Topic: Where can I buy Steampunk cogs n' gears?

[Aljoho]

I've been googling for ages and all I can find is suggestions of 'but an old watch on ebay and take it apart', which is crazy expensive because they appear to be so popular...

surely a 'fashion' that practically has a cult of artists and fans surrounding it would have at least some market providing craft tools - i mean just a search on deviant art provides pages and pages of results of people using cogs and other steampunk-centric items - surely they didnt all dismantle second hand victorian stopwatches bought from eBay .

I want to create some crafty things for a project, but dont much fancy scissors and cardboard...

an indie game forum may not be the most appropriate forum to ask this on, but i'll give it a shot anyway.

Anybody know some decent market - or an alternative - that i could try. Metal - wood - plastic - card: anything will do because I could easily paint them.

Thanks

-Aljo

[GarageGothic]

I don't know, looking up "steampunk parts" on ebay gave me a lot of items that weren't necessarily that expensive. Under 10$ (buy it now price) for an oz. of vintage watch parts doesn't seem all that unreasonable.

Other than that, I'd recommend finding a local flea market. Tons of things has interesting gears in them (engines, clocks, meccano sets, mechanical toys), and as you don't need them to be in working order it should be possible to find something cheap. I also recommend rummaging through the bulky trash at apartment complexes, it's amazing what you can find. Most of the stuff will be newer electronics (I find a lot of fully functional stereos and speakers), but once in a while you find interesting vintage stuff - once I came across an old cash register which would probably have been a treasure trove of steampunk parts.

[alex]

I don't know, looking up "steampunk parts" on ebay gave me a lot of items that weren't necessarily that expensive. Under 10$ (buy it now price) for an oz. of vintage watch parts doesn't seem all that unreasonable.

Other than that, I'd recommend finding a local flea market. Tons of things has interesting gears in them (engines, clocks, meccano sets, mechanical toys), and as you don't need them to be in working order it should be possible to find something cheap. I also recommend rummaging through the bulky trash at apartment complexes, it's amazing what you can find. Most of the stuff will be newer electronics (I find a lot of fully functional stereos and speakers), but once in a while you find interesting vintage stuff - once I came across an old cash register which would probably have been a treasure trove of steampunk parts.

Whilst rummaging through trash also be prepared to discover mountains of shit-filled nappies, condoms wrapped in tissue, rotting vegetable waste and human remains.  Occasionally you'll find a disused credit card and some bank statements carelessly left un-shredded, and perhaps an old passport photo or two, very handy for identity fraud...  what hey what?

Honestly though there are lots of throwaway items containing cogs and gears and so on.   Open up an old CD-ROM drive you are sure to find something in there.  Floppy drives also have plenty of moving parts.  Old tape decks and walkmen...  Old VCR machines...  These things I am sure you will come across if you keep your eyes open, and without needing to dive through mountains of steaming refuse (though I don't doubt its a great way to discover interesting things).

[LUniqueDan]

Depending on the nature of your project, Many standard cogs n' wheels from any 80's alarm clocks will looks steampunk if you paint them with bronze / gold colors. Just keep the most fashionable ones for the top.

An other way is just to add extra victorianish details / sculps some holes into plastic gears before spray them with an airbrush /spray can. Like you wrote, genuine cogs are expensive. Replica too. Show us the pix, when it's done.

[Evil]

+1 for Dumpster Diving

My two favorite places to go dumpster diving are music stores and electronics stores. RatShack has a ton of little shit that they throw away, but some places are pretty particular about their trash to keep people from rummaging. There was a West Music store in my town, and they threw away so much cool stuff. I've got old band instruments, huge speakers that just need new $5 cones, old amps, etc. You won't find too much Steampunk stuff in dumpsters, but there's a lot of other stuff to find.

Another place to look is habitat stores. I'm not what they're really called. Habitat for Humanity is a group that builds houses for poor families. A lot of the materials they use are taken from houses and buildings that are condemned and are going to be torn down. They have a building where they store a lot of these materials, but is open to the public to come and buy things. All of the money goes to the organization (a good cause, and a tax write-off), and because a lot of the buildings where the materials are coming from are old, there's usually a lot of fancy Victorian style junk.

There are also a few websites that sell old cogs and other items used in making Steampunk stuff. I'm not sure what it's called, but there's one that Jake von Slatt has mentioned a few times on his website... I sincerely hope you've seen Jake's website.  

[alex]

Ok I thought he said dumpster diving outside appartment blocks.  After a few beers things seem clearer.


(edit Apparently in the US this is not illegal.  In Australia and I believe the UK there have been prosecutions for taking taking trash from people's bins, dumpsters, etc especially potentially useful (albeit destined for a landfill) materials)
Just a sidenote - taking trash from dumpsters is illegal...  It's technically owned by the person who owns the bin.  And once it's collected by the council / city, it belongs to them.

Just thought I'd mention that one, but otherwise...  Go right ahead.  I've taken coil wire from several abandoned microwaves for evil electromagnetism projects, I'm sure people aren't going to miss an old piece of junk they chucked out.

Hey...  What about wreckers yards?  I mean how small does this steampunk stuff need to be?  How about some nice big gears from a worn out old gearbox?  Wreckers yards will be stocked with them. (automobile wreckers yards are common in australia, not sure what they're called in the US)

Oh....    Those corner TV repair shops usually run by one guy, generally they have stacks and stacks of crap they don't need.  I get stuff from them all the time, just bits and pieces like a single female RCA plug (yes you can get them at Dick Smiths / Radio Shack), but ever try to take in a VCR and sell it to them?  They say "Look out the back" and out the back is absolutely packed full of old junk.  Ask them if there is anything they don't need that has cogs and gears in it, you'd take it off their hands.  It's definitely worth a shot.

Anyway... good luck with your steampunking, I'd be interested to see what you come up with.

[Aljoho]

Thanks a lot guys!

Being a Brit I managed to neglect looking on the US Ebay - so thanks Garage for that - thats just what i was looking for. I saw similar on the UK ebay but a bit pricier and and only as a bid (can't stand bidding and its too uncertain because I have a concrete deadline for the project) I'll also try check out some flea markets (or car boot sales, which the UK is ridden with).

I was also looking at some modern gears (the cheapo plastic types) earlier which i think i might try, and then use a drill to boar several holes around the edge and paint them (thanks Dan)

I live in a relatively small village so dumpster diving is a difficult - however i could take a trip to London or Brighton or even some nearby towns and who knows what poo-ridden wonders i'll uncover . We also do have a local scrapyard/tip which my narrow mind also managed to forget.

Cheers again guys you have given me plenty of ideas. I'll be sure to post something in the Crit lounge when i get it done.

[alternatefashiondesigner]

Hi, I'm new here and I read the forum. I'm also doing a steampunk project and because I live in a hole I had no idea where to find cogs and gears for it, so thanks for the ideas you gave Aljoho it also gave me ideas on to where to look.

[Frito Master]

I don't feel like reading through this but you can ask this guy.

http://www.facebook.com/steampunkjewelry

I assume just use old clock related stuff should have alot of stuff.