I used a small paulownia board to cut off the parts. It's a very very light and easy to scratch wood. Despite it's butter like softness, it was very hard to work through the grain with a chisel. I had to hand carve the space for the clock mechanism and it took over two hours to make a 7x7x3 cm hole, my wrists were exhausted. I also sort of failed to make a solid surface, as I threw off small chunks of the grain. Maybe my chisel needed sharpening? Next time, I will definetely use a router!

I learned one solid thing with this project, it's hard to cut four identical strips with 45 degree angles to make a square. I had to trial and error a few times and my best result is still sketchy. Luckily, I came up with a solution when I couldn't fall asleep at night. I will take up the sheet and cut off 45 degrees on matching sides. Then I will cut the strips to make sure they are identical.