Introduction: Thrift Store Clock Upcycle
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About: I work in industrial automation and spend any free time making.
Thrift stores a full of dated wall clocks for less than $2 so why pay $10 for a clock mechanism at the hobby store? With this ugly clock and and an old broken disk drive you can make a very contemporary looking desk clock.
Step 1: Gather Some Junk
Junk you will need:
1 ugly battery powered wall clock
1 broken disk drive case
1 CD or DVD
1 Catsup bottle lid
Hot glue device
1 ugly battery powered wall clock
1 broken disk drive case
1 CD or DVD
1 Catsup bottle lid
Hot glue device
Step 2: Disassemble Stuff
These cheap clock break apart pretty easy. Remove the clear face with a flathead screwdriver or the like.
Remove the clock hands and the retaining nut. The clock mech should then be free to pop out the back side.
The disk drive case should have at least 4 screws holding the metal casing to the plastic sections. Pop the face plate off the front and with the screws out it should separate.
Once inside if what you have is not an empty case remove the stepper motors and circuits etc you will only need the case and the sliding disk tray.
You should have: clock mech. Clock hands, empty disk drive, and a bottle cap.
Remove the clock hands and the retaining nut. The clock mech should then be free to pop out the back side.
The disk drive case should have at least 4 screws holding the metal casing to the plastic sections. Pop the face plate off the front and with the screws out it should separate.
Once inside if what you have is not an empty case remove the stepper motors and circuits etc you will only need the case and the sliding disk tray.
You should have: clock mech. Clock hands, empty disk drive, and a bottle cap.
Step 3: Make a Spacer to Mount the Clock Mech
The clock mechanism I salvaged was a small shaft and I needed something to use as a bushing to fill the diameter gap between the shaft size OD and the ID hole of a standard CD/DVD disk.
I found that the lid of a Heinz catsup bottle could do just this. The lid needs to be the type that has the self cleaning valve.
Tear off the lid of the cap and cut away the outside edge so you are left with a flat center that has a ring and center knob.
This ring will slide right into the ID hole on a CD to make your new clock face.
to complete poke a hole in the center of the cap lid for the clock shaft to pass through. Glue the hacked lid to the CD from the backside. Mount the clock mech to the new CD clock face. Install the clock hands to test fit.
I found that the lid of a Heinz catsup bottle could do just this. The lid needs to be the type that has the self cleaning valve.
Tear off the lid of the cap and cut away the outside edge so you are left with a flat center that has a ring and center knob.
This ring will slide right into the ID hole on a CD to make your new clock face.
to complete poke a hole in the center of the cap lid for the clock shaft to pass through. Glue the hacked lid to the CD from the backside. Mount the clock mech to the new CD clock face. Install the clock hands to test fit.
Step 4: Assemble Clock Face to Base
Time for the final assembly step. Remove the clock hands and drive mech from the new face.
Place the CD face into the tray section half of the disk drive hull. Glue the new face to the tray from the backside. Reassemble the drive mech and hands.
The off pink color of my original clock hands were not working for me so I trimmed the ends and sharpie'd them black.
With the face assembled attach the metal half of the disk drive case to the tray half. This will enclose the clock drive and clean the unit up nicely. DONE and you didn't have to pay $80 for a stylish CD drive clock and you kept some useful stuff out of the landfill.
