Thursday, August 26, 2010

Gentleman's Bicycle

A Gentleman's Bicycle:
The Wormwood Limited


I took part in a global bicycle build off this summer, and this is my completed bicycle. It is themed after steampunk asthetics and the beverage Absinthe (hense the pale green accents and name). This project had a deadline for submission, and as I ran out of time on the build, many of my ideas for this bicycle never got off the ground. I am quite pleased with the result, however. This bicycle has a great minimalistic look, and rides superbly. The front suspension offered by the springer fork makes for a very smooth ride.







The frame, wheeles, and many of the other parts for this bicycle came from a vintage Schwinn Typhoon. All painting, fab work and construction were done between June and August 2nd, 2010.



Steampunk Airsoft Shotgun

Steampunk Airsoft Shotgun


Nerf guns are 'punked all the time it seems, I wanted to do up a gun with a little more firepower (short of an actual firearm) and settled on a pump action airsoft shotgun. The gun is fed through a removable clip magazine, and cycled with the pump of the forearm.


Much of the gun (origonally all black) was painted to the correct asthetic. Grips were hand made from leather and copper riveted to the handles. I also designed a custom sighting mechanism for the gun. A shotgun like this is difficult to aim (no sights, often shot from the hip) especially as this particular gun fires only one pellet at a time. With the difficulty of hitting a target already present, any help the shooter can get is appreiated. The sight I came up with has two stages. The first is collpased, and requires the shooter to hold it up to his face just like sighting any other gun. The second stage is extended up a good four inches. This allows the shooter to hold the gun braced against their collar bone, givign more stability, accuracy and comfort in shooting. The sight swivels upward by either tilting the gun backwards towards the hand grip or sliding the whole weapon back swiftly.


These pictures more clearly show the rotating sight mechanism. It is actually quite accuarte for sighting, and very easy to use.


This gun was recently sold on ebay. The tip was re-painted, as some states do not have laws dictating that an airsoft gun have a blaze orange tip.




Steampunk 'Box Fan'

Steampunk 'Box Fan'

The summer heat is quite nasty where I live, and I wanted to give an old desk fan a facelift and renovation. The fan itself was a simple caged desk fan that would plug into the wall. I fashioned a box to hold the fan itself, with a hooded duct to direct the air outward. Mesh screens on the sides of the box act as air inlets. The top of the box is also hinged, and with a turn of a brass knob a small arm flips up to prop it open, allowing even more airflow. I also wired in a potentiometer that when twisted, allows the fan to rotate at varriable speeds, and will turn the blades off and on with a push inward.













The fan works very well, and the many degrees of adjustment on amount of airflow and speed make for an efficent fan with great degrees of fine tuning. I also used this at my place of employment this summer, until I was told that it looked 'too dangerous' (although it is no more dnagerous than any other desk fan; the blades are fully enclosed behind the origonal heavy gague grille), and was told to remove it.


Steampunk Alarm Clock

Steampunk Alarm Clock


I found a girl's alarm clock at a rummage this summer, and it seemed to be crying out for a change of wardrobe (used to be bright pink and chrome with a white face). After stripping it down, the case was repainted satin black, the bells done in copper, and other accents in brass. The face and hands were also done in satin black with simple dots to mark the hours, and the tips of the hands painted so that it looks like they are floating on the face. A simple job, but a great looking piece.




This served as my desk clock this summer at my job, it was purchased by a lady there who enjoyed it as much as I did.