
Nguyen built the clock above using an old die from Kellogg’s Club crackers and used fin seal caps.
Sharonville Transmission Plant toolmaker Diem Nguyen has been upcycling for years, turning discarded scrap metal and worn-out machinery parts into beautiful clocks for retirees.
Prior to joining STP in June 2021, Nguyen worked at Kellogg’s for 18 years as a mechanic. For his last dozen years there, he put his mechanical, tool & die, welding and millwright skills to use by crafting one-of-a-kind clocks for teammates when they retired.
“I got the idea kind of put together and a bunch of guys came over to add ideas,” Nguyen said. “One guy helped me with the woodworking.”
Nguyen built up a stash of parts by saving discarded machinery parts and scrap metal from the dumpster. He would label and save the parts for specific people so that when they retired, their clock would contain parts from the machines they had run.
“Everyone would get a different one,” he said. “I didn't want anybody to have the same one.”
Even the wooden clock bases were crafted from pieces of the old wooden floor at the Kellogg’s plant that were saved when the floor was replaced with concrete.