I admit it: I'm a total geek. I love electronics, programming, 3D printing, 3D art, and vintage Apple hardware. I'm always juggling half a dozen projects. I also enjoy documenting it all: my successes, my failures, my experiences... and everything geeky along the way.

Darth Vader Clock | Kevin Rye.net - Main

Kevin Rye

Geek Extraordinaire. Yeh, I said it.

Darth Vader Clock

Jul 31, 2010 Filed in: Clocks | DIY | Restoration
They replaced all the clocks at work with cheap plastic ones from Staples. All the old-school ones made of metal and glass were headed for the garbage. Luckily, they decided to put them in a box and threw them in the cafeteria with a “FREE CLOCKS” sign.

I have an old Star Wars 12” LP from 1977 that I have always wanted to use as the face for a clock, but never got around to it. Immediately I saw the opportunity for a nice weekend project.

Dark Vader Clock

Nice clock, huh? Metal and glass. Old School. It looks nice from a distance, but once you get up close, you see how beat up it really is...

Dark Vader Clock

It’s pretty scratched up and tarnished. The finish is terrible. The face is carboard and is faded and overall, pretty grungy.

Dark Vader Clock

The back isn’t much better. It has that old-cardboard smell.

Dark Vader Clock

The metal clips to hold the back in are pretty rusty.

Dark Vader Clock

I took the Dremel to them. They’re not pretty, but at least they’re not rusty anymore.

Dark Vader Clock

I sanded the bezel with increasingly finer sandpaper until it had a really nice finish.

Dark Vader Clock

I then applied a few coats of flat black.

Dark Vader Clock

Followed by some lacquer.

Dark Vader Clock

A few coats later, I was happy with the finish. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Darth Vader Clock

I threw everything together just to see how it was going to look. I thought the LP was going to totally cover the old face, but you can still see some of it. So that will have to be made black. And to boot, the minute hand won’t go back on the clockworks. It’s loose and falls to the bottom. So I’ll need new hands.

Dark Vader Clock

I picked up some black foam-board and clockworks from the craft store.

Dark Vader Clock

Dark Vader Clock

They’re a little more ornate and smaller than I wanted, but they’ll have to do since it was the best choice of what was available at the craft store.

Dark Vader Clock

Not feelin’ the gold either, so I painted them black.

Dark Vader Clock

Using the old backboard as a template, I cut out a circle from the foam-board for the new face and Dremeled a hole in the middle

Dark Vader Clock

The hands are a little small, but I don’t think it looks that bad.

Dark Vader Clock

And, the final assembly...

Dark Vader Clock

Impressive. Most impressive.

See this project from start to finish:
Darth Vader Clock
Darth Vader Clock Upgrade