Plastics Workshop- Clock

So this is the result of 2 1/2 days spent in the plastics workshop.

The brief was simply to make a clock out of plastic using a simple mechanism in the allotted time.I started with some quick sketches, at one point expanding on the idea of an exploding clock face, but what I really wanted was for the clock to have a more sculptural feel, taking full advantage of it's position as a desk clock to expand more than just a flat 2D surface.

Eventually my thinking brought me to a science inspired design, taking inspiration from the rings and orbits of planets, and more acutely from the structure of atoms, resulting in the design below.

The construction of this was both simpler and more complex than I expected, with some aspects being very frustrating.

 The first job for me was to assemble all the sheets of acrylic I would need and to mark out and cut them down to approximately the right sizes. Annoyingly once this was done I was finished for the day as the workshop technician then glued the sheets together to make the blocks I would then shape, and this had to dry overnight.

 So the next day with the blocks dry, I began shaping them, first on the band saw, and then on a lathe. This was much easier than I had anticipated due to the accuracy of the machines. The rings cut I then shaped the clock face and base further on the lathe, before milling out the space for the clock mechanism on the back of the face on a milling machine.

 Finally I then began cleaning up the components, first with wet and dry paper and then on a buffing machine. This was particularly difficult with the rings as occasionally the machine would rip the ring out of my hands and send it across the room. The pieces finally clean, I then stuck them together using a polycement glue, just in time for the deadline.