I think it’s a right of passage. I too built a clock about 1989. Was a 4000 logic based device. Probably still in my parents’ loft. Was on SRBP matrix board from Tandy and wired using wire nicked off a BT engineer while he was packing up his stripey tent.
I still use hookup wire that my brother got from the installation of the new London Air Traffic Control Center in West Drayton (not Swanwick). I also had a trip to the control tower in Heathrow, including into the main control room with tinted glass; I had to be careful not to knock any switches. (Back then I also sauntered along Downing St as a shortcut).
I have some of the "last mile" underground wires recently replaced by BT. They are twisted pair enamelled wires, insulated with wrapped on wax paper, and the whole lot enclosed in lead sheath.
I've also seen mains wiring where the earth connection was a lead sheath! I've also seen some which was singly insulated, with the individual wires laid in the channels of a wooden E-section.
Edit: remember I was quite poor so I learned how to use diodes to reset the counters instead of combo logic. Then I discovered that this was actually a proper way of doing things.
I built an 8-bit counter to turn my battery powered radio off after a variable delay, because batteries were expensive. It used scavenged discrete components for the flip-flops. Since I couldn't get enough of the same value capacitors (some waxed, ugh), I had to tweak the resistors until each bit worked.