In case you're not sure what these are, this is a pile of patina perfection found in these antique embossed doorknob backplates complete with skeleton key escutcheons. eep! (I dare you to say that five times fast!)
Will ya just look at that gorgeousness?!? The detail floors me. I run my fingers over it wondering how many hands have touched this same surface over the years.
THE STORY BEHIND MY JUNK
It was about 5 years ago I headed to pick up our milk from the farm we have a herd share with. On my route, I spied a home having a garage sale. If you have experience, you know when it's really a garage sale or a hoarder unloading some loot. This was the latter and here's why. The place was filled with trashure! Rusty lanterns, curiosities that make your eyes pop, vintage phones, lamps, art, tools galore...you get the idea! The other dead giveaway was that these weren't garage sale prices either. tsk. I knew this guy knew his stuff, so I had to take my time to find a real bargain. My loot ended up being a stack of old hand saws that I turned into signs like these...
I also did a few other designs that had scripture, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127
Though he thought me loony, I talked him into letting me buy one of his rusty milk crates. He kept saying, "but it's so rusty...are you sure?" He had NO IDEA who he was talking too. hee hee. That crate became this...
Notice all of my purchases were RUSTY. yassss... Happy ending for them all so far. All those items have long-since sold from my shop. However, I still had this pile of backplates that needed to become something new. Originally, I almost bought all he had, but decided to settle on these that matched.
TIME TO BUILD
Here comes the fun part...putting together the vision I've held in my head for oh so long. First order of business was to find some knobs. About a year or so ago I went on eBay and searched for door knob lots that had at least twelve in them. Finally, I found this lot and am stoked to put them to use.
Then, after their arrival, this whole loot sat for about a year. haha! I had no intention of taking this long, but life happens, and you have to do the have-to's. Know what I mean?
Now that today is finally here where I can put it all together, I'm more than happy than a kid in the candy store. Next, I dig in my stash of wood and pull out a few boards. The super long one is a piece of tongue and groove siding I found during last year's city cleanup curb run on the street behind me.
However, the other piece is from a workbench that I found the year prior a street over from me. Can you tell I have fun?!?
Last, I cut it all to length with my handy-dandy mini circular saw and put it all together with a dry fit.
ASSEMBLY TIME & REVEAL
Since part of it was tongue and groove and part not, I used my pocket hole jig to assemble it. Plus, I also used a thin piece of luan as added reinforcement stapled to the back with my stapler. After that, I needed to use my Dremel with plunge router attachment to make a spot for the clock works. Can I just say I love this tool and all the attachments it offers? woot!
Then, I headed to the local hardware store to find bolts that would hold each of the randomly sized doorknobs. At long last, my long-awaited salvage clock is done!
Finally, I can see it up and keeping time just fine. My salvage clock sure tells an interesting story, don't you think? You can see all my other clock creations in these posts too.
Well, I had fun with it and I hope you did too. If you'd like to own this clock, you can find it available in my online store with all my other finds and creations.
Do pin and share my salvage clock junkified creation. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a love for trashure.
Up next, I have a huge surprise for you! Take a peek HERE.
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Time to see what my blogger friends have worked on for you!
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