Retirement Clock

admin

This is just something I made last year as a retirement gift for our former transport driver at work. Usually I am asked to make a clock in the shape of the state of Idaho, but this time they wanted something different. And since our retiring driver had been doing so for more than 40 years and lived and breathed truck driving, I came up with this. A kenworth to signify the first truck he was ever assigned when he came to work for the Idaho Transportation Department. After coming up with the final image, it took me about an hour and a half to shape the 1/8" plate, weld on a wall hangar bracket and polish the surface. Then came the difficult part, which was drawing and filling in the finished product. Which took me about two days.I finished it with a layer of clear coat, installed the clock parts and presented it to Randy at his retirement. He seemed to like it. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to take any in-progress shots. I really need to buy a new camera one of these days.
Reply:Very nice, can you give us some more details about your process?
Reply:Yup, an early 70's Kenworth W900A is one of the finest and still highly sought after trucks on the road. Period correct too with the apportion plate placards in place.Nice job and he should be proud. If only I had one of each in a B-61, and an RL-797L Mack.......SlobPurveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....
Reply:Nice job! I had a 74 A model and loved it.
Reply:The whole construction process went something like this. 1. I scoured the internet for images of old kenworth trucks, looking for one I thought I could draw. I probably looked at about 100 images. Wasn't sure if I should do something with a trailer or not. But decided to keep it small and simple.2. I drew up a black and white image based on the photo I found. Then went on to do about a half dozen variations and changes to make it look right on paper. 3. I cut out the outline of the final image with an x-acto knife and transferred the outline to steel with a black marker. 4. I cut the outline out of the 1/8" steel plate with a combination of grinder cutting discs and a plasma cutter. Unfortunately we do not have any sort of CNC bed at work. 5. With the general outline done, I determined the approximate center and made a hanger bracket. The bracket was just a small piece of pipe that I cut in half and welded a piece of flatbar to. I then shaped flatbar into a half circle and cut a v-notch into it. I had to make sure the hanger was deeper than the clock parts. And then I placed a couple of small feet near the bottom. So when it is placed on the wall, it will sit evenly and not touch the clock. 6. Grinding and polishing. I took the slag off the edges. Used a dremel to smooth out many of the smaller areas. Then to polish the surface, I simply used a 60 grit flap disc to remove the mill scale and then a 120 grit flap disc to make a smooth shiny surface. 7. The coloring. This was the longest part of the process. Using my original drawing as a guide, I slowing and steadily transferred the image to the steel by hand with a very fine tip marker. I then used just a normal black marker to fill it in. This part took about 16 hours. I really didn't want to screw it up. At this point, I went ahead and drilled a hole for the clock to poke through. Touched up the marker as needed.8. Next step. Clear coating. Can't have the thing rusting. All I had was some spray on krylon clear coat, which can sometimes leave little air bubbles. I really wanted to avoid that. So I shook the can for a solid 10 minutes and did several test sprays until the results looked alright. Then sprayed her down and let it dry. One side effect was that the marker got a little fuzzy around the edges once the clear coat was sprayed on. And some spots appeared to fade a little. But at that point, it was too late to do anything about it. 9. The final step. Clock installation. I let the clear coat dry overnight. Then installed the clock, which just attaches with a nut. Then the hands are pressed on and kept in place with a threaded cap. And after that, the clock was delivered. And I came to realize I did not want to do such a complex drawing ever again.
Reply:Kudos to you for the wit, dedication, and talent to produce such an animal. I like how you replicated the "Seminole" paint scheme also. Very impressed I may add.The recipient should be more than just pleased as that is no "run of the mill" retirement gift.SlobPurveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....
Reply:Impressive!  I used to ride with my dad in one of those old "K-Whoppers" when I was a little kid. Good times...GravelThe difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference.