Steampunk R&D Features
News: A Free Steampunk Horror Short Story
Sometimes I forget that I'm also a fiction writer, so I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share one of my stories with you. I wrote this piece awhile ago for an anthology that never came together and I'm tired of just sitting on it.
News: Giant Mechanical Hands for Everyone!
Etsy seller Ivan Owen is offering for sale some giant mechanical hands that are fully functional, and can be used as it if were your own.
How To: Become a Tea Duellist
Those of you who have attended a Steampunk convention in the last year or two may have heard of something called "Tea Duelling" and been intrigued.
News: Hands-Free Steampunk Cell Phone Bracer
Need your hands free, but still want to use your cell phone? Tormented Artifacts has the solution for you, with their Communication Bracer. It's a custom-made leather bracer which fits standard smart phones and covers them with an easy-to-open leather flap so that you don't have to ruin the illusion of your steampunk outfit but still have your phone in easy reach.
How To: Hey, America—You're Drinking Your Tea Wrong!
Tea has been around for thousands of years, and as a result, tons of customs and ceremonies have sprung up around its consumption. Some cultures take their tea plain, while others put things in it. Sometimes there are special tea-holding vessels, other times not. Maybe there will even be special foods meant to be eaten with tea. However, in America, our appreciation of tea has waned. For many, iced tea is their biggest source of tea consumption, and it's imbibed with no ceremony whatsoever in...
How To: The Quick and Dirty Beginner's Guide to Steampunk Leatherworking, Part Two
In the first part of this two-part guide, I covered cutting, grooving, beveling, making holes, and stamping/tooling. I hope you enjoyed that part, because we're pushing the accelerator to the floor and moving ahead at full speed!
News: Steampunk Fashion - Handcrafted Costumes
For creating my costumes I try to use only authentic materials, such as old leather, steel, brass, copper, wood and glass. Nearly nothing is glued, most parts are reversible connected with screws.
How To: Steampunk Yourself for Halloween in 10 Minutes or Less
As you know, it's impossible to be a Steampunk without a pair of goggles. In fact, there are entire communities dedicated to judging other Steampunks based solely on their goggles. A Steampunk without goggles is like Samson without his hair, or a duck without a beak—totally powerless. As I'm sure you also know, the right pair of goggles can instantly render any outfit Steampunk, no matter what it looks like.
Sparky Gets Steampunked: How to Make a Leather Harness for Your Dog
If you want to make clothes for your cat, you're on your own. As I recently said in this article, cats will just totally flip out if you make them wear things. Your dog may also flip out, but I've found them to be more tolerant, personally.
News: Steampunk Your Halloween with These Creepy Steampunk Decorations
Since it's October and Halloween is fast approaching, it's time for a series of articles on how to make the coolest Steampunk Halloween decorations for your home! In this installment, we'll look at some jack-o'-lanterns, skulls, and a few other things that are easy to Steampunk, but will still keep that "spooky" Halloween feeling.
How To: Turn a Boring Old Flashlight into a Steampunk Star Wars Lightsaber
There are tons of uses for a flashlight. You can turn it into a laser, hack it into a night vision flashlight, or make it super bright. Or if you're a Steampunk Jedi, you turn it into a steampunk lightsaber. Jen from EPBOT started with a vintage flashlight and attached a piece of plumbing extension pipe. Screen splicing was glued on with E-600 for the grip and brass mesh with buttons and rhinestones makes up the 'control panel.' She added a silver gear to cover up the logo on the end. The LED...
News: Recycled Metal Made into Steampunk Sculptures
The Recycleart Facebook group frequently posts awesome pictures of steampunk-friendly sculptures. Not all of them look steampunk, but enough do that it's worth checking out.
The Known and Unknown Unknowns: Is All of the History You Know Wrong?
The vast majority of people involved in Steampunk are interested in history but, like with science, there's something about history that we don't talk about very often: The holes.
News: Shark Jumps Steampunk
Shark jumps Steampunk, experts unsure of the meaning. Cape Town -- In an unprecedented move today, a Shark have jumped a steampunk couple as they were attempting to work on their hobby steamboat.
News: Steampunk Is More Accurately Vernian, Not Victorian!
ATTN: HUMOUR ALERT Jules Verne was an author of immense imagination, who had a profound effect on speculative fiction, whereas Victoria was a stodgy & pampered royal who led a sheltered and traditional existence. Boring, frumpy, grumpy royal! (Photo from The Guardian, UK)
News: 8 Tips and Tricks Every Steampunk Writer Should Know
While I am a writer with a degree in Creative Writing, I haven't published any Steampunk fiction. However, as a panelist and track director, I've been on panels with many well-known Steampunk writers and have gleaned insight from the things they've said. I've compiled some of those things into this post, which will hopefully be helpful to all of the writers out there!
How To: How Panic! at the Disco's "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" Was Steampunked
You may or may not have heard of alt-rock band Panic! at the Disco, but a year and a half ago they released a single called "The Ballad of Mona Lisa", which had an accompanying music video that was Steampunk-themed. In fact, here's the video:
News: Steampunk Fashion - Timetravelers and Warriors
There are many opportunities to make Steampunk clothing. Clothing can be elegant and relate to the aristocrats of the 19th century. But Steampunk also can be rough and dirty, inspired by the adventurer from stories like 2000 miles under the sea or even movies like "Mad Max" or Wild "Wild West".. There are no rules how Steampunk has to look...
News: Playing Video Games Is the Most Important Thing You Can Do as a Child
It's a controversial headline, I know, but bear with me and I'll explain in due course. Disclaimer: I was once a child, and I played lots of video games. I didn't look anything like this child.
How To: Get Started with Arduinos—For People Who Literally Know Nothing About Electronics
I obviously do a lot of Steampunk projects, but there are a ton of things out there that I haven't tried yet. So, in an effort to broaden my horizons, I recently taught myself how to use Arduinos, which I plan to incorporate into some of my future Steampunk builds.
News: The Top 10 Steampunk Music Videos
"Jef with one F" from the Houston Press compiled a list of the 10 best steampunk songs, but it's really a collection of the best steampunk music videos. There are some amazing videos in the collection, such as this one, "Brass Goggles" by Steam-Powered Giraffe. It's not the best-looking, but it's a great performance.
How To: Building a Steampunk Hand Cannon, Part 2: How to Make and Detail a PVC Gun Barrel
As I said in this earlier post, there's no easy way to explain or define the Steampunk aesthetic. There are a large number of Steampunk tropes or "cues", as I call them, that bring to mind the feeling of Steampunk. These cues combine to push past the "not-Steampunk" threshold into firmly "Steampunk" territory.
How To: Make a Steampunk Straight Razor
I collect straight razors from the Victorian era and then add some steampunk style. Step 1: Remove the Old Scales
Steampunk's Rising Popularity: How to Take Advantage of the Hottest 'New' Trend
As practically the entire Steampunk world knows by now, IBM has predicted that Steampunk will be the big new trend from 2013 to 2015. They based this prediction on their computers, which sift through broad swathes of the internet in order to see patterns that may help commercial industries. According to them, Steampunk has been on the rise for the last few years, and they predict that it will explode into peak popularity within the next two years. But what does that mean and how will it impac...
How To: Make a Super-Simple Steampunk iPad Case Out of Leather
I chose to make this a Steampunk iPad case, but you can change the details and make it look as modern as you'd like. As I said earlier, Steampunks probably shouldn't buy iPhones or iPads, but if you're going to get one, you may as well make it look cool, right? The iPad pictured below was borrowed from a friend of mine, though I should add that this design will easily work with tablet computers of any variety, Apple, Android, or otherwise.
News: A Do-It-Yourself Singing Tesla Coil Kit
I happened across this in my Steampunk Facebook group, and I had to share. A company called oneTesla is running a Kickstarter campaign for a DIY singing Tesla coil.
Steampunk Travesty: Cross-Dressing in Fandom
Cross-dressing and gender-bending are nothing new, but the realm of Steampunk seems to be especially accepting of role-reversal in dress.
Steamdown: How I Made My Liquid-Cooled Steampunk Rifle Prop
I know, "Steamdown" conjures images of a hoedown, but "Steampunk prop breakdown" is a bit of a mouthful, I thought.
News: Amazing Steampunk Restaurant in Poland
While this is pretty out of the way for people who don't live in Poland, this restaurant, Wodna Wieza, is really gorgeous!
News: What Is Steampunk?
So I have been wondering this for a while now. What exactly is steampunk? I know a little bit about it but I feel as thought the internet definitions can only give so much information. What do you guys think? Is steampunk a lifestyle? A fiction base? A for of a art? I think that steampunk has way more potential than people think. Share your ideas on what you think steampunk is and what you would like to see be done with it!
The Black Dandy: People of Color in Steampunk
I just returned from a trip overseas and I came across this great article over at The Chronicles of Harriet about the role of black men in the evolution of Dandyism. Dandyism rose to prominence at the end of the 19th century, so there's a clear connection to Steampunk. I hope that many black men embrace the fashion and find their way into steampunk!
News: How H.G. Wells and the Bicycle Drove the Evolution of Science Fiction
We don't spend much time thinking about bicycles today, do we? Sure, they're a "green" alternative to driving everywhere in cars, but the vast majority of America has dismissed them as simply being too much work, or more importantly—too slow. That wasn't always the case, though, I assure you!
How To: This DIY Steampunk Toothbrush Timer Tells You When You're Done Brushing Your Teeth
If you're a steampunk enthusiast looking to give your bathroom an extra kick, this just might be the project for you. This stylish and functional "vintage" toothbrush timer knows when you've grabbed your toothbrush, and will visually count down two minutes before alerting you when you've brushed long enough. All you'll need to put one together yourself is a microcontroller (the designer used a ATmega328p), a weight sensor, light bulbs, brass cups and a tray, an alarm clock's chime, and some w...
Meet the Steam Ant: A Steampunk-Inspired Hexapod Robot That's Actually Powered by Steam!
So you've made a somersaulting robot, one that delivers your beer, and even a robot you can ride, but you want to try out something really different. Why not add a steam engine?
News: Have a Little More Christmas in Your Steampunk
Religion is one of the most-ignored topics when it comes to Steampunk, which is surprising given how important religion was in Victorian England. Even the hot-button issues of race and gender are confronted with a greater awareness than religion.
News: Trudy's Mechanicals
Concept artwork of a Toronto based video game studio Incubator Games upcoming steampunk turn-base tactic game: Trudy's Mechanicals. The military's boat-like Battle Platform. Butler-bot variations: pantsless four-arms and sleek tuxedo. Denizens of the Clockwork Labyrinths and various fashion. A placard for the Aerie and its floating islands connected by cable cars. Incubator Games » games.
News: The Ultimate Valentine's Day Date Guide for Steampunks
You (or your partner, or both) are a Steampunk. Let's get away from all the mindless, unfeeling commercialism for a few minutes and think about dates instead of gifts—where do you take your significant other for Valentine's Day? What would be the ultimate Steampunk Valentine's Day date?
How To: Increase Your iPhone's Volume by 14 dB with This DIY Steampunk Music Amplifier
Do you listen to a lot of music on your smartphone or MP3 player? Ever wished the built-in speaker was louder? You're in luck, because this simple amplifier can increase your volume by 14 decibels and make your device look totally steampunk while you're at it. What You'll Need
News: My Latest Steampunk Creations...
Wow, nearly 2013! This is the time I look back over my body of work in 2012 and assess where I am creatively. With large gaps in the year due to moving into a new studio and two extended hospital stays certainly took a toll on my productivity mid year. I'm really proud of the pieces I submitted to "The Antipodean Steampunk Show", an exhibition that will be touring for three years in regional Australia.
News: The 28 Best and Worst Definitions of Steampunk
Ever since the mid-2000s, there's been a lot of bandying back and forth on the Internet over what exactly Steampunk is. Some people think it's one thing, others another thing, and some think that it shouldn't be defined at all.