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Rochester Woodworkers Society

About Max

Since retiring from the US Navy in December 2006, I have been actively involved in my other life's passion: fine woodworking.  While woodworking has been a serious hobby during my 25 years as a naval officer, I have taken every opportunity to enhance my woodworking skills.  I managed to pry into many woodshops and learn from the real pros.  Now that I've settled in the Rochester, NY, area, I have become a member of the Rochester Woodworkers Society (RWS) where I'm learning from the best.

 Fascination with wooden clocks!  Long story made short, I visited a museum store in Cape Cod, MA, with my then newlywed wife in 1982 and we found ourselves staring at an amazing skeleton clock that was about 6 feet tall and constructed entirely of American Walnut,  gears and all. The impression that this one-of-a-kind work of kinetic art made on us was so lasting that I decided to dedicate my first post navy career woodworking project to designing my own version of this beautiful clock, albeit, 25 years after the fact! That clock so inspired me that it stuck in my mind for 25 years!  I thought then, as now, that once you've seen one of these rare works of art in motion, you will forever be consumed by the sheer beauty of the technical accomplishment.  Pictures just don't do justice and can't compare to the presence of an actual, working wooden clock.  Go to my YouTube site and see one in motion - M3 Clock Video.  While you're there, check out some of the other wooden clock designs by other artists.  Again, there is nothing like seeing one of these beauties in person.

It took the better part of 6 months to design my own wooden clock from the ground up, gear ratios, escapement types, 1 day, 2day, 8 day run times, etc.  I am happy with the results of the clock mechanics and now I'm dedicated to improving the esthetics of the designs.  I call my clocks M-Series clocks following the naming convention used by the  great John Harrison who I refer to in Brief History

This is my first attempt at creating a working wooden clock. I used all scrap wood that I culled from the bins at Home Depot! With the exception of the pivots (the bearings), this entire clock is made of soft pine wood. I managed to get 4 hours of accurate working time out of this clock!  I have since vastly improved this original design and have several designs to choose from. My M-Series clocks run 4 days or 8 days and they keep excellent time.

M1

First working model - M1 was a learning experiment.

I am a self taught "mechanical engineer" and my strength is my God- given creative abilities and stubbornness to try anything. My intent is to build these beautiful clocks to fulfill a client's desire to have the same experience that I had when I first viewed one of these beauties.

It's clearly a passion.