Sassafras Mantle Clock

I needed to make some gifts for Christmas this year. The October 2012 (#214) issue of Wood Magazine presented a nice mantle clock called the bow-tie clock. It was in the arts and crafts style, which interested me. I altered the design a bit to add a touch of Green & Green influence and used some recently acquired sassafras wood to build it, or rather them. I decided I needed four for clocks. It was the first time I worked with sassafras and found it to be a very nice wood. It is similar to ash in grain pattern, and beige to brown in color but softer and worked exceptionally well. I was impressed to find random cinnamon colored burls in the boards and used them as a focal point in one of the clocks.

To go along with the burl color, I custom mixed some trans-tint dyes to a cinnamon color in alcohol and dyed the clocks. The center board in the frame was not dyed to add to the focal point. The finish is four coats of Waterlox (wipe-on). The bow-ties and the pegs are maccaranduba (much like Ipe). It is a very dense, tight and straight grained wood with a nice warm brown color.

I think the gifts will be well received.

Source: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/74319

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