DIY Wood Clock

Have you ever thought about making your own clock?  This is a project that I’ve been wanting to attempt and it was a success. A DIY Wood Clock is something that anyone can make.

Make Your Own DIY Wood Clock by virginiasweetpea.com

I’m sharing my DIY Wood Clock as part of this month’s Power Tool Challenge.  Last month I shared a dog shaped sign that I made using a jigsaw.  If you missed the jigsaw projects from last month, be sure to click over to see all eleven of them.

This month the theme for our challenge is fall.  My clock will eventually be used on a decorated-for-fall mantel but for now, it is waiting until next weekend when I hope to have time to do some decorating.  Last weekend I managed to get my clock finished (plus one for my classroom), but I ran out of weekend and no decorating happened.

DIY Wood Clock

I cut my own wood to make the clock, but you definitely could take a short-cut for this project by buying a pre-cut circle at a craft store.  I used a wood-burning kit to highlight the clock’s numbers and then added the clock movement and hands. 

The most time-consuming part of this project was the wood-burning.  If I had painted the numbers with a stencil, I could have completed this quite quickly.

DIY Wood Clock with Wood Burned Numbers by virginiasweetpea.com

How to Make a Wood Clock

Materials

Wood for Clock – I used a 3/4 in. x 16 in. x 48 in. stain grade edge-glued panel which is large enough to make three 15” diameter clocks.

Rockler Circle Cutting Jig

Router and Straight Cutting Bit with 1/2” Shank

Phillips Head Screw Driver

Square and Pencil to Measure the Wood

Clamps

Palm Sander

Stain

Wood Burning Kit

Number Stencil

Clock Quartz Movement

Clock Hands

Picture Hanger

Hearing and Vision Protection

Thanks to Rockler for providing the circle cutting jig, clock quartz movement, and clock hands used to make this clock.  My husband and I both really liked the jig and look forward to using it for future projects.

Directions

1.  Remove the router base plate and replace it with the circle cutting jig.

How to Make a Wood Clock

Insert the router bit at a depth sufficient to cut through the wood.

How to Make a Wood Clock
How to Make a Wood Clock

2.  The clock’s diameter was to be 15”, so I marked off 15 1/4 in by 16” in. (purchased width of the board) and clamped the board to the workbench.

3.  Drill a hole in the center of the marked off wood for a pivot point for the circle jig.

How to Make a Wood Clock
How to Make a Wood Clock

4.  Set the circle jig at 7.5” radius.  (The jig has a piece that fits into the hole that was drilled.)  Cut a circle using the router and jig.  Mr. SP did the first circle.

And I cut the second one.  (Remember that our board was long enough to make three clocks.  We cut two from this board and will save the rest of the board for a future project.)

How to Make a Wood Clock

5.  After cutting out our clocks, we realized that our board was too thick for the 1/4 in” clock movement.

How to Make a Wood Clock
How to Make a Wood Clock

No problem!  We marked off a square a bit larger than the clock movement.

And then we used the router to remove 1/2” of the wood thickness so that our 1/4” clock movement would work with our 3/4” board.

How to Make a Wood Clock
How to Make a Wood Clock

6.  Stain the board, let dry, and trace numbers onto the wood with a pencil.

How to Make a Wood Clock

7.  Use a wood burning tool to burn each number.  I had not used a wood burning tool since the 8th grade when my dad helped me to burn a horse’s head onto the top of a footstool that I made in shop class.  (I still use the stool in my closet!)

Wood burning is fun and the kit I got from Rockler included bunches of tips that I can’t wait to experiment with.

Wood Burned Numbers on a DIY Wood Clock by virginiasweetpea.com
How to Make a Wood Clock

8.  Follow the package directions to add the clock movement and clock hands.

9.  Add a hanger to the clock’s back, hang and enjoy your DIY clock!

Make your own DIY clock. It's not as hard as you think! virginiasweetpea.com

If you enjoy Pinterest, I’d love for you to pin this project so that others can discover it.

DIY Wood Clock - Learn to Make Your Own Clock - virginiasweetpea.com

Now enjoy my friends’ fall themed power tool projects for this month!

 
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31 Comments

  1. hi paula! this piece is gorgeous, fabulous tutorial, and you totally tickled my “crazy-about-tools” bug!! that jig and the router, must have next! =)

  2. Added to my Must Have List is that awesome router circle jig – please Santa if you’re watching!! Burning the numbers added so much character than stencilling them. Love your clock Paula and look forward to seeing it hung on your Fall vignette!

  3. Whoa. I am really impressed. It took a lot of work – and a lot of tools – to get this perfect. I love the kind of modern rustic look it has. It will look great on your mantel!

  4. I love this, Paula! I just used a wood burning tool for the first time last Power Tool Challenge and it’s one of my favorites and so easy to use (minus the burns! LOL). You’re making my jealous with that router. Mine doesn’t work so well, so I may have to look into Rockler for one! Great having you part of the Power Tools Challenge Again!

  5. ah ha, you made a stool in 8th grade which is why you are so comfortable now with power tools, good for you, so many possibilities! I keep wanting to get into power tools especially for one of my boys but life is just so busy that I haven’t found the time, sigh. Thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!

  6. Your instructions and “Step-By-Step” Guide to making this awesome clock are Great! It is nice to read a blog that not only gives opinion but also on how to complete a project that look great in any home.

  7. Pingback: 21 Ideas for Diy Wooden Clock - Best DIY Ideas and Craft Collections
    1. Thank you, Sherry! I used to have this clock hanging in my classroom and my students loved it. I also had another one that we made but didn’t blog about that had a math problem in place of the numbers.

      Paula

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