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Friday, April 26, 2013

A to Z Blogging: W is for Wind

On our honeymoon, Ornery and I walked past a display in a window of a clock shop and discovered at that moment our mutual love for clocks--the wind-up kind.  It has always been a dream of ours to have a house full of clocks, and it doesn't matter whether they work or not.

Two years ago, Ornery got a notion that he wanted to make some wooden gear clocks after seeing some YouTube videos featuring amazing kinetic art pieces and really fun clocks.  So, he bought a scroll saw. He subscribed to some wood working magazines, and his new hobby was born.  He has actually only made one clock, and he couldn't get it to run at all, but the other wood working skills (and tools) he has acquired since then have made him extremely handy to have around. 
Ornery's first attempt at a clock.  This is from a kit.  Wind the clock by pulling down on one of the strings.  The weight on the other string is supposed to pull against the other end so eventually the heavy weight is at the bottom.  Yeah, that doesn't work on this model. :)

Once he started working with wood, he built this case for his scraps.  He has since outgrown it...

Some of his first scroll saw work.  He cut the wood, I embellished with paint, paper, glitter, fabric, etc.

These basket/bowls are actually fairly simple to make, just time consuming.  Another scroll saw project we have loved!
Now, back to the wind up clocks... We have a very small collection, and only one works, but Ornery has faithfully wound it every Sunday for 25 years!  We purchased it from the AAFES catalog when we were on Kwajalein as our 8th anniversary gift to ourselves.  It still chimes every quarter hour and keeps all our guests awake at night.  :)
Do you have any wind-up clocks? 

12 comments:

  1. you know, i don't think we do have any wind up clocks---what a fascinating hobby and quite lovely work--i esp. love the bowls :)

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    1. Thank you! We made several sets over the last two Christmases and gave individual bowls as gifts filled with homemade caramels or other things. Everyone seems to really like them.
      tm

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  2. Ooh, that bowl is gorgeous, and what a wonderful way to jump into a hobby!

    We don't do winding clocks here. I mean, maintenance on something that doesn't require it? Whew! That's ambition, eh? ;)

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    1. Crystal, if it was up to ME winding that clock, it would wind down every single time. I really admire that man's reliability. :)
      tm

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  3. Wow he did a great job on the all, and nope, no wind up clocks here

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  4. We don't have any that require a tough other than to replace a battery. ;-) However, they're wonderful, aren't they?

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  5. He did such a good job. I have at least four wind up clocks and two grandfather clocks. My son hates to come home they drive him crazy so we never really wind them up...to much noise!

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  6. How wonderful. When i was a kid there was a restaurant called "The Cuckoo Clock" - I have no clue how many clocks were there - but, when they chimed, rang, bonged . . it was a magnificent cacophony to my kid ears.

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  7. What a beautiful hobby! Too bad he didn't stick with it. I love the clock at the top! Very artsy! Happy A-to-Z 2013! ~Angela, Whole Foods Living, http://www.wholefoodsliving.blogspot.com/

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  8. WOW! Those are awesome projects. I LOVE the clocks!! We have a clock to that keeps over night guest awake too. I really don't even here it anymore.

    Peanut Butter and Whine

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  9. I love the insides of clocks, your hubby must be very talented!

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  10. Hiya .. I lived very near our Town Hall clock and that chimed every quarter during the day - but you don't notice it .. and no I don't have a chiming clock! But I love looking at the varieties around .. cheers Hilary

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