Introduction: Steampunk Compass Rose

By YuKonstruct's Website
About: YuKonstruct is a non-profit society which provides an enthusiastic community of makers and entrepreneurs affordable access to space, equipment and knowledge. This community serves to embrace the individual and…

YuKonstruct and the Yukon Comic Culture Society were invited to make the decorations for the 2016 Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Steampunk Ball this past February. As the theme for Rendezvous was "Around the World" we decided to go with a steampunk travel theme for all the decorations.

We wanted to build a feature prop to hang behind the stage and decided on a steampunk version of the sort of compass rose you would see on an old map.This compass rose was made using the makerspace's CNC machine and painted with metallic paints. It hung behind the band on stage and really brought the Steampunk theme to life!

YuKonstruct is the first makerspace in Canada's north. Our mission is to provide access to shared space, quality tools, available expertise, and a collaborative environment to help makers build anything!

The materials for this project were generously provided by the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Society.

Step 1: Materials and Design

Materials used:

  • plywood
  • spray paint in silver and bronze
  • acrylic craft paints in silver, gold, bronze, copper and black
  • various fasteners (bolts, nuts, washers)
  • heavy duty chain for suspending the compass behind the stage

The compass rose was designed in SketchUp, a free 3D modeling program, and then the files were exported to Aspire, the software used with YuKonstruct's larger CNC router.

Inspiration was taken from various compass rose images found online.

The original intention was to have the gears on the compass rotate and move the arms, but that element was scrapped in the rush to get the decorations done in time for the ball.

Attachments

Step 2: Cutting

All the pieces were cut from plywood with YuKonstruct's larger CNC router.

A CNC (Computer Numeric Control) router allows you to convert the computer design files into real world objects, in this case pieces cut from plywood.

For this project we used a down cutting bit on the router.

Step 3: Painting

YuKonstruct and Yukon Comic Culture Society volunteers painted the compass rose pieces.

The pieces were first given a base coat in metallic spray paint and then details were added with acrylic craft paints.

Diluted black craft paint was wiped over the pieces to give them a more weathered look.

Step 4: Assembly

After the paint had dried, all the pieces were bolted together.

Eye bolts were screwed into the wood and used as anchor points to suspend the compass rose from heavy duty chain, so it could be securely mounted behind the stage.