Retro total mod

[Harpspiel]

I've been watching the forums for a while, gathering ideas for my own first case/keyboard/monitor/mouse mod. I have always loved Steampunk, long before I even knew what Steampunk was - the Dwemer ruins of Morrowind, the strange workings of machines in the Myst series. Perhaps this fascination began in childhood with trips with my father and brother to an old scrap metal yard full of mysterious brass fittings, transistors and old radio tubes.

Another source of inspiration is the case mods made from old radios, especially Mach's Cobramatic. I particularly like the simplicity and strong lines of the Art Deco era, rather than the fussiness of Art Nouveau that usually influences Steampunk designs.

I have a stripped Crosley 1950s radio, an IBM Model M keyboard on the way, a half-finished monitor, and a lot of ideas for where to go from here. Follow along, and I'll try to keep up with detailed pictures and descriptions.

Here are the worklogs of my main inspirations:
A BioShock case mod that rocks the cross between Steampunk and Deco influences
Mach's Cobramatic, of course
Rampkins' Buccaneer
Jake von Slatt's monitor


Here is what I have for the monitor so far:

I haven't yet come up with a good way to mount it. I have seen it done with an old lamp stand, or some copper pipe, but neither is quite the sleek look I'm going for.



I found an old Crosley 10-145M turntable radio on Ebay, not in working condition, and unfortunately did not get any pictures before I stripped it. I'm in the process of sanding it down to refinish it, since the finish was cracked and scraped.

The turntable from the radio:

Tubes and speaker:

I'm hoping to make the knobs functional again, similar to what Mach did.

Inner workings from an old clock. I'd like to include gears in some way, but I'd really prefer them to be functional, so I have yet to figure out how to use them.

Decorative grill from Home Depot:

$1 adhesive tile - I'm considering putting leather in the center and making a mousepad.

Keyboard letters, which I will have professionally printed, cut out and glue to the tops of the keys:

I'm always looking for ideas and further inspiration, especially for how to incoporate further Steampunk elements without cluttering up the design.

[Fuganater]

WOW! Welcome and good luck. I'm starting to round up stuff for my steampunk mod.

[TLHarrell]

Recommend inserting the key caps into the keys and then covering them with clear acrylic resin. Looks like a good plan so far though. Nice. I really like steampunk design. Some really get it and do great stuff. Some just don't.

Do not do this:

This product on Etsy if you want to go laugh... Steampunk Keyboard on Etsy $99

[Harpspiel]

Oh yeah, I actually saw that keyboard on Etsy, and ran across many similar ones in my search for steampunk keyboard instructables. I've gone through lots of different ideas on how to do the keys, starting with using old typewriter keys (I believe that is Datamancer's technique) and moving on to using copper crimp rings with punched acrylic key covers, similar to Rampkins' first Buccaneer model. However, I had pretty poor success punching a clean circle out of the acrylic using a hole saw, so I started to look for other options.

Finally, after a quick email to the helpful people at Rampkins, I believe I've settled on a technique: wooden dowels, drilled with a paddle bit to form a rim, with the printed key letter inserted and then covered in clear resin, a la the Buccaneer MKII. Theirs certainly came out looking very sleek, with a slight depression in the key that will hopefully be reminiscent of the Model M's original concave key tops.

I'm also looking around for brass fittings for the spacebar and to cover the gems I'll place over the LEDs. Rampkins cut their own brass, but I'm not sure I'm quite that adventurous. I have found various cabinet backplates that might work for a spacebar, such as this one.

[jdbnsn]

Ohhhh, this looks like an exciting project! Can't wait to move it "works in progress"! You know, you can print those keys out rather easily at Office Max if you make them in photoshop. If you want to try it, just make sure that your document size is appropriate and the dpi is set to 300 minimum, 600 maximum (600 is the top range of their printers). Then you can have them printed on clear vinyl sheet for a couple of bucks and the quality is quite good. Know that any shade of white will be clear on the page (some of the techs may tell you only true white, they are wrong). Then you can cut them out with an exacto blade and I use a dremel to true up any cuts that need rounding. I have seen some stuff at Michaels craft/hobby stores that is a viscous liquid which you pour on a surface and it hardens like glass which might be a good solution to finish your keys, but I have never used it so don't quote me.

[Harpspiel]

Wow, thanks jdbnsn. 600 dpi sounds great - I already tried printing the letters out on my home printer, which just didn't do them justice. I'll also have to look for that Michael's crafting liquid.

I've seen the lovely brass cut-outs that Mach has ordered from Vintage Manufacturing and used for fan covers, hard drive mounts, etc. Has anyone else worked with them, and are there any ideas how much projects usually cost?

[d_stilgar]

I know that someone here in the forums charges a pretty fair price to laser cut acrylic. You could have him do the key caps if you want.

Who here has a laser cutter? Forum? Help me out here?

[AmEv]

Tl.

[TLHarrell]

*raises hand*

[Harpspiel]

Keyboard plan completed, now to run it off to the printers. . . .