43: See ‘N Say Clock

About a year ago, I found this old See ‘N Say at a thrift store. I wanted to do a couple projects with it. The case features 12 animals, so I immediately thought of a clock, but first I wanted to rip out the guts and see how it works and maybe alter what it said.

Inside, it has a tiny blue record with multiple groove tracks and a plastic, cone-shaped amplifier. I unfortunately lack the ability to make my own tiny blue records, so I was unable to make it say inappropriate things. But, I did figure out a way to lightly tug the handle so the needle jumps the grooves mid-play. I had a lot of fun making it say things like, “The cow says ‘…arf, arf, …quack’.”

So, I played with the guts for a few months that way, completely forgetting about the shell and the clock. Then everything went in the project box, and I forgot about everything.

When gift-making time came around, Meg went rooting around in the box and pulled out the See ‘N Say shell, and some clock components we purchased a year ago. I was able to whip up this clock in a couple hours. This is why it’s important to have a project box.

The back is open so you can change the battery, and a white piece of paper covers the speaker holes, where a white cone of plastic once was.

With some creative drilling and gluing, I was able to make the big arrow work as the hour hand, and apparently the whole thing survived a flight to Kansas.

The Hepworth says, “See ya next week.”