Making Your Own Custom-Tinted Glazing Putty

I recently did an antique window restoration job at work (we're primarily an upholstery shop, but we also do refinishing and occasionally antiques restorations and repairs). Having worked on these antique windows made me want to experiment with mixing my own putty for antique clocks. I've wanted to try making glazing putty for a few years, but I never got around to it until now.

Antique window restoration work:







I generally prefer to leave putty out of a clock once the putty has failed, in favour of installing wooden strips. I believe strips are easier to remove and replace should the glass break again in the future. There are cases, however, where putty is the best option, and gives the best look. Mainly these will be on wooden works clocks from the early 1800s and on clocks up to around 1840.

One of the pitfalls of using modern putty is that the only commonly available glazing putty is either Dap33, or Sarco, which are both plain white. These can be used as-is, and then surface-painted to look old, but the original putty in early American clocks was originally a sort of brick colour throughout (ranging from light brown to a peach or red tone). The goal of trying homemade putty was to see if I could replicate the look of historic putty.

The basic recipe for traditional glazing putty is dead simple. There are only two ingredients: whiting (chalk/limestone dust), and linseed oil.

The exact mixing proportions in the recipes I found are not generally given, because it depends on the amount of putty you want to mix, and the thickness/viscosity of your linseed oil. There is also no specific linseed oil type specified. Double boiled will dry faster, and regular boiled linseed oil will dry more slowly. You could also use refined artist's linseed oil, but that would be needlessly expensive, with little payoff. Some recipes call for a mixture of regular and double boiled linseed oil. It's entirely up to you. Generally, the putty tends to take a long time to dry, so double boiled linseed is is recommended.

For my putty recipe (and keeping in mind that this was mostly an experiment), I used plaster of Paris instead of whiting. Whiting is one of those old fashioned materials that seems to be increasingly difficult to find these days. I've looked for several years and haven't come across any. I could buy some online, but with the price of shipping, it's just too expensive. Plaster of Paris is mainly gypsum dust (calcium sulfate). It is not the same as whiting (which is calcium carbonate), but both are stone dust, and I thought that for my purposes it would work about the same (which it did).



To colour the putty, I decided to use some powdered tempera paints. I came across a large box of these paints at a yard sale many years ago and I had never found a use for them until now. The main colours that I used were red, black, and brown. I also had yellow, and I did use a bit of green at one point to tone down the red. If you can't find tempera paints, you could also try coloured chalk or dry pastels (ground to a fine powder). I believe the putty could also be tinted with artist's oil paints (which are normally made from pigments in a linseed oil base), or with certain types of universal tints, but I have not tried these.



To mix the putty, I recommend using a small dish. Preferably a dish made of glass, ceramic, or metal. I used a small ceramic bowl. The easiest way to mix the putty is to start with a wet mix, and then gradually add more whiting or plaster until you form a stiff dough. I used about 5% tempera paint powders, and roughly 10-20% oil to powder ratio (this is just a very rough estimation). You want to begin mixing your putty with a small spoon or a popsicle stick, and then knead it in your hands towards the end. Knead it very thoroughly.





I was able to mix 3 different colours to do three different clock doors (matching the existing putty colours). I reglazed the dial-glass doors on a C. & L. C. Ives triple decker, and on an E. W. Adams wooden works clock case. I also made patch repairs to missing sections of putty on the lower door of the C. & L. C. Ives clock.

Lower tablet glass from C. & L. C. Ives triple decker clock ca. 1835. The top and left sides were a bit orangy-red while the bottom and right sides were dark brown. Photographed before drying:



Half these areas are original putty, with missing sections filled-in. It's nearly impossible to re-form a perfectly smooth line.



Incorrect modern glass was replaced with wavy glasses in these two dial glass frames from a C. & L. C. Ives, and an E. W. Adams wooden works. The colours were matched to the original putty. One dark brown, and one brownish-red:









The finished results far surpassed my expectations, but there are several additional notes I wanted to mention about the whole process. The first I will mention is the application. If you have worked with commercially prepared glazing putty, you'll see pretty quickly that the home made putty has a completely different texture. Even if you can mix it pretty thick (which I recommend - about the consistency of modeling clay), it will smooth itself into the frame much more smoothly than commercial putty (a bit like icing) and it will appear more glossy at first.

One VERY important thing to consider with this putty is the drying time. You MUST wait for the putty to surface-dry before you attempt to clean any excess putty or smudges on the glass. The fresh putty is extremely soft and easily damaged (like icing), and if you happen to touch the putty when it's only partially dry, it will form a soft oily spot, and it will start to puddle in that weak spot. If this happens, do not attempt to touch the putty any further, and simply set the panel in such a way that the wet spot can lay horizontally to continue drying. The putty in my sample glasses took 2 weeks to dry enough that I could clean the glasses. It's worth the time to just wait and leave the putty to dry. Yes it's slow, and yes it's tempting to want to rush the process, but trying to force the putty to dry more quickly could potentially cause cracking or other problems. A heat gun will also not help dry the putty, because it's the tool that's used to soften and remove old putty. Heat has the effect of further softening dried putty.

You will want to keep in mind that the colour of the wet (freshly mixed) putty will not be exactly the same as when it's dry. It will lighten by one or two shades as it dries. The change is not extremely drastic, but you do want to mix your putty just a bit darker than the final colour you want to match. You also want to start with a bit less pigment than you might think (you can always add more).

The last note I'll share is that once the putty is dry, it can be carefully and lightly sanded (if you have small bumps or screw-ups), and it can also be painted or stained if you need parts of it (or all of it) darkened additionally. I used a glass scraper and a paper towel with denatured alcohol to clean the glass and the extra putty bits (after the two weeks).

Lastly, here are a few pros and cons to making your own custom glazing putty:

Pros:
- Historically accurate
- Inexpensive
- Easy to customize (colour match)
- Beautiful
- Coloured throughout
- All natural and traditional materials
- Looks more professional

Cons:
- Messy
- Slow drying and curing time (2 weeks minimum)
- Tricky to apply smoothly (I used the back edge of a 1" chisel, and there's a bit of a learning curve)
- Excess putty can't easily be stored once it's mixed (discard or find a very tightly sealed plastic container)
- Oily linseed oil rags pose a fire hazard*

* Oily linseed oil rags are a serious fire hazard because linseed oil can heat-up and spontaneously combust as it dries (you can see videos of this happening if you don't believe it), especially if the rags are clumped up. To dispose of the rags, it is suggested to keep them in a container filled with water, OR to lay them flat on a fireproof surface (cement floor/driveway) to fully dry (2 weeks). Alternatively, you can burn them in a fireplace or fire pit.

An Amazing Visit - 11 New Clocks!

I'm not even sure exactly how to start this post, or what details I should include or omit, but: long story short, my good friend Jim (from Texas), whom I've known for years now, decided that he would be driving down near-enough to me to make a detour and come visit. This trip had been mentioned numerous times over the past several months (maybe since April? I can't remember), and a bunch of planning and scheduling went into it. All I knew was that he was going to bring down a "whole bunch of stuff" for me. Jim has (in the past) mailed me several items (clock books, tools, and the occasional clock), and I've always been very excited and grateful for them. Some of the tools he's sent me, like the Swiss files, are ones I use almost every day.

Jim repairs clocks, specializes in wheel-cutting, has bought and sold many clocks. I believe he makes at least two big clock-related trips across the US every year (visiting friends, seeing other collectors, and stopping by clock shows). The most recent one was in Syracuse New York (3 hours south-east of me) on August 4th. I believe he said that on this particular trip, they covered over 4500 miles, and made numerous stops across the US (as well as myself in Canada).

Anyhow, I was pretty excited to see what Jim would bring down, but I was also told not to get my hopes up too high. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I didn't really ask him any questions. There were only 3 clocks that I knew he was bringing me, because we had discussed them before hand (the pillar and scroll, the 8 Day Jerome 2-door ogee, and the Marshall & Adams). Some of these clocks had been dropped off (donated) at his shop last summer and most of them need a whole bunch of work done on them (the kind of work I do all the time).

Jim's visit was on August 5th. He arrived with his good friend George, and I gave them the tour of the house and my collection. It was nice to spend some time with other clock collectors (I have only met a few), and also meet a friend whom I've (so far) only known over the internet.

Note: Jim was the one who made the custom mirror-clock movement for my reproduction New Hampshire mirror clock: http://jcclocks.blogspot.ca/2015/07/mirror-clock-project-part-9-finished.html

Without further ado, here are the goodies he dropped off. These next several photos were taken just after the visit, and before I really looked at the clocks and unpacked the boxes:











Since there's so much to see (and too many photos and details to share for each of them), I've limited this post to ONE photo per clock. When I work on them as individual restoration projects, I'll share the other photos and details that go with them (labels, movements, dials, etc).

This first clock was a bit of a mystery for about a week. It has a Sperry lyre movement (fancy plate 8 day weight movement), but the case has a Forestville Manfg. Co. label. I could not find any matching Forestville clocks (with swivel hinges, and with this particular movement). After 5 days of research, I removed the gong base, and discovered that the Forestville label is an OVERPASTE on top of a Sperry & Shaw label. This made so much more sense. The current dial is beautiful, but it does not fit (hand shaft and winding squares aren't aligned). The mahogany on this clock is absolutely stunning. It has a sort of rich, buttery, smooth finish, and wonderful patina. All it needs is a few veneer patches, and a wax polish (and a dial, pendulum bob, key, dust covers, etc).



This 8 Day ogee might be one of the worst in the lot (condition-wise), but I was actually really looking forward to working on it. I have a pretty serious love of ogee clocks, and I don't yet own a 2-door example. This one is a Chauncey Jerome 8 Day. The centre bar between the doors is missing, it needs veneer repairs to the case, and the doors are both in terrible shape, but it's all fixable. Another funny note on this clock is that the bottom board is so rounded that the case rocks back and forth like a rocking chair (see paper wedges in the photo). This is definitely not something you want on an already fairly tipsy weight driven clock.



This is a petty rare Wadsworth, Lounsbury & Turners pillar and scroll clock. I've wanted a pillar and scroll clock for probably over 10 years now, and I came close a few times to buying one in similar condition for a few hundred dollars. This one looks like it's in pretty rough shape, but it should clean-up fairly well, and I might even be able to save some of the original finish on it. It will obviously need an entirely new top and base, several minor case repairs, and some sensitive refinishing. I don't plan to do anything with the tablet. It's obviously damaged, but you can still see what it's supposed to be, and it *is* almost 200 years old by this point (1820s). The dial, sadly, doesn't fit the movement, however, I have a 95% flaked-off dial plate in my spare parts that does fit, and I may try to do a repaint on it. The spare dial that I have can always be swapped out later.



Also fairly rare is this transitional wooden works clock by Elisha Hotchkiss. It has a lovely original tablet, original finish, and a nice label. The unfortunate back story on this one is that the entire backboard was marked-up with pencil lines and drilled full of holes (15 holes!) The original dial was also completely butchered and thrown away. The entire dial centre (with all the numerals) had been cut away. All of this for fitting this clock with a kitchen clock movement. This doesn't really affect the case too much, but it will always be permanently scarred with all the holes (even if I fill them). Fortunately the movement and dial will hide the holes, so normally none of them would be visible. All it needs is a few veneer patches, and a movement, dial, and parts (hands, weights, key, etc), and those can just be popped into it at any time. The trouble will be to find the correct short-drop movement. I believe Jim said that this clock was out of George's collection.



This next one is a really beautiful Sperry & Shaw 8 day column clock. I really like this one. It has the original dial (and special hands), fancy lyre movement, and original tablet. The dial glass is also original. It just needs veneer patches, holes filled, and touch-ups (and weights and a bob). The label on this one is in mint condition. The case has the original finish. I think once this one is done it will be one of the highlights of my collection. Everything about it is great!



Another really amazing clock is this C. & L. C. Ives triple decker. This one dates to around 1835, I believe. This is now the largest and tallest shelf clock in my collection (37.5" tall). It has a beautiful strap brass Ives movement with roller pinions, and the circle-cut-out wheels with square teeth. It will need a bell, weights, and a few small case repairs (bone escutcheon, a few small veneer chips, side returns on the top, etc.) The centre glass will probably be a reverse painting (or less likely a mirror), but I'll need to find a very thin piece of antique glass to fit the old grooves.



This one is a Marshall & Adams (Seneca Falls New York), wooden works shelf clock. This is (so far) the only clock I have with carved columns. This one is also in pretty good shape, but it will need a lot of parts for it (it is just an empty case). There are just 3 or 4 veneer chips, and the whole case is loose, but otherwise I won't need to do very much on this one. The key in the door is one of my spares. This one should have an antique mirror in the base. It's hard to gauge the size from this photo, but this is a very large clock. 32" tall, 21" wide at the crown.



This is yet another beautiful column clock. This one is by Jerome & Co. (New Haven). 8 Day, rosewood veneered, with gilt column tops and bases (I believe they were regilded since I found loose flakes of gold leaf in the case). The finish seems to have been stripped off this one (pretty well, too), so I will just need to do veneer patches, and add a few coats of shellac to it. It should have a pair of "decal type" tablets, so I'm not exactly sure what I'll do for them yet. The label in this one is also mint. There is just one small tear near the top, but aside from that it's pretty crisp and white considering the age (around 1870).



This one is a bit sad. It's an early (and really nice) Waterbury beehive case in crotch mahogany veneer, but the back board has had a huge rectangular hole cut into it. Jim bought this clock just for the glass tablet, which I've since transferred to the Brewster & Ingrahams clock (which was missing its original cut glass tablet). I will likely see if I can re-convert this one, but it will probably be a bit of a Frankenstein, and it won't be very high on my to-do list.



A lovely E & A Ingraham gallery clock. This one had been painted with gold paint, and Jim stripped it. A lot of the original gold leaf (80-90%?) is missing. I may try to re-gild it (sympathetically), and try to keep a bit of the wear and tear. It just needs a key (which I have in my spare parts) and I may try to match the hands. Either replace the hour hand to match the minute hand, or vice versa.



This is the saddest one in the lot. It's a large size Brewster & Ingraham gallery clock. The gesso finish over the wood frame is badly damaged in places, and the dial is pretty toast. And speaking of toast, there is also what looks like a candle burn-mark through part of the edge in one spot. This one will likely get a complete restoration. Dial repaint, case rebuilt (puttied/patched/repainted), full refinish, etc. It has all the parts except the hands and a key.



Jim also included some boxes of parts and movements. Some rare and interesting ones (like the Acorn Lyre Forestville movement, and the Lenderman banjo movement). The wooden works is actually a Boardman & Wells, which is what I needed for my clock in the living room (which just had a placeholder movement in it for the past 5-10 years). There are also blank ogee dials under the painted antique one on the left.



So there we are. I was absolutely blown-away by all this. My expectations were far lower, but these are largely all really nice mid 1800s clocks in pretty decent condition. I've already started repairing 5 of them, so expect more posts soon.

Massachusetts Shelf Clock Project Part 1 - Initial Planning

I have a wonderful quality movement that I built from a kit a few years ago, and I've been meaning to build a dwarf clock or a Massachusetts shelf clock (early Willard style case) case for it. For a few years (while working on other projects projects) I've been adding to my archives of clock reference photos in preparation for this clock.

After a lot of sifting through all the various photos, I decided that this was the case I liked the most:



The clock is an early 8 day timepiece by Aaron Willard, and the case measures approximately 39" tall (incl the finial) x 13.5" wide. Based on some conversations with a good friend, I felt that this was bit on the large size, so I scaled the clock down slightly to 36".

The clock was planned out and measured using Photoshop, and a grid to accurately measure all the parts of the case. This shows the fretwork.



Full size sketch:





All the patterns for the clock were traced and cut from thin cardboard.



After having traced out the case, it became very apparent that the pendulum length from my movement was not going to work well with this case design. As-is, the pendulum lands in the centre of the French feet. I would need to add about 4" to the height, and I didn't want to mess too much with the original proportions.

Because of this, I decided to trace out "Plan B" which is a clock by Reuben Tower. This clock has a MUCH longer trunk, lovely fretwork to the top, and beautiful decorative veneer work on the base. While I still find the Aaron Willard clock much more classy and stylish, I also quite like this case, and it's one of the designs I kept revisiting.



The Reuben Tower clock is 48.25" tall (incl the finial) and 12.125" wide. This is the only photo I was able to find of this particular clock.

While I like the clock as-is, I decided to shrink the trunk SLIGHTLY, and add a curved base to the bottom of the kidney dial (99% have a curved base and I don't like this flat version).

The same process was used to measure and trace the clock.





The finished clock will be quite large.



Dial is 7" diameter.









One of the advantages of this particular case design is that it features a door in the trunk. Several of the other designs (such as the Aaron Willard) have a fixed bottom panel, which simply creates an inaccessible "well" for the base of the clock. The top hood on all these clocks slides forward to access the movements.

Mirror Clock Project Part 4 - Hardware & Antiquing

Rosettes

For this mirror clock, I needed a few pieces of hardware. Depending on how custom you want to go, or how much you want to spend, you can simply buy all the hardware, or you can try making some yourself. The only hardware on the case is a pair of hinges, a door catch, and corner rosettes. Hinges are easy to find, clock door hooks are also available in a variety of sizes and styles, and historically accurate copies of mirror clock rosettes are available through Horton Brasses.

Since my clock is an odd size, the only rosettes that fit were the 1" rosettes at 5$ a piece plus shipping. I thought they might be a little too fancy, and I really didn't feel like spending 30$ or 40$ on these (Shipping to Canada plus customs makes certain small purchases quite expensive), so I decided I would try making some myself. If they didn't turn out, then I could still order some.

I made my rosettes using a very simple pattern made from hard maple. To go with it, I made a matching die that would square-up the outer edges.



I used very thin brass sheeting, which was heated to red hot, and left to cool. The pattern was stamped against some old pieces of drywall, then reheated to red, and stamped again in pine.



Once the rosette was stamped into the edge die, and cut, it looked quite good.



The only problem with them is that they were very thin and fragile. To remedy this, they were filled-in on the back with plaster. They were then drilled, left to dry, and hammered onto the corner blocks with escutcheon pins (the photo above is before they were nailed in place - the pins are visible in other photos).

Latch Hook

For the hook, I wanted to make a fairly heavy brass custom hook similar to the one on my miniature Vienna. It is a simple L shaped hook with a small finger grab on the top. The basic pattern was traced onto a scrap of brass.



The pattern was then cut out (roughly) with a jeweler's saw, and then the edges were filed to the final shape. The last step was to heat the brass finger loop, and then hammer it over in a small vise.





Antiquing

Antiquing wood can be tricky, but I find that it really helps if you're using actual old wood as a guide when mixing your colours.



In the next photos, you can see the back of the door, which is antiqued (stained) old wood, and the screws used to attach the front columns have also been antiqued. These screws are actually brand new.





As a guide for the back, I was using the backboards of these two clocks.



If you remember, I used old wooden boards for the backboard, and the interior surfaces were left 100% original. The back, however, is freshly planed.



I wasn't completely happy with the colouring on the back, but it came out not too bad. It's a bit more grey than brown, but it still matches fairly well with the wood on the interior.



Glazes

Glazes are an incredibly useful and simple way to add age and to dull (or darken) details on furniture or painted surfaces. Before mixing a glaze to antique the gilding on my clock, I took some time to study some antique gold surfaces on items around the house.

The gilded door on a small Gilbert Cottage Clock:



An antique picture frame:



An old carved base that came from a church. This piece actually has water gilding, oil gilding, and painted gold, which creates 4 different shades.



One common theme in these is that the shading is greyish. I made a glaze in a grey tone, and I applied it to the entire door. It doesn't show up as much in the photos, but the brilliance of the gold has toned down considerably, and all the recesses have been darkened.









It is up to you how far you want to go with the antiquing process. Nicks, scratches, dents, coloured toners, dark wax, polishing through the gold to create wear, paint drips (particularly on the top), etc. The possibilities are limited to your imagination. I chose not to go too far with the antiquing, since the overall texture of the clock is already fairly convincing.

Compare with before: