Chesham Grown and Made Walnut Wall Clocks - Part 1

7 pieces finally cut - lovely contrasting sap and
heart wood, with some lovely figuring

Part 1: Sourcing and Cutting the Timber


I've been enjoying cutting timber for some wall clocks, sourced from a locally grown (Chesham, in the Chilterns) Walnut tree.  It has a lovely colour & figuring and I particularly like the white sap wood contrasting with the brown heart wood of the tree.

I thought I would share a little how I make the clocks - this will be in a few parts, the first is about getting and cutting the timber, then it 'rests' before I hand plane it.

The tree came down in winds about a mile away from my workshop a few years ago (I'm based in Chesham, in the Chilterns), and I went over and picked it up.  Then, I split the tree into quarters, entirely by hand, using metal wedges etc.  I have an article on my website showing how I did this with a beech tree, see http://articles.hand-made-clock-cases.co.uk/article_171.php.

It then sat around air drying for about 2 years - the tree was 'green' - that is to say it had just come down and was very wet inside (as all trees are).   Clock makers of the type I am can't use wet timber, it has to dry to about 10% moisture content, which takes time.  Timber is quite often 'kiln dried', meaning it is dried in a kiln - this timber was 100% air dried which took time, but is worth it.

Cutting wood - all by eye as cutting from part of log

So, at last it was dry and ready to use.  Thankfully it hadn't split too much in drying (most timber does at the ends due to differences in evaporation end grain) - some splits very badly resulting in quite a lot of lost timber.

I cut all my timber entirely by hand, using hand saws.  As I am cutting part of a log, and not a nice bit of sawn timber, it is pretty hard to hold and cut it - not least because I have to saw by eye, without cutting lines, which takes some experience and skill to do accurately as the saw is bound to wonder.

I'm cutting a piece with some white sap wood (sap is the outer wood) and brown heart (inner wood) so the clocks will have a nice white / brown contrast in them.  The wood has some lovely figuring in too.

In the photo to the left I've cut 2/3 of the way down on 7 pieces - now I turn the piece of wood over and, again by eye, cut so the saw cuts meet up - and meet straight.  Now that took a lot of practice to get right, as I have no marks to guide me.  See photo on left.

Now I've got 7 nice pieces cut from here, I need to let it rest.  Whilst it is dry, there will be tension in the wood which has been released when I cut it, so it will rest for perhaps a week or so, then I will plane it, by hand using hand planes, then go on to the exciting part of shaping it etc.

When the clocks have a finish on (I will use clear oils and wax) they will look lovely - when I done I will publish photos here and on my site.

I haven't decided on the price yet, but likely to be in the £40 to £70 range each, but that is subject to change.  They will be available to purchase.

If you want to keep following this article and how the clocks go, do follow me on Twitter etc., or signup to my newsletter on the top right of this site.  If you are interested in buying one, do contact me by emailing handmadeclockcases@gmail.com.