Wednesday 19 December 2012

Box of Mysterious Metal Goodness

Those that know me are well aware that I welcome donations of usable bits and pieces, especially metals, and especially things such as small cogs and gears - and that those who provide me with materials will at some point karmically receive a piece of Rebejoo shininess in return. So, when I was given a mysterious box (with a 'Do Not Open' label no less), what could I do but look inside?

Yeah, right
Ooh, look, a thing - let's get it out of the box.
Yup, definitely a thing - it's got a dial and a plunger bit and it's most certainly broken. I like it. What is it?
According to James who donated the spiffy item, it's a 'Z-axis setter' i.e. a gauge for setting up a lathe/mill and it had lost an argument with a large drillbit. From my POV, if it's got a dial, it'll have gears and the like, so time to break out the tools and dissect it...

The insides of the thing.
Well, that was fun - I now have some little brassy cogs, a spring, various tiny bits of indeterminate function, some dial-faces and some rather nicely machined bits of steel. Hmmm.... what to make with them? Well, I'm looking at working towards brooches etc with moving parts (i.e. cogs you can turn, that kind of thing) and eventually automata (yup, I'm feeling ambitious). However, before I do that, I did promise to make something for James - well actually his girlfriend Charlotte as he doesn't wear jewellery...

A pendant made out of some of my exisiting jewellery parts plus some bits of the thing.
It's quite dainty and shiny (I did enquire and chunky jewellery is a no-go) so hopefully it'll be luvved and worn. That did leave me with some other bits and a twitchy hammer-arm...

Steampunky pendant goodness!
Yup, back in the steampunk zone for this one - and the first step towards the moving jewellery I mentioned. Although you can't tell from the photo, the pendant has pivot-points hidden behind the cogs so it can be compressed or extended, while the springs bring it back to shape when released. Oh yes. I hope to work on more of these - this one is however staying with me and my steampunk outfit :) More soon...

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