Steampunk Nerf Maverick II

Fueled by the sucess of the first gun, here is the second Nerf Maverick I've done up with Steampunk stylings. I opted this time for a matte black base with silver detailing. Again, the raised logos have been sanded flat, and a leather grip has been fashioned. However, on this gun I also removed the cylinder stops to allow the cylinder to swing out at 90 degrees from the gun. This allows one to 'spin it' al a 'Russian Roulette" style, and with a flick of the wrist snap it shut. I also came up with the idea of affixing a chain loop around the cocking slide for the gun. Since the Maverick requires two hands to cock back, one cannot 'dual wield' them. However with this piece of chain attached to one's belt, simply sliding the gun foreward allows it to be cocked one handed. By doing this to two guns, one coudl hold a Maverick in each hand, and fire them both at the same time. Plus, if a change of weapon is needed, simply letting go of the gun will allow it to fall aside, still attached to the belt for easily grabbing it later, and eliminating the need for a chunky holster. I've never seen thsi done before, adn I don't know if anyone else is doing this. Should this catch on, I would like to see it referred to as the 'Wyatt Earp' mod. Give it a try with your Maverick.

* This gun recently sold on ebay

Steampunk Nerf Maverick I

I've seen a number of varrious things painted up in Steampunk asthetic, and thought I'd give it a go with the Nerf Maveric dart gun. The gun itself has a nice look right out of the box, and painting it up only enhanced this. I chose to do a matte black base coat, with hand done copper details. Before painting, I sanded flat the raised 'Nerf' and 'Made in..." logos on the cocking slide and the 'N-Strike' logos on either side of the muzzle of the gun. The grip of the gun is covered with a nice piece of black leather that I stretched and then tacked to the gun to make a nice contoured grip that is very comfortable and natural feeling. I'm very happy with how this turned out, the pictures really don't do it justice.

*This gun recently sold on ebay.

For comparison, here it is side by side with another Nerf Maverick right out of the box.

Steampunk Wrist Watch II

Last summer I built my first steampunk inspired watch. Since then, it has recieved many comments and confused looks. I have also been mulling over design ideas for a second. The timepiece pictured here is the result of several hours hard work, and countless hours of dreamign and doodling.

I like the idea of a watch that protects the face and opens somehow to reveal it. The first watch opened with a flick of the wrist to swing open a spring loaded arm. This new design opens with a push of a button that keeps the watch locked closed.

The opening sequecne itself is double action. The watch face itself is mounted on two sliders set in parallel, and the spring pulls this slider assembly foreward when the catch is released. As the slider moves foreward, two 'leaves' made from brass (which each cover half of the watch face when closed) slide in opposite directions away from the watch face as the slider moves foreward in a sort of a 'butterfly' motion. These two seperate motions happen simultaneously when the catch is releases. Closing the watch works the same way, except backward, with the slider sliding in and the leaves closing over the watch face.

I was able to fit the whole assembly into a fairly compact profile, actually a little bit smaller than the first (and much more simple by comparison) writst watch design. The watch is held onto one's wrist by means of a leather belt that wraps around twice, keeping the watch from twisting or sliding around the wrist.

As with the first watch, I plan to make more of these and refine the design a little (less excess soldier from the joints, more refined joints, etc). Please contact me through email if you are interested in a watch made to either the old or new design. There will likely be more designs to come, the gears are already turning...

Building the Steampunk Keyboard II

Building the Steampunk Keyboard II
Making the Keys

Here's the second part, as promised, showing the process I used to make the individual keys. Keep in mind, each key was made this way, and there are a total of 104 keys on the board (not including the space bar, which I have left alone for the time being sans a little paint around the sides). I refined the process a lot while working on it, and if (or more appropraitly, when) I make another one of these, there are somethings I will absolutly do differently. This method is by no means the only way to do this.


A key, the ESC key in this case, removed and showing the underside. Note the exacto saw ominously lurking off to the side...

To expose just the key 'stalk' (as I called it), the 'flanges' on the four sides of the key must be cut away. I suppose you could just glue the key touches to the keys un-modified, it would certainly save work. However, I like the look more, and it will make a difference later...

The stalk is visible with one flange removed. 3 more to go...

The stalk alone, and the four flanges cut away...

In order to get the key touches to sit level, I had to grind the backs of the touches flat. I also hand sanded the top edges of the stalk (created by cutting) smooth and round. Sanding the tops of the stalks is a bad idea, as it will later cause some keys to be at different heights, and since not all key touches sit perfectly parallel to the floor when on the baord, this contour is important. I also drilled a small hole in the top of each stalk, to allow the epoxy used to attach the touches a better chance to grip.

A finished stalk, with a finished touch.






The opening on the keyboard where the key sits in. The key will press into this square. You get somewhat of an idea of the brass painted recievers, and the felt backing (although, really, it looks pretty bad around the ESC key, it was the first one I tried)

I first pressed the stalk into the reviever, to make sure it sat right. Because rows of keys are leveled to have their tops all lay flat in uniform, I then glued the touch onto the stalk, and could use the other touches as a guide to get it leveled.


I used a quick setting '5 minute' two part epoxy to bond the key touches to the stalks. This has proven very durable and easy to work with; I put a good 3 or more hours typing on this keyboard a day since I finished it in late August, and its still solid as a rock. As always, I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have about this, or any of my other projects.

Building the Steampunk Keyboard

Building the Steampunk Keyboard

I thought some might be interested in the process of making a steampunk keyboard. There have been blogs about this before, with a pretty good step by step. I don't intend to go into great lengths about the exact process of building the piece; this is art. These pictures will (hopefully) give a glimpse into my process, and serve as guidelines for anyone attempting this project in the future.

To start: This keyboard is based around a Dell Slimline (not sure if thats really the model name) keyboard. A pretty basic keyboard, and perfect as I didn't want all kinds of extra task buttons and such to get in the way; I thought they would detract from the overall look, prove difficult to integrate into the cosmetics, and make the piece look less 'rustic'.


For the key touches themselves, I used vintage typewriter key tops. I got most of mine from ebay (the old Royal typewriter sets with the neat rectangular keys that prove wonderful for the larger keys on the board), and some from my personal collection of 'scrap' typewriters. Here's a shot of them pulled appart, labels removed, cleaned up, and backs ground flat. Its a process in itself, and quite time consuming. This is only a fraction of the keys needed; I wound up using 2 complete sets of Royal keys, and the "F" number keys were from an Underwood typewriter (slightly different style, used for conformity).

In the project itself. You can see the keyboard in the background, with the keys removed, stalks painted a brass hue, and (hard to see) felt lining between them. I re-made all of the labels for the keys, printed them out, and hand cut each label to fit inside a key touch to replace the existing character (necessary since many keys from the modern keyboard like ALT, and different arrangements of number shift symbols don't exist on old typewriters).

Some keys taken appart in varrious stages, visible is the newly cut ALT lable.

A better picture of the painted key stalks and felt backing. To get the pieces of felt cut exactly, I made templates. Using card stock, I cut a shape to exactly fit the area of felt needed. I repainted the square openings of the key stalks, and pressed the cardstock down on them This left a perfect layout of the spaces between the keys. I taped this to the back of my felt pieces, and used an exacto knife to cut out the square holes. You can see my arrow keys in place here.

I'll follow this shortly with the process for making the complete individual keys...

"Steampunk" Remington Typewriter

Remington No. 12 Typewriter
Circa 1910, repaired June 2008

Found in an antique shop, this Remington No.12 manual typewriter was rusted solid, missing bits, and most of the origional paint was rusted out. Over the course of a month, I completely dismantled this machine, and brought it back to perfect working order. I also re-painted it with distressed looking copper and brass paint.

Steampunk Wrist Watch

Steampunk Wrist Watch
Circa May 2008

My steampunk watch, made from brass, copper, and leather. The watch face is inclosed in a copper cup that hinges open and closed via a tension spring. The tube on the side contains a 4 gig micro flash drive.

Steampunk Dell Keyboard

Steampunk Keyboard Circa 2008

After seeing a number of steampunk keyboards, I decided it was time to make my own. Based around a Dell slimline keyboard, my model incorperates 'ex-Royal' typewriter keys, which have been re-made to include all the standard characters on a modern keyboard. Accents are brass toned, and the area under the keys is matted with black felt. The keyboard is fully functional, and I am writting this on it right now.