Steampunk Lamp

In general I am hoping to build things that don't really fit the label of "steam punk" or if they do then they should have some feature that sets them apart from run of the mill. On the other hand, when a friend came to me and said, "I have room in my booth at the game convention if you can pull together one or two steam punk items." It made sense to go that direction.

As a side note... This little blog just hit 1000+ page views.

Wrap up one and unwrap the next one.

The pendulum project is nearly complete and ready for presentation.

A photo like this doesn't do it justice, but it gives you the idea. Perhaps a video will be forthcoming.



For unwrapping the next one...  I got a quick lesson on using the sandblaster. I started "unwrapping' a cast iron lamp base that was covered with chipped paint and rust.  Now it can become a lamp base with a whole new lease on life.

Progress happens even with mistakes

I decided to use the linseed oil and am quite pleased with the results I got wet sanding the oil. On the oops side of things, I wanted to protect the  wood for overnight storage. Surely a sponge  would make a nice cushion for the wood to rest on. It turns out that a sponge soaks up the linseed oil and leaves a discolored spot on the wood. Lesson learned.

Since this project is going to use several clock motors I decided it would better to run them all from one set of batteries instead of lots of individual ones. To make this happen I need to solder leads to each motor. This is made difficult by the fact that the contact points for the batteries are spring steal. Not a practical surface to solder to. At the end of the day, after several failed attempts, it occurred to me I could put an aluminum pop-rivet through the contact, and have a usable surface. I'll give that a try first thing tomorrow.

The next project is underway

Gathering the needed supplies,

and making difficult decisions about which oil finish to use on the walnut.

I found this article about wet sanding the finishing oil.  I'm going to try that (option #2) on a sample piece too.