While waiting for my flight to Vancouver,  I thought about some of the long term goals I have for projects. One that has really driven me to learn CNC and metalworking has got to be watchmaking. I think it will be a long while before I even fathom making a watch movement, but a watch case and custom dials is not out of the question. Since university, I have been conceptualizing a particular watch face design and have even sketched up functional 3D models in SolidWorks to fully check my calculations. I think my next big project has got to be getting this idea out into the real world. I still think the miniaturization needed for a watch will be an insurmountable wall but perhaps a clock-size demonstration model can be achieve with my current level of skill. Essentially, this calls for prototyping and I have access to just the machine required to do this effectively – a laser cutter. With a laser cutter, I can quickly make very complex plates and gears (exactly what early watches and clocks are made up of). Forget about the actual time keeping mechanism, what I am after is a unique physical representation of time that speaks to my personality. For the first clock, I think a stepper motor will do as the power unit. It will not only time-keep but also allow programmable movements that can really show off the face design hand motion. Wow, I think I have started to type long winded gibberish… Will update this post with a rendering of what I want the final clock face to look like.