Geek House Creations

This is my first, and as of yet, only Steampunk flash drive. I've been a big fan of the genre for years, always admiring from afar. Finally a few weeks back, after deconstructing images on the Internet for weeks, I decided to take the plunge. I got some copper pipe, some brass from my local Blicks Store, raided my basement for anything that could remotely apply, and went to work.

 I commandeered the kitchen table for a few hours and began the journey of the apprentice tinkerer. To make a long story short, there was some hammering, some work on a vice, alot of Dremel work, and then soldering. Oh God, the soldering. My brain knew exactly what to do. Unfortunately, my hands and solder refused to do what I wanted. With some help from my retired Elevator Mechanic Dad and "All Around Master Tinkerer", I finally learned to have a clue about soldering. It is a real skill that requires practice, practice, and more practice all with a good amount of mess and failure. But I swear, if there's a Zombie apocalypse, save the "Old Elevator Mechanic"! That old man can make anything out of anything.

Finally, it all came together. I printed a dial on my printer, coated it with some resin for a glassy look and done. Altogether, this was a huge learning experience. It was the first time I've ever worked with metals-- I'm a modeler and painter of mostly plastics-- so all in all, I'm satisfied. Warning though: building one of these can be very addictive! I'm already brainstorming new possibilities and  seeing parts in everything from my wife's tea kettle to the kitchen clock. I now want to cannibalize everything for parts. I've also spent more than I should have on a whole slew of new Flash drives. Now my desk is littered with open flash drives and copper pipe. Yea, we have a problem now.