Steampunk chest (2014)

My room is often a big mess. I keep a cardboard box for cardboard/ paper and a plastic bag for plastic recycling. Of course this isn't really nice to the eye. Therefor I wanted to make a box for it. And while I was at it, why not do a Steampunk one?

The finished result of the Steampunk recycle box.

Because it's "just" a box, I didn't make a full 3D drawing. I only drew the front bit because I needed to gears to fit perfectly in place in order to rotate.

For this project I used MDF. The dimensions of the box are: 56,5 cm x 35 cm x 30 cm (lxdxh)

The gears were plotted on a piece of paper, which I glued on some 4mm MDF and then sawed out with the help of a fretsaw.

In retrospect you might use plywood instead; perspex, or something similar, would be even better. Because MDF isn't that sturdy.

All the gears I needed for this project.

All the gears stacked together.

Next it was time to saw the frame. I plotted this on 2 pieces of paper and with some difficulty managed to saw it out. Because the arm of the fretsaw limits your sawing distance you need to be creative and turn the saw direction 90 degrees. With turns this is a bit tricky. You could also make this in multiple pieces if it's too big to work with.

The gears laid in order on the paper template.

What it would look like in the end.

Next up is the paint job. I used a black acrylic base color for the gold pieces. Then I used acrylic gold and smeared it in lightly. I circled on the gears, while the paint was still wet,  to make it look more worn. 

All the gears painted black.

The gears in place (note there is 1 missing), I wanted a worn look, that is why I didn't give the gold a 2nd or 3rd layer, because then the paint job would be smooth and have a "new" look.

The brown was a mixture. I didn't have the chocolate color I used for the display I made a few years ago. I used an orange base for this, because the edges can be worn a bit using sandpaper.
The inside is done with a "caramel" color mixed at the DIY shop.

And the plate on which I mounted the gears has a color called "Temperament", but is nothing more than a crimson/bordeaux like color.
Although it is not really visible on the picture. I dabbed some black paint at the plate along the edges of the frame. This leaves a bit of a worn shadow; places where it is most likely to not be cleaned in years.

Half way the project. I needed to add a lit, some decorative nails and paint the inside.

The gears are attached with a wooden axis. In retrospect: Use iron rods.

I noticed the center wheel takes a lot of resistance. The wheels are able to turn, but not by turning the crank arm (?)

In the main plan I wanted to have a chain run from the center outer wheel to the one on the left, but because it was already unable to rotate the other parts, I skipped this.

I added some decorative nails and it is done.

The finished box.

What it looks like on the inside.

Front side. Despite it's not able to turn it still serves a nice decorative purpose.

A few things I might do: The sides are a bit dull. I might add something to it.

And I'd like to make some fake Victorian hinges.

For those of you wanting to give this a try or wanting to make gears: These are my templates:

If you'd like very specific gears, I can recommend you this template maker:

https://woodgears.ca/gear_cutting/template.html

Birth Sign Penguin (2014)

Someone I know ordered a specific design of a birth sign:

Cracked egg

Penguin parachutist

The woman asked me to do sign with a penguin. I asked her to send me some basic pictures I could work with. It was clear she liked some sort of cartoonish penguin baby.

In her request she also asked to make an egg first and once it opened a penguin was revealed and ended up with these 2 ideas:

The 2nd is a basic black/ white penguin (as the send cartoon versions were) and is the traditional one where you pull off the top part of the egg and the penguin sits snuggly in it's shell.

I thought of something more unique: What if you remove the bottom part? Than you end up with an eggshell parachute!

Here are the steps:

1: Make a drawing
2: Saw out the drawing
3: Paint (1st coat is never nice, it needs 2 to 3 coats to be perfectly covered.

Finish it off with some varnish and screw on the parts to attach it to the pole and it's done.

Egg with the pole, it's quite high, but it has
to go about 40-50 cm into the ground.

Revealed after birth.

The single parts are shoved upon 2 bolts, which are tightened with a winged nut.

At the back of the top part of the egg and in the back of the penguin some rings are screwed in on which you can hook the parachute lines.

The sign at his feet are meant to have the name written on, but I wasn't allowed to know the name, so they're writing it at home.

If you'd like to have your own unique birth sign: contact me and we'll discuss the details.