Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Here is my latest purchase. It is a 3/4 size short drop wood works case with the label stating: Wm B Loomis, Wethersfield Conn. According to Snowden Taylor, only one other of these clock cases has been reported. Purchased off ebay, I obtained the Case. The movement for this I have on hand made by Olcott Cheney. The dial was purchased from a friend. I plan to make a mahogany splat for the clock as well as an ivory (deer antler) knob.
I am impressed with Adobe Photoshop. Look at what I've been able to do with this label. A little "clone stamp" here and a little "cut and Paste" there and viola: a much better looking label. I intend to glue this label directly over the original. I will only apply glue to the bare wood so the restoration would be reversible if someone desired to only show the original label.
Here is the label of the clock as purchased. It is a liitle too far gone for my taste, but I still couldn't pass up purchasing the clock
Well, here it is all in pieces. The restored label is on the table, the splat and returns are now made along with the chinmey and cap.
Well, now the case is basically all restored. I'm trying to decide if I want to install feet or not. The clock did not originally have feet, but I think it looks alot better with them.
Here are two close up photos of the "bone knob" that I made for the clock. for this, I took the base of a deer antler. I rough ground it on the disc sander to get it close to a shape, then I chucked it up on my ShopSmith machine and turned it down to shape. The last portion to be turned was the shaft, since that is most delicate. Then I filed the shaft square where the steel ketch was installed. To buff the knob, I just went over it with 400 grit sand paper soaked with wd40. The knob now has a nice low luster and looks great on the clock.
Here is a close up of the completed Jester splat. I aged the mahogany per Tom Temple's directions for aging wood. However, since this was mahogany and not pine, I used a weaker vinegar/iron solution. After aging, the wood was a little too brown and not red enough, but it only took one coat of minwax mahogany stain to give it a great look.
Here is photo of an original tablet from a Seth Thomas Transitional clock. I intend to use this as a model and pattern for the reverse painting that I will paint for this clock.
Well, we have now begun the reverse painted tablet for the Wm. B. Loomis Clock. Photo on the left shows the gold leaf applied. I use the "transfer method" of moving the leaf from the book to the glass. In this method, first I cut the leaf to the size I want between two layers of tissue paper. Then I take wax paper and press the wax paper onto the leaf. The gold leaf sticks to the wax paper very nicely. I then position the leaf over the glass where I have already applied the gelatin size/distilled water. Gradually move the wax paper closer to the glass and the leaf will practically "jump" onto the glass. Can you tell where I mis-positioned one piece of leaf???
Here we have applied the back up paint over the leaf in the desired pattern. I use Rustoleum paint mixed with a bit of Minwax Jacobean stain. This makes the Rustoleum a nice warm color.
Now I've got the excess gold leaf removed from the glass. This only took a couple of weeks of tedious scraping. I'm still trying to figure out a better way of doing this.
Well, the tablet has been only making slow progress. But here is were we are as of April 5th. It's coming along now.
Finally! I've now got all the oil painting complete on this tablet. Generally I am pleased with the results. I used imitation gold leaf on this tablet. I think in the future I will go through effort to get real gold leaf. That's what I used on other tablets and I liked the results better. The colors I used on this tablet resulted in a "warmer" appearance than the original. I like it better as a result. Tell me what you think.
The Loomis Tablet is getting close to be ready for stencilling. So I thought I would show the progress on the stencils. First I pencil out the pattern on the paper. I use "Rag Vellum" drafting paper which is available at better office supply stores. (not sure if Staples carries it though) I use a scrap piece of plywood with fine grain to support the stencil while cutting. As you can see, this tablet will require two stencils to achieve the desired result.
Here is a photo of the feet in progress. The feet for the Loomis clock are on the right. I copied closely the pattern of the feet from my E Terry Jr Qtr Column Clock. To the left on the lathe are feet that will eventually be used on my Marsh + Gilbert 8 day wood works.
Well, I used the first stencil over the weekend. Here is a photo of the tablet with that complete. If you look at the simetry of the center of each "snow flake" you can see that they are not all the same. It's been several years since I have stencilled something. By the time I was done here, I felt I was just getting the hang of it again. I plan to use an eraser to try and even up the centers of these.
Here is the tablet now complete for the WM B Loomis clock. It has taken longer than get done than I wish, but I think the effort was worth it. There's alot of life more important than this tablet, that's why it's taken 4 months.
The photo above shows the detail of the completed feet. The back feet I turned. The front feet I bought off ebay. However, they were missing the grooves along the sides of the feet, so I added the grooves.
The photo to the left shows the interior detail with the dial removed. I'm very pleased with the label restoration.
And finally...... Here is the completed restoration. I think the picture pretty well speaks for itself. Now it's on to the Riley Whiting restoration.
