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Electrolytic Machining of Brass, a Clockwork Trilobite

Wed, 01/10/2007 - 06:07 — Jake von Slatt

 

the original trilobyte sketchI have been having great success etching brass plate with a solution of copper sulfate and an electrical current.  The depth, quality, and speed of the etchings have been quite controllable and it seemed to me that I might be able to etch completely through a piece of brass.  This capability would allow me to make pieces of several layers of brass, so I devised a design for a test case.

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Electrolytic Etching of Brass

Wed, 01/10/2007 - 06:07 — Jake von Slatt

moleskin notebook with etched brass plate

A while ago I saw Mark Frauenfelder's limited edition Moleskin notebooks on BoingBoing and immediately thought of using the electrolytic brass etching process that I've been experimenting with to make some similar notebooks to give as gifts this year.

As you can see they came out quite well and the Moleskin's two century history lends the project a certain Steampunk street cred.

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A Clockwork Guitar, the Steampunk Stratocaster

Mon, 01/01/2007 - 00:00 — Jake von Slatt

paper mockup of steampunk stratocasterI have a Fender US Highway One series Stratocaster, which is a half decent guitar, but looks just like a million other Strats.  I had been planning to replace the pick guard with a black mother of pearl guard but my experiments in electrolytic etching made me think I'd like to try something a bit more unique.  Thus the Steampunk Strat was born.

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Angle Lamp Repair

Sat, 07/15/2006 - 04:32 — Jake von Slatt

finished angle lamp

The Angle Company of New York manufactured these unique lamps from the early 1890's until 1929. In my opinion the Angle Lamp is the pinnacle of kerosene wick lamp design. This is a two burner version. They also commonly came in 3, 4 and (much rarer) 6 and 8 burner versions as well. Single and two burner wall mount lamps and a single burner student lamp were also made. They came in a variety of paterns and materials. This is the simplest, a tin plated steel can with nickle plated burners.

This kerosene lamp will hang over the dinette in my school bus camper conversion project and as such will need to be a functional decor piece so this is more of a repair then a restoration or conservation project.

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Putting an Angle Lamp Back in Oil

Sat, 07/15/2006 - 04:32 — Jake von Slatt

edison socketOne of the tragic realities of Angle Lamps is that many have been electrified in a crude and destructive manner. Below is such a lamp. I bought this lamp on eBay thinking that it was solid brass. I intended to move the burners from a tin plate Angle Lamp over to this body. However, when it arrived I discovered that it was tin plate also and, in fact, had only a brass wash that had been destroyed inan attempt to polish the lamp. All in all a pretty sad case.

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The Mae West, an Elegant Kerosene Lamp

Sat, 07/15/2006 - 00:00 — Jake von Slatt

Clean up

I'm really happy with this one, the proportions work really well, it's sexy in a Mae West kinda way.

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Toner Transfer Fuser

Sun, 01/28/2001 - 08:44 — Jake von Slatt

Fuser assembly from Xerox copier

This weekend I picked up an old copier for $10 to strip for parts.  There were lots of motors, optics, and hardware within, but the real gem was this 11" toner fuser assembly.  The heater element is a 1300 watt quartz light bulb and the rollers are coated with a nice dense silicone rubber.  The little motor you see on the left side is actually for an oil soaked fiber belt that has been removed from the assembly.  The belt either lubricated or cleaned (or perhaps both) the fuser rollers.

 

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