This clock was given to me by a friend to restore.  It belonged to his grandfather who was a pilot in WW I.  When I received it is was covered in a very dark chocolate brown stain and the clock was broken.  As I removed the layers I was amazed in so many directions.  The mere fact that pattern makers made these props over 100 years ago and that they didn’t warp and stayed in balance was an amazing feat of craftsmanship.

The props themselves were, where the “knobs” are.  The staggered, finger jointed laminations in the wood are strong and beautiful.  The prop is made of mahogany.  On the back picture, you can see that they are stamped 1-4. I’m sure that this was to help in shaving the prop until it was balanced like a roulette wheel.  When the clockmaker made a new gear for the clock he verified that this type of clock was ~100 years old and could easily have been in the cockpit or the barracks of the squadron.

The holes that appear around the face of the clock are where the prop bolted to the engine.  I decided to add yellow brass bolts to complete this.  Since the patina on the clock face is priceless, the bolts were “aged” with vinegar fumes to give them a similar look.

In finishing, the look of the wood itself was so beautiful, it was decided to leave it natural and finish it with 10 hand rubbed coats of urethane polished to a 600 grit finish.

As mentioned, an amazing piece in so many amazing directions