How to Make a Hockey Puck Clock

Do you know a hockey enthusiast? This hockey puck clock is a great gift idea, as a paperweight or desktop item. You will need a drill press and a special bit for this project, but it is not difficult if you have the right tools.

Obtain materials:

• Hockey puck.
• Clock insert for the hockey puck. From a craft supply store.

Obtain access to tools:

• Drill press. An inexpensive press is just fine for this project.
• Forstner bit for the drill press, same size as base of the clock insert. See "tips" for an example of standard dimensions. A Forstner bit is designed to "sweep out" the region it is drilling. You can also do the job with an ordinary hole saw and a gouge, but it would be lots more work.

Find the centre of the hockey puck.

• Remember your high school geometry? If so, you can use that technique.
• Or just use a ruler, and estimate the centre location. Measure the distance from the estimated centre location to the edges of the puck, and keep moving the estimated centre, until you get the puck centre located.
• Lines on the puck should, ideally, be kept to the central region so they will disappear when you drill out the hole for the clock insert.

Insert the Forstner bit into the drill press.

Set the drill press speed slow. You do not need speed, as hockey pucks are soft compared to metal. Rather, you are looking for accuracy. Also, using a slow speed means less risk of melting the edge of the hole.

Set the drill press depth so it will only drill out about 8mm (3/8-inch) deep into the hockey puck. You do not want to drill all the way through.

Use clamps, a drill press vise, or other mechanism to hold the puck securely on the drill press, with the centre of the puck exactly positioned under the centre of the drill bit.

Drill the hole for the clock, to a depth of only 8-9 mm. The exact depth depends upon the clock insert you are using.

Clean up the puck, and erase any pencil lines.

Set the clock, insert it into the hockey puck. You are done!

Tips

• A nice catchy name for this object is a "Clockey Puck".
• One supplier of clock inserts sells 37mm (1-7/16 inch) clock inserts which fit in a 35mm (1-3/8 inch) hole which is 6mm (1/4 inch) deep. That is typical and looks nice when inserted into a hockey puck.
• Hockey pucks can be obtained in different colours. Blue looks good, with a gold coloured clock insert.
• It helps to have a couple of spare pucks around, as the first attempt may be off centre or skewed.
• A thin bit of masking tape put around the base of the clock insert can be used to make it fit more snugly into the hole in the puck. Do not cement the clock insert into the puck, or the battery could not be changed on the clock!

Warnings

• Wear glasses when using the drill press.
• Watch that the drilling does not jerk your hand towards the drill bit.

Things You'll Need

• Drill press.
• Forstner bit.
• Clock insert.
• Hockey puck.
• Clamps, drill press vise, or other jig for holding hockey puck on the drill press.