I’ve always wanted a Nelson Ball Clock, but never had the cash for one.
Instead, I made my own version using a round box, and some bouncey balls (which I accumulated in Boston – buying a bouncy ball while we waited for takeout at Food Wall)
Recently, this clock inspired me to make another version for the dining room.
It was a pretty simple project, made with a plate and spoons (from IKEA).
The fun part of this project was drilling a hole in the back of the plate. It required quite a bit of measuring to find where the hole should go and then some patient drilling. Taking some advice from the internets, I filled the back of the plate with water while I drilled to keep the drill bit from overheating. It took about 20 minutes to drill through the plate.
The spoons were attached with super glue. It’s not as solid of a bond as I was expecting, but they’re staying on.
Unfortunately the clock isn’t quite finished. The clock hands were supposed to be a fork and a knife, the depth of the plate meant that the fork and knife hands would get caught in the spoons. I’ve tried a few options (real silverware was too heavy for the clock mechanism, hands made from soda-can-aluminum were too cartoonish). I’m still considering either buying hands, or slightly melting plastic silverware so that they curve away from the spoons. In the meantime, the clock now hangs with the stock hands.
Now, onto another project!