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Build a Prop Clock (woodworking and mold-making)

by damianzuch on March 21, 2013

Table of Contents

Build a Prop Clock (woodworking and mold-making) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Build a Prop Clock (woodworking and mold-making) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Safety and Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Cut the six sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3: Joining biscuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 4: Mold-making (casting the antique details) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 5: Making fake porcelain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 6: Router your wood! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 7: Trim and Stain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 8: Scenic painting the resin cast details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

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 Author:damianzuch
My girlfriend and I run a company called Deville's Workshop in Toronto, Canada. We build weird props for film and television and love this website - such a
great resource for inspiration and discussion!

Intro: Build a Prop Clock (woodworking and mold-making)

[NOTE: this one is pretty long and Tina and I are still working on it, so I've decided to post now and just add pages as we go along. See you tomorrow!]

In this Instructable I'm going to outline the steps my partner Tina and I took when we were figuring out this build. We've been hired by a film company to make a prop
clock (the clock had a very specific look - that's why they didn't just buy one from an antique shop). I am not a carpenter so please - if you see things that could have
been done differently (ie, better or easier!), please let me know, I'd appreciate your feedback. If you need any clarification on any of the steps please leave a comment
and I'll try to clear it up.

Here is a list of the materials and tools we used:

TOOLS
1. Drill press
2. Biscuit joiner
3. Table saw
4. Mitre saw
5. Router
6. Crown Stapler
7. Scribes, pencils
8. Tape measure
9. Panel saw
10. Pin nailer

MATERIALS
1. 1" thick x 8" wide x 96" long smooth oak plank
2. various types of trim
3. various clock parts
4. wood glue
5. 1 1/4" crown staples
6. #20 biscuits
7. MoldStar 30 Silicone
8. SmoothCast 325 Resin

Step 1: Safety and Sketching

SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY!! Please always be aware of your surroundings and familiarize yourself with the tools you are going to use BEFORE you use them.
YOUTUBE has plenty of introductory videos on all different types of tools, it's worth a look. Here is a link to a woodworking site that lists Top Woodworking Safety
Rules Every Woodworker Should Know . Keep all your fingers!!!

OK, now that you're safe, let's talk about sketching. When Tina and I take on a project we almost always start by making a 3D sketch (using GOOGLE Sketch Up - it's
free and really easy to use!). This serves a number of purposes: we can show our client a fairly accurate depiction of what the end result should look like, we can keep a
record of the build and most importantly it really helps us start to figure out what materials we will need and the angles or lengths of cuts, etc.

The sketch with the red arrows was to show our client the actual parts that we selected from a manufacturer, to get approved.

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Step 2: Cut the six sides
We don't often get to build props using hardwood (we usually just use pine or spruce) so we were pretty stoked to be able to use oak. We set up a stop on the chopsaw
so that the six sides would all be cut to the same height (12 inches).

Next, we calculated that for six sides we would need each piece to be cut 6" wide with an angle of 60 o . I set my table saw to 30o (30o + 60o = 90o ) and ran the pieces
through. Now they should all fit together to make a hexagon.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Nice smooth planks of oak! 1. The 2x4 is screwed onto the fence and gives us repeatable 12" pieces

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 Image Notes Image Notes
1. Set the table saw to 30 degrees to get our 60 degree cuts along the length of 1. Face side up; this is a 30 degree rip cut along the edge
the boards

Step 3: Joining biscuits

OK, here's a pretty good youtube video that shows the basics of using a biscuit joiner. I've angled the fence 60 o so that when I cut the slots on the angled sides they
should line up with each other.

To make sure that the slots line up I've used a scribe and marked a line on each piece, three inches from both ends.

My oak wood planks are thick enough that I can use the largest standard biscuit, a #20. Once it's time for glue up I will likely put painters tape on the outside surface to
catch any glue that squeezes through.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. The joiner fence is set to 60 degrees so that the biscuits will line up along the 1. Scribe a line three inches from both ends so the joiner will have a mark to
angled side align the slots

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 Image Notes Image Notes
1. The scribe i used to scratch out lines 3" from both ends 1. Set the fence to 60 degrees

Image Notes
1. #20 biscuits

Step 4: Mold-making (casting the antique details)

This prop clock has six sides, five of which are to have ornate oval frames and corner spandrels on them. I found a frame in an antique shop that fit perfectly, but, being
an antique, there was only one. No worries! We will try to cast it!

There is a great shop here in Toronto called Sculpture Supply Canada; they advised us to use the Smooth On product Mold Max 30. Because the frame is quite thin, Tina
added a 1/8" layer of red wax to the back. The wax raises the frame 1/8" above the clay bed inside the plywood frame; this will create a deeper cavity in the silicone mold.

We don't own a vacuum chamber so we're hoping that the Mold Max 30 doesn't get too many bubbles trapped in it when it is curing.

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 Image Notes Image Notes
1. The grey base is clay, the red is wax, the brass is actually brass. 1. Here Tina is making a red wax riser on the bottom of the frame
2. Tina is a Bond villain, Ms Goldfingernail

Image Notes Image Notes

1. This wax is called Utility K Sheetwax 1. Tina is creating a channel that in turn will create a wall in the silicone

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 Image Notes
1. Laying out the spandrels to get a sense of spacing before the grey clay goes in

Image Notes
1. I used some of the oak off cuts to make custom sculpting tools

Image Notes
1. Here are the two parts mixed together and poured. Make sure the table is level!!

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 Image Notes
1. Here is the piece; it didn't come out as rigid as I thought it would. It still needs
scenic paint to look like old brass

Image Notes
1. Here we've poured the 325 (we mixed in brass powder).

Step 5: Making fake porcelain

Inside the brass frames are paintings on porcelain. We looked into getting tile cut into an oval (very difficult) so we decided to try to make our own.

In the photo below the thing that looks like a toilet seat is actually a small plastic bathroom mirror that I got at the dollar store. I leveled it on the 2x4s, sprayed it with mold
release and then poured Hydrocal 50 on top of it. My hope is that I can pop out the hardened Hydrocal, sand it with emery paper and then treat is with a topcoat.

Step 6: Router your wood!

OK, now I'm going to router out 1/8" spaces to place the fake porcelain tiles. I'm trying to arrange the wood panels so that all the grain is "pointing" upwards; I just think it
will look nicer in the end. I router out five of the panels; the sixth one needs to be routered from the back to allow the clock machinery to stay flush.

Now, I read that during glue-up you can put painter's tape on the face of your project to catch any glue that squeezes out. I've decided to try it here. As you can see in the
photo with the biscuit I may have used too much glue. What I found is that the tape got in the way of me seeing what the seam looked like. I decided not to use the tape
method with the rest of the joins and to just clean up the glue as it squeezed out. I'm going to sand it all down in the end so I'm not too concerned about the glue.

The seams were not as nice as I would have liked them to be. Using oak I found the crown staples didn't pull the wood together the same way it does with softer wood
like pine and spruce. I've had to put ratchet straps around the piece to help squeeze it tightly together.

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 Image Notes Image Notes
1. for lack of bench dogs I've just screwed some plywood down to help position the 1. Here is where I will router out a space to fit the clock
oak panels

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Adding blue painter's tape to the surface seams to catch any glue spills 1. lots of glue spilling!!!

Image Notes Image Notes

1. trying to crown staple the pieces together I discovered the blue tape just makes 1. I skipped the blue tape in favour of ratchet straps
it difficult to see where the seams are

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Step 7: Trim and Stain
This part got tricky; we decided to use oak trim and the only stuff available had a lip. The lip had an angle (less than 2o so I didn't notice until after it was cut). It took some
cutting, eyeballing, re-cutting and so on until the seams closed up sufficiently. Then there was a lot of careful wood filler, trying not to smear too much on the face of the
clock. This was followed by A LOT of sanding, trying to smooth out imperfect edges and remove wood filler.

Once it was ready I hit it with a dark maple wood stain. Tomorrow I'll start throwing varnish on it.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. finishing sander to smooth the surface 1. carefully dremelling out exposed crown staples

Image Notes
1. the trim is cut and being fitted

Image Notes
1. I use a sacrificial plywood strip for repeat cuts to help keep the cuts clean

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 Image Notes Image Notes
1. a pin nailer is better for trim; it uses smaller nails than brads and is cleaner 1. assembled and soft sponge sanded. lots of sanding...

Image Notes Image Notes

1. cut out strips of oak and rabbet them to make an octagonal frame 1. this will be the base

Image Notes
1. panel saw cut out the base sheet

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 Image Notes
1. super warped wood needs some mass to straighten it out

Image Notes
1. nice and sloppy!

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 Image Notes
1. mostly assembled, ready for stain!

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 Image Notes
1. it's starting to come together!!

Step 8: Scenic painting the resin cast details

The frames have been demolded and have hardened; they are now ready to be cleaned up and scenic painted.

First Tina will clean of any bubbles and mistakes with a dremel (she sands them on a super special sanding vacuum box !!) then she sands the backs of each frame flat
on a belt sander. While that's getting done I am spray painting the dome and the other details. Tina then starts to apply various paints to the resin frames to make them
look like the original brass frame.

I glued two small wood finials together to make one super one. Then it gets spray painted to make it look like metal.

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 Image Notes
1. this is the original brass frame

Image Notes
1. these are two that are getting scenic painted to look like the original

Image Notes
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 1. here we are trying it out to see if it will fit. It's starting to look like the original!

Image Notes Image Notes

1. Very carefully drilling a small hole in a wooden finial 1. They fit together nicely!!

Image Notes
1. a little rig to help spray paint the wood finials

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Comments
1 comments Add Comment

foobear says: Mar 28, 2013. 8:52 AM REPLY

Oh boy oh boy, so cool. I've cut slate tile into arbitrary shapes with a cheap tile saw. Not sure about porcelain though, I haven't tried it, it's probably much
harder.

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