Pallet Desk Clock

What inspired me?

Honestly, im not too sure what inspired me. I guess this was just another see something, make something project however, my brother clock had finally became outdated and he wanted to get rid of it, but I decided to claim it and make it into something he could use, a more modern, stylish product for his room.

What will you need?

-Jig saw or some other wood saw. Mitre saw would definitely be best.

-Sander of some sort or a wood file.

-75mm by 280mm by 20mm) wood

-Drill Driver

-4mm drill bit

-7mm drill bit

-75mm Screw

-Clock mechanism

-Wood stain or paint

The first thing to do is find a bit of scrap wood that looks kind of messed up. Surface damage and knocks and scrapes will all add character to this clock, which may make it more attractive and focal. I found an old piece that was lying around which I used as a foundation for centre punching. Using the sander, I neatened it us as much as I could, without eating away at the dents in the surface. I made sure to sand the entire piece before cutting as once they become smaller, it would be more difficult to sand.

I now had to decide on the height of the clock. I only needed it to be small enough to fit on a desk and to hide a 50mm by 50mm by 20mm clock mechanism. I just decided to make it around 200mm high, which made it a little more portable. After using a ruler and pencil to mark this out, I altered the jig saw to cut a 15 degree line. This was so that the centre of gravity wasn’t too far forward meaning the clock wasn’t going to topple over. I then began to use the saw to cut the piece.

Once I had this, i then had to decide the length of the base. I decided upon a base of 100mm by later decided to cut 20mm off as I though the proportion was off. I needed this piece to also have a 15 degree cut down one side so it could accommodate the clock body. I decided to just use the cut line of the other piece and used the pencil and ruler to mark on 80mm. Using the jig saw set to 90 degrees I began to cut this piece to size. This stage would have been a two second job if I had a mitre saw at hand, however it has come to the end of its life.

Once I had both pieces, I quickly made sure that I had the right sizes and proportion. I then grabbed my file and made sure each piece was square before removing a few burs left after cutting. I then decided to run over the entire piece with an orbital sander and then some 600 grit sand paper so it was very smooth.

The next stage was the drill of the hole where the clock mechanism would sit. I measured the diameter of the clock mechanism and found out it was 7mm. I wanted to make sure the piece sat smoothly in the hole so I decided to use a 7mm drill bit. But first I used the x technique to find the centre of the piece before drilling as i wanted the clock face to be centred.

Once all of that was done and dusted, I needed to attach the base to the body. I decided upon using a simple screw that was 75mm in length. The issue was the base is 80mm and I need the screw going into the body by about 10mm to 15mm. This meant that I needed to counter sink the screw. I knew I had to do this and chose this as I wanted to hide the screw completely, or as much as I could. I used a 4mm drill bit to drill straight through both pieces. I then used a counter sink bit to sink the screw in 15mm.

I then needed to apply the stain. This was very easy and quick as the stain dries in a few minutes. Its easy to clean up and get of your skin. I coated the entire thing in a single layer of the stain before using a rag to remove it. All to do now was screw it together and add the clock mechanism.

Thank you so much for reading this Instructable, even if you clicked onto the by accident thank you. Every view counts. I love these mini projects as it gives you people, my viewers a quick and simple project to try at home, please feel free to comment, follow and favourite for more amazing Summer DIY projects like this one.