Steam Punk take #2

[Mah ' Crub]

Well, I will try to post these again, can't get any help from the admim so I will just try again.
Steam punk water fountain made from 3" PVC pipe and epoxy sculpt. I wanted it of course to be very aged looking and had to do most of that in a scenic style done totally with paint, psudo trompe l'oeil, but the rivets were aged with a wire brush and a scratch awl. Lots of the little bastages. Hope you like it, here are the first few wips. In truth, I did post some of these on my Bamboozled thread so sorry if you have seen some of these.980199

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I drive in a small screw to make a tooth for the epoxy rivet head to hold on to.
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I found an old spigot, drilled a hole for it and epoxied it into place.
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Water trials, had to see if it worked, and had to find the right water line level in the half-pipe to drill holes, 3 on each side so it's pretty loud.
More to come later.
Mah ' Crub

[SavageGoldfish]

Awesome! I'm a fan of both steampunk and waterfountains, so it's a double win! Any photos of the finished project, or is it still a work in progress?

[Mah ' Crub]

Hi there, haven't heard from you in a while. Thanks for the comments, I don't think you ever saw my other thread with water fountains, " Bamboozled" they are made to look like bamboo. This work is finished, but I will parc out the wips and show the finished product at the end, so stay tuned.
How's school? Ready for summer I bet!

Mah ' Crub

[SavageGoldfish]

You're quite welcome, looking forward to seeing the finished photos. I don't think I ever did catch your bamboo fountains though, I'll have to poke around and look for that one.

As for me, I had to postpone school, couldn't scrape together the funds to start this semester, had to push it till fall. Probably just as well, been busy with a hundred other projects anyway.

[Mah ' Crub]

After sitting and listening to the water sounds for several hours, I decided to press on. It was truly time to do the rivets. I cut a short piece of 1" pipe and a .75" piece and used them as cookie cutters for the two different sizes of rivet heads. The main joints all got the large ones, and the smaller I used as seam rivets. Epoxy, scratch awl and a wire brush gave me the look of many years of water erosion that I wanted. I rolled out the epoxy about a, 1/4" thck and used the pipe to cut the rivit heads. I then pushed them on, and around the screw heads I put in the pipes, and onto the pvc pipe, and mounded them with my fingers until I got a good round head look. I then went at them with the scratch awl, stabbing random holes and poc marks, next came the wire brush and that step really showed old age. I merely pressed the wire bursh wires straight down into the rivet head, very simple and easy, but I had a couple of hundred to do.982222

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[Mah ' Crub]

Sorry the images are not so clear, but I think you can get the idea982230

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I add the first coat of red rust paint after I put several rough stipple coats of water based Kilz. The rust begins.

[Mah ' Crub]

I wanted to give it a title name tag, so I merely named it Water works #9. So I layed out the shape of the name tag and then cut glued it to a piece of copper sheet metal. I then cut it out using tin-snips. I removed the paper template I had made and began to lay out my design-#9 in the center.982234

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Here is the roughed out #9 done pushing back the metal with a punch and hammer all around the number. This process is ancient blacksmith technique, and is called repousse, to turn it over and push the number design back the opposite way is called "Chasing". Old sets of armor were adorned with designs done this way, pushing from both sides to give high relief or bas.
More wips to come.

Mah ' Crub

[Mah ' Crub]

Just a few more wips. These are of the water wheel cut-off valve handle. I wanted to find something ready made. I thought it would be easily avaliable, not so. I gave up searching and decided I would just make my own,{ DUH }
I laid it out as well as I could and then glued the drawing to a piece of 1/2" plywood. I cut a second " Ring," to bulk up the outside and added it. To cut all the interior fret work of the supporting spokes, I had to cut through the outer ring to get inside. After it was all cut out, I sliped in a thin slice of wood to fill the crack of the saw kerf. I glued it all up, and clamped it. I then used epoxy to cover the entire wheel. I could then sculpt the handle and spokes.988755

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I begin the rust and water damage aging. I make holes with a scratch awl randomly then do the same with the wire-brush turning the brush as I go to give a random and hopefully believable distressed look and feel.
Crits and Comments always welcome.

Mah ' Crub

[Mah ' Crub]

Guys, I will post the finished piece as soon as I can get a good picture of it running.

Mah ' Crub

[SavageGoldfish]

That wheel is awesome looking!

[Mah ' Crub]

Thanks, it was a lot of fun to make. I really love the old rusty stuff.

Mah ' Crub

[Nopsis]

Can´t wait to see it finished. It reminds me of the old hydrant in my garden. Every year the municipal workers paint it with rust protection and after more than 40 years of corrosion its a creepy thing with rust, pockmarks and paint. I love it!
The wheel looks great, btw.

[Mah ' Crub]

Thanks Nopsis. Yes, I also find the old and weathered, very appealing. I have worked for the last three decades building furniture and much of it had to have an aged looked to it, so I fell in love with the "old." I hope you have some pictures of your hydrant to keep forever.

Mah ' Crub