Here are some custom clock face making idea’s I’d like to share with you. Making a custom made clock face, or dial, can be fun. It’s a much appreciated gift, especially when specifically made with someone in mind. An easy way to customize is to use small, fairly thin objects, glued to a blank clock dial of your design, to indicate the hours to show the passing of time. For example, buttons, guitar picks, stamps, bullets, fabric samples, embroidered badges, pins, medals, coins, keys, family and pet photo’s, matchbooks (am I showing my age?), refrigerator magnets, Casino chips, dice or playing cards, cookie cutters, seeds like beans or corn, dried flowers, soda and beer bottle caps, thin stones like river rocks, seashells, rope knots, fishing lures, beads, ticket stubs, and Boy Scout Merit badges. The list is virtually endless. Let me know anything I may have missed. If you really want to keep it simple, just glue these “indicators” at the 12, 3, 6, and 9, positions on your blank clock face. You can also go all the way around and use 12 “indicators” indicating every hour. Please reference the 8-1/2 by 11 inch number template we offer on our web site. Just print it out and use to layout your custom clock dial. It can really make laying out your clock face a lot easier. Make sure that the “indicators” that you have chosen are not more than 1/4 inch thick, and thinner is better. Think about if you want the minute hand to be just inside of, or actually over your “indicators”. It’s your choice. If you wish to have the minute hand actually going over the “indicator”, […]
Category: Dials
How to Determine What Size Clock Hands to Use
by clockpartsLots of people think whatever clock hands they have will fit a new clock movement. This is not usually true. The mounting holes are not well standardized. So, if you already have the clock hands, you can just choose a similar length and style from us. If you do not have hands, then a few simple rules should be followed so you can correctly choose what you need from us. This simple step is often overlooked, but it does make a difference. It all starts with tape measure or ruler, and measuring the diameter of the clock face, or clock dial. Take a look at this clock dial. Normally you would select hands that would come to about the middle of the numbers, but if you have these 2 parallel lines, also known as a time ring or chapter ring, then the minute hand should end right between the two parallel lines. To get an exact length to end in the middle of the time ring, it’s perfectly normal to trim the minute and hour hand to fit your clock face. Our black hands are aluminum and easy to trim with a good pair of scissors. Our gold hands are a brass plated steel, so a pair of tin snips or wire cutters works well. A lot of clock dials do not use this formal design, so the rules for hand length are more relaxed. This is especially true when unusual markers or indicators are used to indicate the hours. These indicators could be adhesive backed numbers, buttons, wood toy wheels, nuts & washers, dried flowers, upholstery tacks, poker chips or dice, seashells, stones, bottle caps, photos, almost any small […]