You may have wondered where I've been (or maybe not!) Between having problems logging into blogger and all the craziness of the Xmas season of making enough glass for the stall I've barely been on line for ages.
I really don't know where the last few months have gone, the workshop is in more than a mess than usual. I didn't expect December to be quite so crazy, which I am more than grateful for as I expect January to a quiet and lean month. I normally get through one 6kg gas bottle in a month, I got through two and the remains of a third in one month!
However I am taking the time to give myself a little rest, and catch up on some neglected projects. One of this is a Steampunk radio project, of which I finally got around to putting together. (If you check back through the blog there is mentions of the brass plate and the long valve over a year ago!)
It's pretty much done, expect for the internal lights which will shine up through holes underneath the valves to make them glow. I'll make a video when I get that done, as I also have some circuitry that will make the lights flash and pulse.
I wanted to make as many of the parts myself, and not just 'spray it brass and stick cogs all over it' - Steampunk should be so much more than that! That's probably a rant for another time, but I did use just three parts from watches. Two are the brass end caps on the horizontal red/green valve, I think they are the cases from watch springs. The third one is the tiny silver cap on the blue/green valve which is actually a winding knob. Apart from the switches, which will work the circuits, I made everything else.
The wood case is actually scraps of skirting board, the brass plate was in the off-cuts at my local model making shop, which I added a fancy paint effect to. All the little brass & copper rivets I made from tubing offcuts - bead makers will know the Impress bead liner, which usually adds silver cores to charm bracelet beads, and makes rather fun custom shapes for the valves! Add in a few bits of copper wire, lacquer, and two sturdy brass chandelier couplers, and it's nearly done!
I must admit it's not exactly how I'd orginally planned it, some bits I didn't use at the last moment, and added ones I didn't expect to, but I'm quite pleased with how it's come out. I already have another one in mind, which is going to take a bit more research, and will be mostly clear glass, and hopefully quite a size!
