Black Frog Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 I thinking of making a large wall clock with many forged elements (numbers/hands/face), still tinkering with drawings and designs but I did like the idea of having forged roman numerals around the clock face. Not sure of the thickness of the numerals yet (1/4"-5/8"?), but ballpark hieght guess for numerals on a 32"-36" clock face would be 5"-ish? The thicker numerals laying on a dark metal clock face would provide more of a contrast for light/shadows so that hasn't been decided yet, open clock face with lighter background, or solid clock face left textured/rusty appearance. I don't want just standard "X" or "I", but rather the more detailed numerals that have the bottom/top base and cap to the numeral. For an example here's a picture I found with a rough layout idea of what I'm considering, but the forging design for the minute and hour hand is another discussion... And another thing- seems that the #4 on clock faces is open to debate using roman numerals, sometimes IIII and sometimes IV. I'd like to have the numbers made individually instead of them ganged in one piece. Never considered how many elements you have to make for this! 17 I's, 5 V's, and 4 X's for standard numeral markings. Anyone ever forge roman numerals like this? I'd love to see some pics. Many of the nicer looking (to me) roman numerals have the V and X with different thicknesses of their legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maillemaker Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 For the serif, you could form a tenon on the numeral and peen it in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Some of the old Mexican branding irons had letters with serifs. However, the branding iron letters are made of flat stock and stand on edge, so to speak. No matter your appraoch, it'll be time consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Some of the old Mexican branding irons had letters with serifs. However, the branding iron letters are made of flat stock and stand on edge, so to speak. No matter your appraoch, it'll be time consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 SERIF! Learned something new today.... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 A quicker alternative would be to cut them from sheet plate, 1/4"+ ,( hot cut, or gas cut and far quicker to do) and then forge finish them for texture. Mount them with spacers to cast shadows if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 Oooh, I like spacer idea- thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 For the serif, you could form a tenon on the numeral and peen it in place. Interesting idea- that way you could also gang numerals together with a one piece serif that spans all numerals within the bunch..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Morticing and tenoning elements together would be very attractive and highlight the hand made quality of it. For connecting the legs of the X and V elements you could pierce and drift the intersections for nice depth. OR lap them like Celtic knotwork. One last thought would be to chisel the legs and forge finish the divisions. I'm really looking forward to seeing the process, finished and installed pics. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua.M Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I have seen many clocks where it only has 12, 3, 6 and 9 on it, that would really limit the amount of elements you need Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Frog Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Nice thought, and I've seen clocks like that too. That would cut down on the work needed. Maybe make the four position numbers even larger, thicker, and heavier.... hmmmm. I'll have to draw out a few more sketches with that option as well..... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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