Sunday, September 9, 2012

Diamond-Shaped Vintage Clock Gets a Face Job

I picked up this great looking clock on Etsy months ago, but when it arrived, the careless seller had allowed some of the packing tape to get stuck to the face.  So when I tried removing the tape, it took part of the woodgrain face too.  Argh.

I put it aside for a while, and finally decided the rest of the clock was just too great to not have on display.  So I had another project on my hands.

Sorry I don't have a complete set of photos to document what I did, but I'll explain the steps.

First I carefully removed the hands and the movement.  All of the pieces got bagged and labeled.  I used a very small flat head screwdriver to carefully pry up the numbers and other pieces from the face.  Each piece had two small plastic prongs on the back which go into corresponding holes in the face.  That work left me with just the blank, tape-damaged face you see here.

Next I cleaned the face and used some spray primer to give myself a good base to work with.  After that I used some black spray paint to coat the face and let that paint set up for a while.  I toyed with keeping the face black, but I decided this was a good opportunity to try doing some faux wood graining.  I found a wood graining kit on Amazon and using some leftover wood stains I rubbed a couple coats of stain on the face, trying a couple stain colors to get something I liked.  Before the second coat dried, I used a wood graining comb to introduce the look of wood grain.  I let that set up and decided to rub on a couple more coats of stain.

After that all dried, I just reassembled the clock.  I did have to use a small pointed pick to open up the tiny holes which held the prongs behind the numbers and other pieces that went around the clock's face.

So here's the final product, now hanging above my office door at work.



I'm pretty happy with it, but I can see that faux wood graining like anything else requires lots of practice and experimentation.

12 comments:

  1. I'm very impressed. I never would have known it was damaged. That was an excellent save! I've always had a soft spot for diamond-shaped clocks. It always amazes me that some sellers are so careless...or just so downright dumb.

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    1. Thanks Dana, it's good when you can salvage something that gets messed up.

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  2. Very nice diamond faux bois clock and it matches so well with those wooden geese. The packing tape issue is just annoying, it's good that you found a remedy.

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  3. Wow, I think it looks just great! Good job Uncle! And grrrrr to bad sellers who are careless with packing....I really hate that.

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  4. Thanks Sara. Yea, a bad experience reminds me to take my time and do my best when shipping something I sell.

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  5. You did a fantastic job! I think it looks wonderful in your pic. Good for you! Great save!!

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  6. Great work, I like the color change in the stain.

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    1. Thanks Trina, It started out too red, almost purple so I added another color. Trial and error.

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  7. Boo on the packing tape. Man I hate the tape and the nasty little stickers. I use the goo stuff to get it off but slightly petroleum based so it probably would have damaged the face anyway. Doesn't look "restored", it looks good!

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