Bedside Clock From Watch

My watch band broke, and it was cheaper to replace the watch than buy a new band.

I didn't want to toss the watch, so I came up with a design for a nightstand clock for it.

Items needed:

Watch
1/8" Pop Rivets (10 for 1/8" and 2 for 1/4" thickness)
Pop Rivet Tool
1/8" Drill (for watch band)
1/8" x 5" x 9" sheet acrylic
Access to Laser Cutter (Techshop)
Access to acrylic bender (can be done with micro torch)

Using a 60 Watt Epilog Laser Cutter at TechShop, I cut the design for the watch stand.  The little holes are for the rivets.  The top and bottom one hold the watch on, and the rest are just for looks.  

Once the design is cut out, you need to bend it so that it will stand up.  I bent it about 3 inches from the bottom.  At Techshop, they have an Acrylic bender.  It's a table that has a heating element in a grove and after its hot, it only takes about 30 seconds of having 1/8" acrylic on it for it to bend easily.   How for to bend it is subjective, but somewhere past 90 degrees so that it leans back over the stand.

If you don't have access to an acrylic bender, you can heat the area you want to bend with a micro torch.  I've done this in the past and if you keep running the torch back and forth across the line you want to bend, it works but with varied results… Sometimes the clear acrylic turns smokey or gets bubbles in it.

Cut the watch band to fit so that the top and bottom will be held by the top and bottom rivets.  I used 1/8" rivets (fit into an 1/8" hole).  They come in different lengths, and I used 1/4" long ones for the watch attachment ones, and 1/8" long ones for the rest.
I recommend going slowly with the tool, since hurrying might cause your acrylic to crack.


I Made this at TechShop

Enjoy!!!!