Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos: A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts [Paperback]

Thomas Willeford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0071762361 | ISBN-13: 978-0071762366 | Edition: 1

Unleash Your Inner Mechanical Mastermind

Welcome to the wondrous world of Thomas Willeford, aka Lord Archibald "Feathers" Featherstone, in which he shares his closely guarded secrets of Steampunkery. Filled with do-it-yourself projects, Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos: A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts shows you how to build exquisite, ingenious contraptions on a budget.

Learn from Lord Featherstone as he distills his wealth of hard-learned skills, describes how to use the readily available tools of the modern mad scientist, and expounds on the art and philosophy of scavenging unique components and raw materials. The perfect companion for the hobbyist and advanced machinist alike, this inventive volume will guide you through the creation of your very own infernal devices.

Get steamed with these provocative projects:

• Aetheric ray deflector solid brass goggles
• Calibrated indicator gauges
• Ferromagnetic self-scribing automated encyclopedia (or, the Steampunk book drive)
• High voltage electro-static cannon (or, the lamp gun)
• Tesla-pod chrono-static insulating field generator (or, the mobile device enclosure)
• Altitude mask with integrated respiratory augmentation
• Armoured pith helmet
• Mark I superior replacement arm with integrated Gatling gun attachment

Visit the companion website, www.mhprofessional.com/steampunk, for videos, images, and more bonus content!

Make Great Stuff!
TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Willeford has degrees in physics, history, and art. His alter ego, Lord Archibald "Feathers" Featherstone, has displayed his work, which blurs the line between art and engineering, throughout the United States and Europe for years. Willeford’s work (including the E-pod) was recently featured in the exhibit, “Device and Contraptions Extraordinaire” at the Ashmolean University of Oxford museum of the History of Science. He has made costume pieces for Abney Park, Beautiful Deadly Children, and GhostFire. Willeford has been called, "The most photographed person in the Steampunk community.” He has been featured in Steampunk Bizarre, the BBC, MTV, the Steampunk World’s Faire, Whitby Gothic Weekend, Glasgow Marker’s Faire, Pirate magazine, and the Daily Mail.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics; 1 edition (October 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071762361
• ISBN-13: 978-0071762366
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts > Leathercrafts
  • #55 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Reference
  • #97 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts > Fashion

More About the Author

With degrees in physics, history, and art, it was perhaps inevitable that Thomas Willeford (aka Lord Archibald "Feathers" Featherstone) would become a steampunk enthusiast. His work blurs the precarious line between art and engineering. He is the author of the critically acclaimed steampunk how-to book "Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos" (McGraw-Hill), and the soon-to-be-published "Steampunk Adventurer's Guide" (McGraw-Hill) and "Cosplaying Lantern City" (McGraw-Hill).

Thomas has been creating unique and beautiful corsets and all manner of striking Steampunk gadgetry for more than 20 years. He and his products have been widely featured on television (MTV, BBC, "Castle", "Oddities"), online (Wired, BoingBoing, Popular Mechanics, Playboy TV), and in print (Art Donovan's "The Art of Steampunk", Morgan Spurlock and Stan Lee's "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope", Bizarre Magazine, Hustler Magazine, Gothic Beauty Magazine, Marquis Magazine, Leg Show Magazine, Pirates Magazine, DDI Magazine, Culture Asylum Magazine). Satisfied customers include musician Rick Springfield, director David Silverman (The Simpsons), and actresses Patricia Tallman (Babylon 5) and Virginia Hey (Farscape). Thomas also contributed to the design of Alchemy Gothic's "Empire Collection", a line of steampunk jewelry and accessories.

Thomas' artwork has also been featured in numerous museum exhibitions worldwide, including Penn State's "STEAMpunk!", Dr. Grymm's "Steampunk Bizarre", the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation's "Steampunk: Form and Function", and the Ashmolean Museum of the History of Science at Oxford's "Steampunk", "20,000 Leagues" at Patriot Place, and "Mobilis in Mobili" at The Wooster Street Social Club (home of TLC's "NY Ink"). His clockwork spider "Arachnae Mechanica" is currently housed in the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. He is currently a consulting creator of the new steampunk television series "Lantern City", produced by Bruce Boxleitner (Tron, Babylon 5), coming soon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous October 25, 2011

By Gil Cnaan

Format:Paperback

I have the pleasure of running several Steampunk events, and have had the further pleasure of getting to know Mr. Willeford, and he brings the same level of craftsmanship, humor, and excellence to his writing as he does to all of his other works. This book is highly recommended for anyone looking to make really amazing looking steampunk accessories for very cheap, as well as people just looking to expand their range of DIY skills.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Informative and Instructional November 2, 2011

By Dr. Bojan Tunguz HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Steampunk is a unique place where love of gadgets, art, and the nostalgia for the Victorian-era antiques meet. In recent years it has grown in popularity and today there are dedicated websites, publications and book that deal with Steampunk. Yet most lovers of Steampunk are still just the observers, not really creating any of these artifacts themselves. You might be one of those people, and if you have always thought that creating Steampunk would require talent and technical skills well outside of your comfort zone, then you should check out "Steampunk - Gears, Gadgets and Gizmos". It is an informative and instructional how-to book that will teach you how to create some relatively simple yet cool gadgets.

There are no formal technical requirements before you can start working on the projects in this book, but some familiarity with workshops and tools is highly recommended. A few projects are simple enough that you don't need the skills much above the ones you needed for your elementary school projects.

This book contains a total of eight different projects, and they vary in the level of difficulty. The instructions for each one of the projects are extremely detailed and clear. The instructions are accompanied with numerous photographs and illustrations, which help you with your workflow and elucidate some of the trickier points. You will still have to tinker and figure many details on your own, but

There are numerous tips and hints throughout the book, which range from the completely general ("metal is always preferable to plastic") to very specific ("Bending the wire slightly shorter than the height of the bezel will help tighten and secure the entire apparatus."). They are a useful practical insights that are distilled from the years of practice and they can significantly reduce your workload and help you avoid some common mistakes.

The book contains a list of the most useful tools, going from the most inexpensive common hand tools, all the way to some ridiculously extravagant tools such as 3D printer. You may start shopping for all the tools listed, or you can browse through the book and acquire tools as you need them for particular projects. There are also numerous tips and suggestions for finding the vintage artifacts and other materials that will enhance the look and feel of your projects.

This book is extremely well written and even if you don't have any desire to create any steampunk gear yourself, you will still be able to learn a lot more about the technical aspects of constructing Steampunk artifacts. This can further deepen your appreciation of this art form. Furthermore, Thomas Willeford can be very entertaining and amusing, which makes reading this book a really pleasurable experience. Willeford manages to capture a lot of zaniness that characterizes Steampunk in his writing style. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Steampunk, as well as hobbyists who want to explore new and different projects.

***** Review copy provided by the publisher. *****

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic projects that are very well explained November 1, 2011

By Shala Kerrigan TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos ; A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts by Thomas Willeford has a stated intention of teaching you to make you own retro futuristic accessories.

This is the book you're looking for if you're ready to take that next step into steampunk. If jewelry collage assemblages made with watch parts and sewing miniature top hats isn't doing it for you and you want to go bigger.

The author starts by explaining a bit about steampunk, it's origins and what it is stylistically speaking, and also what it is not.

He explains the tools and skills you'll need and how to find some of the tools less expensively . He tells you what tools will be necessary and which tools are wonderful to have if you can find room and afford them.

Then he goes into wonderful amounts of detail about how to find the pieces you need for your projects through thrift stores and other second hand dealers and what you can buy new. How to look in hardware stores for inspiration and using things in new unexpected ways. To me, this isn't just about steampunk, but it's the heart of crafting and the D.I.Y. ethic, to see creatively how things can be re-purposed and recycled.

A very practical chapter on taking apart an old clock for parts comes next.

The projects! Starting with the one thing everyone needs, goggles and ending with a cyber arm that looks like it might have come off a cylon if the cylon was built in Victoria's England. They have imagination inspiring names like "Aetheric Ray Deflector Solid Brass Goggles" which can be just a little scary. Don't worry. While this book has "only" 8 projects, those projects are explained and photographed in exhausting detail. This is a primer to various methods of making things and using things. The information will be used in other projects you think of yourself.

Some power tools are helpful, as well as knowing how to use them. If you're not comfortable with serious tools, almost everything in the book can be done with hand held manual tools and small easy to use power tools like rotary tools and power drills.

What I like most about this book is how much it inspires my 20 year old son. He's been reading steampunk for a few years and getting more interested in making himself costumes and other things that follow that aesthetic.

I definitely recommend this book. It's well written and accessible with great projects.

My reviews are always my personal and honest opinion. I received this book for free from the publisher for review purposes because of my interest in steampunk.