General Category > Oddball
Elegent Scroll Frame Skeleton Clock
Kim:
Thanks Chris, Dave, Jeff, and Krypto! :cheers:
The comments are much appreciated.
My current plan is to leave most of the dial face shiny aluminum, other than the black dial wax for the engraved numbers, of course. If it's too offensive, I may see if it's possible to remove the black wax from that little bump. But I'm afraid anything I do there is likely to make it worse than just leaving alone. I'm likely to just ignore it and hope, like you're all saying, that nobody will notice. ;)
After all, as Jeff said, it's just an index to indicate orientation for the camera Arduino-based time reading system that's going to be my next project! :Lol:
Chris, the dial will be held on by a few little buttons, glued to the back of the dial face. They fit into some stand offs that mount to the frame. Those pieces will come soon. Or maybe next, or maybe after the motion works. I'm not sure yet... :)
Kim
kvom:
Fantastic. What tool and what depth of cut?
Kim:
--- Quote from: kvom on April 21, 2026, 09:58:08 AM ---Fantastic. What tool and what depth of cut?
--- End quote ---
I used this tool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PBJB3Q1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title at 15 thou depth of cut (~1/64"). I ran my mill at 2250 RPM, which is its top speed. And I used WD40 from a hand pump spray bottle for lubricant/coolant while cutting.
The recommended speed was something like 36000 RPM. My mill couldn't quite make that. But this worked well enough. I did keep my feed rate low. Probably like 2-4 ipm. I went slower on full tool width cuts, but many of the cuts were half-width cuts, so I would go faster on those. It was not fast, that's for sure. But, I did the whole thing without breaking a single end mill! And that was a LOT of linear inches of milling!
Kim
bent:
"the lower left corner of the 3. I started turning the wrong crank handle for the serifs. Very disappointing. But it will add character to the dial face, right? It's the flaw that proves it was hand engraved! "
Couldn't have spotted that if you told me to. But I'd say it's the deliberate flaw you put in (subconsciously perhaps) to show that it is your handiwork, like a signature. Rug weavers, tailors, artists (and arteests) of all types do this.
Regardless, the engraving looks awesome! :pinkelephant: :cartwheel: :cheers:
You are going to flat sand and polish the face next, to get rid of any scrapes/dents? I agree that a smooth aluminum finish (or a matte sandblasted finish) with the black wax will really look good along with the stainless and aluminum of the rest of the clock. As far as a reversed color, you could paint it or anodize it, then is there a white version of the black wax? It would need to be really opaque to mask the dark undercoat.
Kim:
Thanks, Bent! :cheers:
Yes, sanding & polishing is what I'm doing now. Not a fast process...
I'll post pics in a couple of days. Tomorrow's not a shop day.
Kim
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