Remember a few months back when I found this fab 1930’s vintage clock at an antique market? If your memory needs refreshing, you can read all about my awesome find here. The clock wasn’t exactly in the best condition. In fact, I’d say its time had really and truly run out. (Ba Dum Tssshhh!)
It’s taken a while to get it back into tip top shape, but here is what I did. Firstly, I had to remove the old electric mechanics from the back in order to replace it with a battery. I just unscrewed it from the frame and lifted it out.
I was then able to pull the face of the clock out of the frame… and discovered it was simply made of cardboard!
Next step – pulling the hands off using a pair of pliers. This took FOREVER! The hands were rusted together, so I had to dab on some WD40 and wiggle them apart… using strong force!
Once the hands were off, I was able to see how much damage there was to the cardboard. Mould was taking over, so I wiped it off with a clean, damp cloth.
I could then see where the paint had come off. A quick trip to the hardware store and $4 later, I had silver metallic paint perfect for the job.
Using a fine, regular craft paintbrush, I began to dab on the paint. I did several light layers, rather than one heavy layer. I find this technique always works best.
I was stoked with the result! I had to be careful around the “R” and the &” symbol, but the paintbrush was small enough to do the job well.
Next step, I needed to clean the glass. Most of the corners looked like this…
…but after spraying some regular window clearer on it and wiping over with a paper towel, it looked shiny and new!
I needed to buy a battery operated movement piece. I bought this set for $7, but disposed of the lacey, new hands and kept the original ones… of course.
The instructions were simple enough, though I cheated and got my younger brother to put the hands together for me. (It was the least he could do for sleeping on our couch for free for a week!)
So now we have a restored 1930’s, working clock! It cost $25 at the market, and I spent an extra $11 on it. SCORE!
So pretty.
I had never restored a clock before, and although it had its challenges, it was fun and rewarding! Moral of the story, don’t be scared to try a little DIYing on old stuff, chances are you can’t make it worse.
