Experimentation Has Its Drawbacks

There is a reason I have gone so long without making a blog entry. I have had a string of projects that didn't 'work out' for one reason or another. I suppose that when one is inclined to operating without a net, one can expect the odd disaster. I have had too many to count, of late, but have come out the other side armed with insight and a few new pieces to showcase (finally).

So, I'll begin this series of entries with the infernal clock. I relayed in an earlier blog entry that I wanted to try making a completely custom clock. After some consideration of the best way to approach this, I decided to try using a mold method. Of course you can get molds in all shapes and sizes, meant to be used for creating patio stones. A round mold seemed appropriate for creating a clock foundation. The following is the process I devised:

1) The stained glass pattern was arranged, upside-down, on clear contact paper - cut in a circular shape the size of the mold floor.  A hole in the center was left to accommodate the clock movement.

 2) The completed pattern was placed in the bottom of the mold - on the contact paper (stick site up).  Grout was applied to the spaces between the glass pieces as well as the edges of the mold.

3) Next, having created a model of the clock movement, including the shaft, I placed it where the actual click movement would go at the end of the project and poured grout around the remainder of the mold, several inches thick.  The model was removed once the grout had hardened sufficiently.

What happened next was my first mistake in this process.  Having grossly miscalculated the total amount of drying time needed for grout this thick, I popped the new clock face out a tad early.  I held the finished product in my hands for about 20 seconds before it crumbled.  I managed to laugh that one off and put it down to the perils of experimentation.

I salvaged the glass, re-assembled the pattern and repeated the process I described above.  This time, I allowed sufficient drying time and it worked as you can see from the accompanying photograph.  

Then, the second calamity struck.  I wanted to get a few photographs of the clock face in proper light.  I brought it upstairs so that it would be there for the morning, as it is often the best light.  To store it away safely, I put it on the chair in my office, wrapped up. This being a place which is off limits to my cats.  Most unfortunately, my other half, who NEVER goes into my office because he generally refuses to fold his 6'2' inch frame into my 'midget chair', decided he needed to use my computer for something.  Before I had a chance to warn him, I heard the crunch as his full weight came down on my newly finished clock.  So much for that.  (Needless to say, he was beyond apologetic, knowing that this was already the second kick at the can for this project.)  This time, the glass was not salvageable.  So, I decided to start fresh with a new color scheme.  It still needs hands, so it's not coming upstairs until it's ready to go on a wall.