be looking for ideas for a small production clock for the Christmas season; something small, cheap, easy to make, and even easier to sell. I thought this curved side addition would be great – if I could pull it off without a lot of fuss.
Woodworking and magic have some things in common; the principle one being making things seem like something they are not. Obviously, I couldn’t deconstruct and reverse engineer this piece, dang it, so I had to use my imagination – and Google’s Sketchup – to help me make it happen.
Since my intended piece would be small – in the neighborhood of 6″ tall – bending was out. Also, trying to incorporate mortise and tenon joinery, as well as routing grooves in the stiles and rails was also out – too small, too much time.
This is where the magic wand comes out.
I happened to notice, when looking at the actual credenza, that the intersections where the rails and stiles meet the “panel” was tight – really tight. Master-craftsman-of-the-world tight. Looked awesome, of course, but not what you’d expect in a production piece. In other words, it looked too good.
Eventually, I thought those panels might not be panels at all, but simply bandsawed stiles – only thinner. Look at the stiles – the very long pieces of the panel frame; theywould have to be bandsawed out of slightly thicker stock (if not steam bent from regular stock) to get that curve. Why not bandsaw the panels as well the same way, but out of (obviously) wider stock? When you put the pieces together, you get the curved panel effect shown here. You would then have to joint down the panels to make them look thinner then the stiles. When you look from the interior side, you’d have a flat surface. As shown in the last picture.
Now this illustration was for cherry rail and stiles, with maple “panels”. If you were go with a single wood, perhaps just QSWO; then I believe you could actually simply cut one wide piece curved on the bandsaw, then cut that piece vertically into a stile, panel, stile, panel, stile, and then just joint down the “panels” an eighth or quarter inch to get that recessed panel look. I think it would be a very nice look.
So, that’s the idea – a theory – on how to make these curved 2-panel doors. In my next installment, I’ll report on how I did on a trial run of this theory!
The gauntlet has been thrown down before me. I was visiting with my local coffee shop that displays my work for sale, and was made aware of an event they are planning in December – bottom line, I need to get some cheaper product in there for that event, as people will be looking for things for Christmas!
The parameters:
• Easy to make, yet looks complicated to make.
• Stylish, in the mission or new mission way.
• Low price point, and hopefully high profit margin.
So now I basically have to come with a design like you see here that I can crank out quickly en masse, that will have a low price point and people can’t resist.
Sketchup, are you ready!?
A lighter character with a touch of the forest is at the heart of The Keene. It’s towering presence is built with maple matched with Paduak. The resulting complimentary contrast is spectacular.
Inset is a locally hand-crafted ceramic tile with a reverse-embossed real leaf pattern (tile may vary slightly – ask for details).
Materials: Maple, with Paduak embellishment; 4”x4” tile.
Dimensions: Approximately 17“H x 9“W x 5“D
Finish: Clear shellac with three coats of Briwax.
“Mr. Ashley’s clocks are literal works of art! The materials are of the highest grade and the workmanship is outstanding. Not only are the products of top quality, but the service provided by Mr. Ashley is unmatched. He truly cares about quality; both in material and service.” – Charles, Minneapolis, MN.
“There are not enough superlatives to describe how beautiful and wonderfully made this clock is and what a delight the artist is. And Patrick made this just for me! Such care and craftsmanship – it is truly a work of art. All materials are exceptional and the whole is a treasure for generations. I adore it and will be a repeat customer. Enjoyed the whole process. Thanks, Patrick!” – Karen in Georgia
__________________________________________
Materials: Maple, with Paduak embellishment; 4”x4” tile.
Dimensions: Approximately 17“H x 9“W x 5“D
Finish: Clear shellac with three coats of Briwax.
Price: $495
Warranty: Movement is guaranteed for 3 years.
$495
Simple sophistication with comforting tones is The Concord. A mighty presence, The Concord is not just about height, but a more evolved mission style. Embracing the traditional and dramatic quarter-sawn white oak, with it’s sparkling ray fleck, The Concord is perfectly matched with Paduak (“pa-dook”), an African hardwood, deep red in color.
The quarter-sawn white oak is fumed; this is the traditional method often used by Stickley and others early in the Arts and Crafts (or “Mission”) style. Fuming is the process of placing the piece in a confined space with industrial strength ammonia for about 2 hours, which causes a chemical reaction with the tannin in the wood, changing it’s color to an ashen gray. Once a top coat (shellac, in this case) is applied, that beautiful, rich mission-brown color comes through. The color won’t fade or change at all, because it is a chemical reaction, and not a dye or stain. Even if it is sanded, the color is still there – up to 1/16th of an inch deep. Fuming also allows for a consistent color all over the piece – if all the pieces came from the same board(s). It can be a technically tricky finish to use, but the results are outstanding. Top coat is a polyurethane – either satin, or semi-gloss with wax.
Inset is a complementary 4”x4” leaf ceramic tile, made by a local artist (style subject to availability; contact New Mission Workshop for more info).
“Mr. Ashley’s clocks are literal works of art! The materials are of the highest grade and the workmanship is outstanding. Not only are the products of top quality, but the service provided by Mr. Ashley is unmatched. He truly cares about quality; both in material and service.” – Charles, Minneapolis, MN.
“There are not enough superlatives to describe how beautiful and wonderfully made this clock is and what a delight the artist is. And Patrick made this just for me! Such care and craftsmanship – it is truly a work of art. All materials are exceptional and the whole is a treasure for generations. I adore it and will be a repeat customer. Enjoyed the whole process. Thanks, Patrick!” – Karen in Georgia
Materials: Quarter-sawn white oak, with Paduak embellishment; 4”x4” tile (varies)
Dimensions: Approximately 17“H x 9“W x 5“D
Finish: Amonnia fumed oak; Paduak; Polyurethane topcoat
Price: $495
New Mission Workshop 