Custom Ordered 1970 Truck Clock

[kmmcrafts]

Other day had a customer that ordered a truck clock that I have then proceeded to tell me to make it a 1970 Chevy instead of the 1978 one they ordered, LOL... hate when customers place their order and then tell you to modify it.. Like shouldn't the custom request be done before ordering.. I'm thinking about ordering a brand new 2022 Chevy 4x4 truck but then message them after paying for it and tell them to make it a 1965 truck if it works like that.. 

Anyway, we worked things out.. and she sent me pictures of the truck she wanted a clock made of.. and here is what I came up with.. I'm not sure what I'm missing but I feel like some detail is missing on this somewhere.. resembles a 1970 truck but just didn't turn out ( to me) great.. just okay.. LOL Cut from Cherry using Pegas MG #3

Anyway, pick it apart.. tell me what I should have done to make it better.. BTW.. this is just dipped in Danish oil.. waiting a few days before spraying a topcoat on.. 

 

Okay, so.. I forgot I just did this custom order too.. just seen the pictures ( last 3 photos ) on my computer when opening the file for the 1970 truck.. the other set of pictures is of a 1986 truck order that I just mailed out 3 days ago.. and forgot already that I did that one too.. Old Age? LOL 

[jr42]

They look nice Kevin.

[daveww1]

very nice

[Scrappile]

I always like your clocks... That first one is made  with a beautiful piece of wood.

[TAIrving]

Kevin,

The cuttings look very sharp and nice.  

Questions:

Did you put something behind the "H" and "E" in CHEVY to support the letters?  I wind up cutting fonts more often than I might like and have found that the little parts of the block capital "E" are delicate.  It looks like you have a trick to handle this.

What wood did you use for the base of the trucks?  Red Oak maybe?  It looks different from the cherry used for the trucks themselves.

[rdatelle]

I guess you have to please the customer. Looks great.

[Denny Knappen]

Looks great to me, Kevin, but them I am a Ford man!

[kmmcrafts]

22 hours ago, TAIrving said:

Kevin,

The cuttings look very sharp and nice.  

Questions:

Did you put something behind the "H" and "E" in CHEVY to support the letters?  I wind up cutting fonts more often than I might like and have found that the little parts of the block capital "E" are delicate.  It looks like you have a trick to handle this.

What wood did you use for the base of the trucks?  Red Oak maybe?  It looks different from the cherry used for the trucks themselves.

No I haven't had any issues with breaking the H or E in my clocks and I've made a lot of them with text.. I do not like working with Oak and most all my clocks are made from Cherry. Oak likes to break along the grain and I have had a E break once with a clock made with Oak..

The base is also cherry.. from the same board.. in fact the board was about 8-10 wide so I placed the base pattern right below the trucks so it's even from the very same section of the board. Probably the photo angle or maybe because you're not really seeing the top of the grain ( face ) in these pictures you're more seeing the edge grain. I always try to make the bases from the same section of board as there are some different colored wood grains etc. in most any species of wood so I try to keep them with the same section of lumber so they match.

[TAIrving]

17 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

No I haven't had any issues with breaking the H or E in my clocks and I've made a lot of them with text.. I do not like working with Oak and most all my clocks are made from Cherry. Oak likes to break along the grain and I have had a E break once with a clock made with Oak..

The base is also cherry.. from the same board.. in fact the board was about 8-10 wide so I placed the base pattern right below the trucks so it's even from the very same section of the board. Probably the photo angle or maybe because you're not really seeing the top of the grain ( face ) in these pictures you're more seeing the edge grain. I always try to make the bases from the same section of board as there are some different colored wood grains etc. in most any species of wood so I try to keep them with the same section of lumber so they match.

I suppose that oak has some uses but certainly not in fretwork because of it’s tendency to break along the grain lines. 

[kmmcrafts]

6 hours ago, TAIrving said:

I suppose that oak has some uses but certainly not in fretwork because of it’s tendency to break along the grain lines. 

I use it and do so for fretwork as well but it really depends on the project at hand.. layout of the pattern is really important because if you have a lot of fragile areas that could break along the grain direction there is more chance it would break.. if you can place the pattern so the fragile parts are against the grain it'll make for a less fragile piece. 

I still use oak from time to time, not my favorite to work with but also if it does break it usually does so along the direction of the grain and usually a pretty smooth break that most times could be glued back in fairly easy without seeing a glue line. Back in my first getting into the scroll saw work I worked mostly with oak before I learned of BB plywood. I used solid 1/8" oak for my portraits.. Here is one of my solid oak pieces I made from 1/8" red oak. 

[rjweb]

Excellent, RJ 

[TAIrving]

12 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I use it and do so for fretwork as well but it really depends on the project at hand.. layout of the pattern is really important because if you have a lot of fragile areas that could break along the grain direction there is more chance it would break.. if you can place the pattern so the fragile parts are against the grain it'll make for a less fragile piece. 

I still use oak from time to time, not my favorite to work with but also if it does break it usually does so along the direction of the grain and usually a pretty smooth break that most times could be glued back in fairly easy without seeing a glue line. Back in my first getting into the scroll saw work I worked mostly with oak before I learned of BB plywood. I used solid 1/8" oak for my portraits.. Here is one of my solid oak pieces I made from 1/8" red oak. 

That is very well done.  But knowing what I now know about woods, I would not attempt anything that intricate with thin red oak.  I am amazed that you could do that with 1/8" red oak.