My youngest daughter was getting married and she had most of the things one normally buys for a wedding present. She said "Make me a clock". I went out on the web and found pictures of dozens of clocks ranging from grandfathers to tabletop and she liked the general looks of the table-top design by John Pickron at (http://www.naia-artists.org/gallery/john_pickron/). My guess, given she is fully aware of some of the rather unusual creations hanging on walls about the house, is that she selected a clock small and simple in the hopes I might build something she wouldn't need to hide when her friends came over. Also, she has a mechanical aptitude and has no problem making what to me is impossibly complicated electronics components work and I expect the minimalist aspect of the Pickron look appealed to her.

I guestimated (who said that's not a word) the dimensions, made a few changes to the overall look, rummaged around in my shop and found a 25 year old 1 rpm motor, designed the works around the motor speed and booted up my TurboCad program.

The main support frame and dial are black walnut finished with a Scandinavian oil, the gears are Baltic birch, the dial insets are beach and the hands are padauk. The clock keeps very good time given dependence on a synchronous motor.

All major parts were cut on a CNC router. As with most of my clocks, a large part of the construction time is spent sanding. I use a Porter-Cable profile sander as much as possible but still manage to sand the skin off select parts of my fingers. However, a little blood doesn't adversely affect the look of black walnut and it serves to personalize the work.