It’s about time!

The beautiful (antique looking) wall clock has been a fixture in our house since the early 90s. It’s a Bombay Company Winthrop Train Station Double-Sided Wall Clock that we bought from the Bombay Company store in North Wales, after we were very impressed by a similar one in my sister-in-law’s house. It seemed perfect for the half wall between the kitchen and the family room, with both sides visible from either of the rooms. I had heard that this store went bankrupt long time ago and has since resurfaced as an online store for a short time.

Of course we really don’t need yet another device to tell us the time. If I needed to tell the time, while standing in my kitchen, I can read it off any of the digital clocks that are there – the microwave, regular oven, stereo system and of course any of the phones, laptops, iPad etc. This clock is a lovely decoration item. In fact, one of the few such pieces on our walls. We are what I’d call accidental minimalists, when it comes to home décor – i.e. we didn’t plan on being minimalists but are happy that there is a fancy sounding term that perfectly describes the lazy, fashion-sense-lacking people that we are!

Over the years, the latch that held the two faces of the clock came off and I Macgyvered it together so that it would stay in place (as long as you didn’t breathe on it too hard 😊). Then one of the clocks stopped working. While I was attempting to diagnose it, I damaged the hands (which were quite thin and delicate). So, it hung on the wall in this sorry state for over 10 years. 

This week I turned my DIY attention to this clock, mainly because my wife turned up the pressure on me. Since it was a metal-on-metal bonding, I thought that a weld was needed. If you didn’t know this about me, let me make it very clear – when trying my hand at DIY fixes, I go for the biggest possible hammer (figuratively speaking), even if the issue is not a nail. When I described the task to a repairman who did a welding job on my lawnmower deck, he suggested that his welding machine might be an overkill for something so small and delicate. I reluctantly agreed.

I then looked up ideas for gluing the latch, on YouTube. What I found was a whole world of possibilities with the magical combination of superglue and baking soda! 

It was a very easy fix to superglue it and sprinkle the baking soda on it (with my wife holding the clock in place). Here’s a pro tip – if you forget to wear gloves when handling the superglue and get some on your fingers, a nail polish remover (Acetone) comes in very handy (I can vouch for this from personal experience 😊 ).

The replacement clock mechanism (from Amazon : clock parts) was very easy to install and came in with a bonus seconds hand.

All in all, I am thrilled that I was able to finally fix the clock and also excited to add new tools to my tool belt (which already includes the perennial favorites of Duct tape and WD-40).

Now that I watched a bunch of these types of DIY videos, I am super inspired to glue something! Anything, actually! So, it’s possible that there could be some screaming from my wife in the next few days, when she finds some unexpected and unintended items glued together.  Do checkout the clip below to see the amazing creativity from these DIY stars (especially the rebuilding of gears in a plastic wheel using Superglue and Baking soda, for e.g.).

What DIY project are you particularly proud of, and which ones are you embarrassed to admit in public? Let me know in the comments below. Do checkout a couple of my earlier DIY disasters here.