Hi, I'm Amy. I like to make things.
My husband showed me a couple of really awesome websites last year: www.steampunkworkshop.com and www.datamancer.net They take the whole idea of steampunk creation to a new level.
He then proceeded to drool all over his keyboard in abject longing. So, when he got a dual computer monitor setup for his home edit system and started commenting how they needed to be raised up higher off the desk, I knew I had the perfect solution to my annual Christmas giving dilemma: a Steampunk Computer Monitor Stand.
Here are the full front and back views. The stand sits on a desk in the middle of an office, so I wanted it to have a pleasing composition from all angles of view.
We are both HP lovecraft fans, so I incorporated the Necronomicon design into the the top inlay panel, because we all know computers are the tools of vast, alien, evil forces heh heh heh.
Here is a side view, showing the depth of the assembly (without glass). I arranged the clock gears so they interconnect and interact with eachother in a space the depth of about 4 inches.
Here is a close up of the interior star before I assembled the central inlay design. I built up layers of gold paint to give the appearance of a circuit board and solder points. It is painted in the inside of an old clock case.
My husband has had his own espresso machine for years and likes to refer to himself as a caf-feind, so when I discovered an old bracelet and watch band made of gold tone coffee beans, I knew those had to be included.
Since he is also left handed and always piling computer software CDs all over his desk, I designed a drawer to hold all those handy, but out of the way. I put it on the right, so it won't interfere with his mouse and graphics tablet, which he has on the left. I made the stand long enough to allow plenty of room for both the keyboard and mouse under the stand when not in use.
I designed the wood trim to give a seamless look when closed, lending the drawer an appearance of a solid, heavy box, full of building pressure.
I had loads of fun digging through my decade's accumulation of hardware and miscellaneous junk in the garage. I have one of those magical, wonderful "Mystery Boxes" of stuff where, over the years, anything remotely hardware related eventually finds it's home.
My first foray for "interesting looking stuff" led me to dump it out and sift through its accumulated treasures. This "Pressure Dial" was made using parts from an old clock case, face and hands; part of a rubber toilet tank float; finds from my junk jewlery box; and corner ornaments scavenged off an old picture frame. It's amazing what a little gold paint can do! I hand painted the details and made sure the dial was "maxxed out" on a coffee bean. (We are also both long time fans of the web comic Girl Genius (www.girlgeniusonline.com), and the gold coffee beans seem to bring to mind little Heterodyne trilobites.)
The parts for right hand side of the dial include old motor brushes, a cabinet handle scavanged from a remodel, more capacitors and clock parts, an outdoor garden oil lamp base, and a front-mount doorbell plate.
The back of the drawer is finished with a nice assembly of clock gears and assorted clock parts.
I like to call this little vignette a "Potentiometer Matrix". I got the potentiometers and vacuum tubes for free from a kind fellow off FreeCycle. The arch way is made up of capacitors and a large hex nut used in plumbing. I cut it in half so I could make one of these assemblies for each side of the stand. The lovely black pearl "contact points" came from the depths of my junk jewelry drawer. I like how the cut out in the wood reveals a glimpse of the clock gears behind.
I mounted the clock gear on the front so it actually rotates.
This is a close up of the underside from the front, to the left. I wanted each vacuum tube to have it's own individual setting. I epoxied the bases into the wood, but each tube still lifts out, allowing for padded storage, should we ever need to pack and move it, or easier replacement if one of the tubes should get broken.
Here is a close-up of the front underside to the right. I robbed our boxes upon boxes of old computer board parts for graduated sizes of capacitors. (And here I thought they were just taking up space all this time! Those boxes were a veritable gold mine!) There is also a mother-of-pearl coffee bean at the bottom.
The cut-outs on the drawer were the perfect place to add some more clock gear details. The steel mesh insert is a ready made CD box I found at a local chain store. I fabricated the drawer to fit it, and this item was a factor in determining the overall height of the monitor stand.
And no project of "Mad Science" would be complete without a secret compartment! This one is lined with green felt and is about 1 and 1/2 inches deep. The green serpentine marble was a single square left over from another project completed years ago. I cut it in half to make two matched marble inlays.
I got voted "coolest gift ever" from all his jealous friends. GRIN
I guess that's a "wrap" for another year...
