Pantone Clock

This is an idea I have had in the works for a while now. I finally decided to go about making it a reality. So a productive afternoon later, we have a nice custom Pantone clock.

It is a simple way to repurpose an old clock. Or you can make one from scratch and order your own clock mechanism.

So, read on to find out how to make your own Pantone Clock.

_{Pantone is a Registered Trademark  of © Pantone LLC}

Step 1: Materials and Tools Needed.

For this project you will need - 

• A clock mechanism
• An old Pantone guide - (I got the pantone top 100 colours book of ebay for about £7)
• Glue
• Medium weight card
• Craft knife
• A 5 pence piece or similair
• A washer the same diameter on the inside as your clock thread spindle (normally on the mechanism itself)

Comments

[joerice01]

You've inspired me to make my own. You can find it here.

[merijnvw]

great!! here's mine

[gmjhowe]

Excellent!

[clibanarius]

Here's my 30 days of instructables effort. Sort of a comedy of errors getting the thing made using eBay to buy the wrong type of Pantone guide, having to make my own watch hands and Pantone logo second hand, etc.). But it looks great, and my graphic designer wife loves it (it's her new office clock). I especially like using the Pantone logo as a second hand. Brilliant!

[gmjhowe]

Brilliant! I agree, the pantone second hand is the best bit. I found the rest of my leaves from this book, was thinking of making a second one for the backspace!

Most of all, thanks a lot of sharing your picture on here.

[sunshiine]

Very very nice, thanks for sharing your hard work! Have a splendorous day! Sunshiine!

[Azayles]

"What time is it?"

"Erm.. Orange minutes past green?"

"Damn I'm late!"

[papris]

epic win.

[phillipeb]

hahahaha!

[gmjhowe]

I did think that if I had put the colours in a sequential order you could learn to tell the time like that.

[Azayles]

That'd be cool :D Or put them in hue order.
Wish I still had the old Pantone colour book I got from where i used to work. We used to have to chuck them out after a year and get new ones to maintain colour stability. I had it for years and used it to decorate my first flat by colour matching everything!

[bigredmachine]

Awesome!
What are the dimensions of the clock hands and the color samples? Its hard to tell from the pictures.

[chicopluma]

its green time!!!

[santy22]

So the pantone logo spins? That makes it even more awesome!

[gmjhowe]

Thats right! It ticks around.

[Don H.]

Or, just go to Lowe's and pick out the color sample cards you want in the paint department. They're free!

[Calorie]

I like this a lot, and I also feel that it fits into the earlier ethos of Instructables. It's something everyone can do and enjoy. It takes some imagine and you end up with something fun.

Lately I have see projects that are jaw dropping. They are massively impressively as well as being massively expensive. You have to be a master craftsmen to carry them out. It's not an attack, but I cannot figure out how a mortal could carry out the projects without a lot of specialized machinery, material and experience.

I like this clock as it symbolizes the sort of get out and look for fun that the average person can do attitude.

There are some additional examples below, and suggestions on how to make the clock more durable.

I give you kudos for an excellent, accessible project and additional kudos for making imagination and a bit of material go a long way.

[gmjhowe]

I would like to think the same is true of all my projects to some extent. The first half of them were done in my bedroom at my Mums house with scraps and glue.

I have done some rather complex projects in the past. I think I am entering a simpler idea based era. Here is to my next project, which is as equally easy, and a little more eye catching.

[Berkin]

Excellent way to recycle!

This instructable gave me an ingenious idea for a PC clock that tells time with different color values. Hours control red, minutes control green, and seconds control blue.

My handiwork is below:

[joerice01]

Wonderful job,
Could you clear coat it to make it a bit more solid ?

[gmjhowe]

Yep, you could probably do something like that. I think I need to stick it onto a thicker back board.

[CamillaLuvzMusic]

This is so cool! If I ever get around to repainting my room, I want one of these!

[gmjhowe]

Pffft, it has all the colours in it! Why not make one now?

[CamillaLuvzMusic]

I dont have any paint samples lol

[CrLz]

Beautiful!

[gmjhowe]

It is rather!

[killerjackalope]

Very nice, certainly the clock of a designer...

[gmjhowe]

Thanks! Though quite ironically, most designers just think its a bunch of colours on their computer.

[killerjackalope]

Heh, I still see the merit in real sample objects. Which reminds me, need to drop by the printers this week get a set of their range for a client, but also because they introduced something called luxury business cards with luxury finish which is too hilarious and possibly awesome to not check out.

[gmjhowe]

Letterpress business cards, thats where its at.

[killerjackalope]

Mhmm, I'd quite like to try etched or pressed acetate in an experiment, though to pricey for my blood to actually use... I love letterpressing on thick rag card, it creates an awesome texture combination.

[Kiteman]

Nice. I've forwarded this to a couple of colleagues looking for ideas.

[gmjhowe]

Cool! Any suggestions for improving the ible itself?

[Kiteman]

I don't think so.

A video of it ticking away might be nice (if eventually boring), but it's good.

Maybe, if I'd been making it, I might have enlarged the existing holes to fit the spindle, rather than make a whole new hole, and I might also have used twelve adjacent pages, to give a sense of the gradual progression of time...?

[Dr. Pepper]

Very nice instructable! Way to recycle.

[gmjhowe]

Thanks!