Everyday Systems

I want a 14 minute sand timer, and here's why:

One morning, I had a guest who stayed overnight in the room I usually do my shovelgloving in. So when I got up, I had to go to the basement - okay fine. But I had no timer!

I spotted a two minute game timer my kids had, so I used it - turning upside down 7 times for my 14 minutes. I thought it would be a drag, but I got a kick out of seeing the sand run out, and it reminded me of the realness of time, and seemed to "go with" the idea of shovelgloving.

So I've continued to use it. But I will admit, the turning every two minutes is kind of a pain. I keep track of how many times I turn it with pennies.

But I'd like to have a 14 minute one. I would be willing to try to make one if I could find instructions or guidance. But I'd rather buy one if possible. Haven't seemed to find a custom sand timer or hourglass website, though, lol.

If anybody has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. It's a bit silly, but it's stuck in my head now.

This company will build you a custom hourglass. They already have a 15 minute version

http://www.hourglasses.com/html/custom_crafted.html

No affiliation, etc.

they look cool
but I have to say, I've got some ideas now on making my own

how about the kit, then just add 14 minutes worth of sand?

Wow, what a neat site!

Thanks, That Guy.

That's very cool. I wish they were a little bit less expensive, though. The five inch custom one (which it seems like they could make it be 14 minutes) is $55, and the kit is $75.

Pete - if you come up with any ideas on how to make one yourself, please share!!

Update: I found these instructions on a kid's preschool site:

Make Sand Timers: Needs lots of supervision: Have children each bring two glass jars to preschool (baby food size). (I have never tried this with plastic jars but maybe it would work just as well since glass can break.) Remove the two lids from the jars and glue them together (top to top) using a very strong glue. After they dry, pound holes through the lids (a couple through each side) using a hammer and nail. Fill one jar with sand (or salt) and screw the double lid onto it. Screw the empty jar to the top. Children now have their own sand timers! (Or, you could make one large classroom timer.) (If you wish to have the timers represent a minute, you will need to play with the amount of sand in advance and time it as it flows through then add more sand or remove sand accordingly.)

I guess I've got a project for this weekend!

google ads on this page has also put a link to

http://www.delpozzo.com/clessidre.htm

Sadly, I don't think they're much more inexpensive though.
C.

The good thing about all that fiddling around with your hands making sand timers, is that you can't eat snacks while you are trying to measure out sand!

As far as those timers... I think they look really cool,,,, but,,,,,,
If you stare at a timer while doing your exercise routine, it just goes by so slowly!!!
Better not to look...

That's my two ounces of sand...
Love,
Deb

What you need really is some kind of health robinson style water clock contraption that has a moveable arm. Once the water has run off it, the arm moves up and hits a gong, then you know that your 14 minutes is up...

That way you wouldn't have to stare at it all the time.
C.

I'm gonna Gong YOU!
LOL...

Good idea my fun and Kooky partner!
Love,
Deb

I for one need the sound effect... if I'm constantly glancing over at an hourglass I'm bound to whack myself in the head eventually.

Would be nice to have an easy "pause" mechanism, though.

At this point, if I'm doing one of my standard routines I have such a precise idea of how long it takes that I can recover from interruptions pretty easily. I'll just stop the timer and finish up.

Reinhard

http://www.technika.com/Sper/s810044.ht ... C=standard

or here

http://www.thestoragestore.com/disatibl.html

or here

http://www.hangercity.com/disatiwh.html

here is a 15 minute "real" sand timer

http://www.gormangiftgallery.com/15sandtimer.html