Welcome to part 2 of building a cuckoo clock. In this part I am going to discuss the actual planning of the clock. Just planning though, we aren't going to build anything yet. Cuckoo clocks are simple, but intricate and so the more time you take to plan the better your clock will be.

First things first, we need to figure out what type of clock this is. The time piece I have chosen is a 24 hour time piece, which means it runs for 24 hours before needing to be cranked. It also consists of one bird, it also has no music box attachment. There are variations of cuckoo clocks that use dancers, horn players, birds and music boxes. If your movement is like this you should make provisions in your plan to adapt to them. My time piece is also approximately 3 inches square.

It's a good idea to first sketch what you want your clock to look like.

There are two different styles, a hunter style and a Chalet style. The hunter style traditionally has a stag of some sort on a head piece at the top. On the side there is traditionally a rabbit and game bird, a horn encircles the clock face from which a game bag hangs. On some clocks I have seen, the stag has been replaced with a bird, or a full stag's body.

A Chalet is the swiss style clock which is made to resemble a swiss house. They are usually painted, and generally incorporate music boxes and dancers.

For this project I used the layout of a traditional hunter style, but modified it. I decided to update it with north american animals, seeing I was making it in north america. I decided to replace the stag with a bull moose. The rabbit and game bird would be replaced by a raccoon and otter. Then I sat down at my computer and ruffed out some plans for the body of the clock.

Part A is the side pieces, of which I will need 2. B is the facade, I will need one of these. C is the back piece, or opposite to the facade, I will need one. D are the roof pieces, I will be needing two. Not shown, but also part of the clock is the base, which will need to be in the area of 6X4, but will need to be trimmed so that it will fit flush with the clock. I will also be needing a back door, which which fill the 5 in gap in the back. This will hold the gong mechanism.

Below the wood measurements you will see sketches of my clock plan. I plan on placing the moose on a head piece of carved leaves. Around the face (which I am cutting out and placing a plastic sheet over) sill be a rectangular frame, with more leaf trim. The small game animals are located on the sides. The left shows what the inside of the clock will roughly look like.

Keep in mind, this is YOUR clock. I fully expect you to modify these plans. These are really just guidelines. I used pine, if you want to use cherry or ceder, go ahead. If you want to change the layout, go a head, make sure you plan everything first and are sure everything will fit inside. Keep in mind you will need room for the clock works and the bellows. But as long as you can fit everything you need inside, your golden.

(to see previous story in this series, click here)