Simplicity by Keith Lowe

Simplicity by Keith Lowe

Dear Clayton,

 

I’m proud to attach a view of my first ever clock – made to your Simplicity design.

 

Making a wooden wheeled clock has been a longstanding dream. My daughter started me off 3 years ago by buying the plans for my birthday. Having never done anything like it before the learning curve has been pretty enormous – not least in getting together and learning how to use my ‘workshop’. And, probably needless to say, a fair bit of the learning has been done the ‘hard’ way.

 

And the result is a joy – running of 6lbs – which isn’t perfect – but still qualifying for a place in our spare bedroom (beyond the reach of puppy-teeth).

 

I could never have done this without ready worked designs and plans such as yours – so thank you Clayton for many hours of pleasure so far – and may more to come – my wife bought me plans for ‘Nautilus’ for this birthday, and our daughter is patiently waiting for her turn, so there’ll be no lack of projects for a good while yet.

 

Greetings from Sheffield, England

 

Keith

Wow, Keith, I'm impressed!  That being your first clockworks ~ your craftsmanship is spectacular.  Great job on a beautiful build!  Your wood choices really make your Simplicity "Pop!"

I also enjoyed your clock story, and it may seem strange, but I also like hearing that the builder has had to learn certain things the "hard way".  I try to make my plans as simple to follow as possible, but there's always a bit of frustration involved with every build (I try to engineer most of it out...but not all!).  

I have found that the sense of accomplishment perceived at the end of a project is directly proportional to the amount of frustration surmounted during the build.  So congratulations on both counts ~ a beautifully crafted build, and that giant sense of accomplishment you must be feeling right now!  You certainly deserve it.

Your second clock will, of course, be an improvement over your first...after all you've learned a lot, but that first clock will always hold a special place in your heart.  And if you'd like to decrease that drive weight a bit, check out my FAQ's - especially the section on "Depthing".  Or, just leave it alone!!!  It's a beauty and running well, and that makes both of us very happy.

I look forward to seeing your Nautilus pix.

Enjoy!

Aloha.  Clayton