Leather Covered Pendulum Clock

This is a rework of my wall clock, i decided to make it with leather, to give it a modern look.

Here is a quick movie showing it in action!

Now on with the instructions!

Materials needed -

• Some 'gmjboard' aka dense cardboard
• A large sheet of leather
• A pendulum clock mechanism
• Some PVA/wood/elmers glue
• Some white card
• Super glue
• double sided tape
• A 'metal weight'

Step 1: Choosing a Shape.

I wanted a symmetrical design, heres how i went about it

Firstly i drew a few sketches, to finalize my idea.

Picture 1 - Tape a few sheets of paper together for a base, i created a rough square, and then worked ontop of that, i only needed to design one side.

Pictures 2 & 3 - After one side is complete, cut it out, and fold it over, you can then draw around one half, and cut out the full shape.

Picture 4 - Trace the shape onto some dense card

Picture 5 - Main shape cut out.

Step 2: Attach the Leather Front.

I kno it might seem a bit weird doing it this way around, but intitally the shape was going to be flat.

I found a piece of leather big enough for for my shape, and laid the card on top. Carefully lift the card up and glue all over the leather, spread it out using your finger to get a good coating. Place the card down, and press down firmly.

Trim the leather down leaving about 20m of leather around the edge.

Step 3: Adding Depth

Ok, now to bulk up the depth.

Cut a strip of card to your desired depth, i decided to go with 25mm. This will mean once my mechanism is in place the entire clock with 'float' about 10mm away from the wall.

Carefully run the card around the edge of your shape, Some of the corners will need 'scoring' to help them bend. Hold the edge in place with tape, i used masking tape. Once you have the edge in place run a line of wood glue around the inside edge.

Add a few triangular struts around the inside for strength. Use more tape to hold everything in place.
Leave to dry over night.

Step 4: Wrap the Leather.

Now we need to carry on wrapping the leather.

In order to get the leather to wrap you will need to place slits, i found it was best to add these as i went around.

Smooth glue around, and hold in place with pva.

On any extreme corners you may need to remove some slits of leather to get it to fit.

Step 5: Install the Mechanism

The first picture shows my chosen mechanism, this was taken from my old wall clock, which i had come to 'dislike' due to its plastic nature, and the back plate stopping the pendulum from moving.

Firstly work out the centre of your face, and drill a hole, place the clock face down on some wood, this means that the leather should have a clean cut. (picture 2 shows the hole in place)

Attach the mechanism using double sided tape. Some mechanisms have a screw that also holds them in place.

Once the mechanism is is centered and in place i cut out a slit at the bottom to allow the pendulum to hang.

Step 6: Leather the Edge

Next we need to finish off the edge.

I found my longest piece of leather and cut a long strip 20mm (5mm less than the depth of the clock) in width.

Carefully glue this into place all around the edge of the clock, picture 2 shows the bottom slit, and the leather strip glued into place.

Step 7: Your Face

Now were nearly there, next we need to make a face.

Print out your desired numbers, i went with roman numerals, which is easily made using Vs Is and Xs.
Tape the printed sheet onto some card, and carefully cut out your chosen numerals.

Then using superglue, a pair of tweezers, and another implement (my scalpel blade) carefully arrange the number onto your clock, you could measure it out, but i decided to go by eye as i didn't want to mark the leather.

If you glue the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions first, the rest should fall into place. Use a rule to make sure the numbers line up.

The last picture shows the completed face.

Step 8: Hands and Pendulum

Now all we need to do is add the hands and pendulum back, i decided to cover the hands with white card to make them stand out along side the numerals.

Coat the hands with super glue and place them down onto some card, once dry carefully run around the edge with a scalpel, don't forget to cut out the holes!

Earlier on i had played with the pendulum length i decided on making it aligned with the two 'prongs' of the clock face.

The metal pendulum i used was from a old clock mechanism, I then shortened the original pendulum rod accordingly, glue the weight into place.

Then i covered the rod with leather to tie in.

Place the pendulum onto the hanger of your mechanism, then hang your clock on the wall.

Step 9: Completion!

Thats it! done.

I really like my new clock, and its much quieter (because of the lack of tacky plastic i think)

I love the pendulum motion.

Let me know what you think!

- Gmjhowe