How To Make A Steampunk Clock
How To Make A Steampunk Clock – I’ve been on a DIY Steampunk project lately (see my Steampunk Gears Light Switch Plate and DIY Apothecary Jar!) to spruce up the house a bit and it only cost me about $1 in supplies since I had some paint and mods on. hand! This particular steampunk clock is just a wall decoration – it’s not a “real” clock, but if you want, you can easily turn it into a real clock with a basic clock kit (usually under $10)!
I started by printing out a clock face I found on Pinterest and making sure it would fit nicely in the bottom of a round cake pan. Then I carefully cut the watch open and set it aside.
How To Make A Steampunk Clock
(Tip – If you’re not turning your wall decor into a real clock, look for a vintage print with clock hands, otherwise you’ll want a face without hands so you can use real clock hands in your design.)
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Next, I painted the sides and bottom edges of the baking pan with black acrylic paint and let it dry. When the black paint was dry, I painted a bronze metallic acrylic paint over it.
There is no right or wrong way to paint the sides of a cake pan! I dipped my fingertip in the metallic bronze paint and rubbed it around the edge of the cake tin to give it a more authentic striped finish. Then I simply applied mod podge to the back of the dial and pressed it firmly to the bottom of the cake pan. Once dry, I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge over the top to add some texture. Unfortunately, since I live in the middle of nowhere, we don’t have a craft store (crime, right?), so when I get my hands on some antique mod podge, I coat the top to give it a vintage look.
You can add some other steampunk accessories if you like – a bunch of gear here, a bit of lace there. I had some bits and pieces set aside, but I’d like to leave this one for last! Since it’s a cake pan, it’s easy to hang on your nails! That is all! This fun DIY vintage steampunk clock is ridiculously easy to make and will add a pop of color to your wall! This project turned out to be one of my more successful projects (after a nasty collision with the laptop) The whole project cost about $5. This tutorial will go through the most important parts of the build, but leave the last to your own creativity! Have fun creating this unique piece of “steampunk” art.
Take the sandpaper and scratch both DVDs. This will give a good surface for the paint to adhere to and give it a nice old fashioned look.
Clock 10 Steampunk Style Clock
Now it’s time to paint! It’s summer here in Texas and it’s over 105*F, so I’ll do it inside (that’s when newspaper comes in handy). First, take a large DVD and spray paint it black. While it dries, spray a small DVD of copper. When both are dry, paint the larger DVD copper and the smaller DVD black. When the paint is dry, take the sandpaper and gently rub off the top layer of paint from both DVDs. Not completely closed! This gives it an old looking finish. It is important to paint the DVD using contrasting colors. This creates a good contrast between them when mounted on the finished product.
Since there are no DVDs smaller than a camcorder, I made a thin cardboard and a circular object. The object must be smaller than the DVD from the camcorder. I used a Tropicana orange juice cap for it. You can use anything in this size. (See the finished product and judge for yourself). I placed the lid on the cardboard and traced and cut it out. I then placed a DVD in the center (it doesn’t matter) to trace the center hole and cut it out.
Now for the numbers! In the appendix of this step, I list the Roman numerals used for the clock. They may need resizing. You can easily do this in any image editing program. The size should be small enough to fit neatly into the nickel. Once printed, pour coffee or tea (I use instant coffee with a little water) into the roasting pan and dip the leaf into it to make it look old. Allow to dry and iron flat (optional)
When the paper is dry, place the nickel in the center of the numbers and trace it. Then cut out each number. When finished, format them to the largest DVD. Once you have them perfectly positioned, glue them down.
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Take the watch mechanism and gently pull off the hour, minute and second hands. Don’t lose them! Place a ring of glue near the center and on the edge. Then place under the dial (DVD with numbers) and push down.
To make the hour hand, take the hour hand you removed from the mechanism and glue it to the bottom of the small DVD as shown in the image below. Repeat with the minute hands on the cardboard disc. The minute hand will probably be larger than the disc, so adjust it accordingly.
To allow the hour and minute dials to point to the numeral, I used bronze wire and shaped it into the funky shape it points to. This is how we can determine the time. Do this for both the hour and minute discs.
Second hand, it’s easy. Remove the bronze pin attached to the other arm and glue it to any thin, long, light rod that is “steampunk” enough for you!
Large Industrial Wall Clock Steampunk Pipe Waterworks Clock
This part is easy. Take the hour hand and insert it over the bar until you feel it snap into place. Then repeat with the minute hand. Then finally put the pin from the other hand on the tip.
Take the bronze wire and start bending it tightly with a pencil (be sure to leave about an inch of story) until you have a loop about half an inch wide. Then create another centimeter story. Then slide it off the pencil and stick it to the back of the clock on the hanger!
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I was getting more and more floaty from cutting and gluing pieces of tissue. I rarely have a finished look in my head for every project, or if I do, I change concepts, color schemes, etc. It was no different with this little box. I originally envisioned as a steampunk piece an alluring collage of the bottom of the glass with some metal elements on top of the lid. The collage was created… and then not printed. Btw, I love browsing the web for exciting old and odd looking pictures, but once saved they end up on the “maybe” list (thank goodness for Picasa and its archiving system).
Cool Steampunk Clocks For Home Decor
So with the original idea aside, I reached for a black and white dial, a wooden clock ornament and some stamps. I also wanted to play around with creating a layer of independently applied metallic paint, later treated with bitumen, ink pad and cracked with crackle glaze for an interesting textured effect. This is what it looked like:
It’s hard to photograph, but the distress gave the surface a perforated effect, and below you’ll find a tutorial on how it came about. If you have any questions about any of the steps or need advice on working with different media, ask in the comments box and I’ll be happy to help.
1. The top cover is removed and the sides are coated with a thick layer of metallic paint (it is more flexible than thick, ordinary, non-metallic paint):
3. The bitumen was patted into the paint with a sponge brush to preserve the appearance of the texture and when it started to set, it was removed with a damp cloth (paper towels will stick to this highly viscous medium). The process was repeated several times in each direction:
Large Steampunk Wall Clock
In fact, pain with bitumen gives different results every time. There are too many variables to predict exactly what the outcome will be For illustration, I’ll show you the front and back of the box, and the back is “thicker”;
2. The porous layer was created by applying paint in three different shades A small amount of paint
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