Posted by Christa on September 26th, 2009
I never had any solution to the problem with the plugins here and why one of them stopped working after the latest upgrade, so I’ve had to tweak things around today for the gallery to work at least.
This means that the store still doesn’t work, and the only replacement I can offer right now is that you get in touch with me using the contact form above if there’s anything you want to buy. What is available for sale can be found under the “Home” links above.
Prices do show if you hover over the images in that gallery, but they will also show at the bottom of the image if you click on it to see a bigger size.
I’m sorry about this mess, but since I’ve used two different plugins that have worked together perfectly in the past, I haven’t got a clue where things went wrong. The gallery plugin caused it, I know that much, but I haven’t got a clue how to solve it.
So at least for now this is the solution.
Have a great weekend 
Posted by Christa on September 23rd, 2009
The store here is temporarily out of order due to me upgrading a plugin :p
So I guess you could say that we’re closed. At least for the moment.
I’m hoping this will be resolved soon and I’m waiting for assistance from WP.org since I’m using WordPress for this set up. It’s most likely me who broke something, but I will still need a bit of help to fix it since I haven’t done anything intentionally. And since I haven’t got a clue why the errors in the gallery and the store shows.
So this place will be back as soon as this is fixed
In the meantime, this blog will still be here.
Posted by Christa on September 15th, 2009
Today I finally got the petite ball chain in the mailbox 
Which means that after we got back from town I’ve been gluing.
Unfortunately, there was no other way to do this. Since the surface underneath is still plastic it would have been a disaster to try anything else, so I had to use super glue.
And the base is painted with enamel pain in an antique golden shade. There are several layers since the plastic was black, and I believe that I will have to add some more paint in the future since it will get scratched and most likely come off on the edges etc. But the plastic underneath is sanded and clean, so other than that there was no problem to get the paint to stay.
The surface is a bit rough since I had to sand the plastic, but if I wanted a smooth shiny phone that looked perfect, I could buy one :p
While I was sanding the plastic I happened to scratch the display badly. Or so I thought. When I was done attaching the ball chain around the display I used a bit of Brass polish on some cotton and actually managed to get rid of the scratches Never thought that would work, but I guess the glass in the display is a bit softer than regular glass. And that Brass polish contains some kind of mineral powder which probably did the trick.
Later on I might add something around the phone too, on the edges…but for now I’ve decided to leave it this way. Since it still works and everything :p
When it comes to the “design” I wanted to keep it feminine, but still not girlie…if that makes any sense? I’m not much for the pink and flowery stuff myself and since this is my own phone I’d like to keep it as non-flowery and anti-pink as I can :p
Besides, this phone is so slimmed that it’s not easy to add anything that will make it look less slimmed…or less feminine :p Not sure if a cell phone can be feminine, but there you go anyway.
If I’ll do it again?
Hm…well, I guess if someone handed over a similar model it’s not impossible. However, most people these days tend to get an iPhone or similar if they buy a new one. And an iPhone would probably be more than a challenge :p Way too sensitive to fiddle with like this.
But it was fun and I can assure you that there’s only one of these around :p If I would ever forget it anywhere it’s obvious who it belongs to
Posted by Christa on September 4th, 2009
It’s taken a while to figure out how to replace that piece of metal that I dressed my cellphone with the other day :p And in the end I had to use enamel paint for the base.
What you see in this picture is not much….just a teaser really. I’m not done yet and I want to save it until it’s ready. I’m expecting some more stuff in the mail that I need to finish this project, so until then this is what I’ve got.
What’s showing here is the on/off button at the top of the picture, the watch face is the selector (up, down, right, left) and the big button at the bottom of the picture is the answering button :p Below that the first row is 1, 2 and 3 buttons. The “uneven” button in the middle below that row is number 5. A lot of the number buttons are of the same kind, however, for the sake of finding the buttons fast I’ve used something else for number 5 and zero (which is not in this picture).
It’ll make more sense when it’s all done I hope :p
More when it’s closer to finished
Posted by Christa on September 2nd, 2009
I had the copper foil in the mail this morning, so when I was done with breakfast I began to dress up my cell phone.
And later I also found out how stupid I am :p
The phone became very shiny and perdy…however, it also became completely useless :pp
And I did this in spite of being told yesterday that the metal would probably disturb the signal. But did I listen? Noooo….I rarely do. Have to try and see for myself.
So now I’ve spent the past hour or so removing glue from the plastic. Super glue :p
The foil was nice though. Very thin and close to thicker tin foil, but stronger. It just won’t work on a cell phone :pp
After I removed it I turned the phone back on again and it worked. So it was the foil that made the difference. But…this means that I will just have to come up with something else…not sure what yet, but I’m not giving up. Whatever it is it can’t be too thick since it will make for a real challenge to close the lid in the back, and I would like to be able to open it up again in case it’s needed. So we’ll see.
What I do know is that it can’t look the way it does right now. I had to literally sand the glue down, which means that the plastic is far away from smooth and shiny the way it used to be. So no way back now.
I might be back with more mistakes…who knows :p
Posted by Christa on September 1st, 2009
When we came to B&Q yesterday to get those hex key set that I needed to open my cell phone, the smallest key was too big. No surprise there.
However, in one of the stalls I found a big set of keys like that with sizes that went way down on the scale…and a lot cheaper as well. When we came home I tried the two smallest keys in that set, and one was too big while the other was way too small 
Besides, screws on cell phones is added by a machine to start with, which means that they’re near to impossible to open by hand. And with a hex key that is barely a millimeter thick, it’s doomed to fail. So I will have to try and modify it without taking it apart as it seems right now.
I did find some copper foil, but I had to buy it online. No craft stores open yesterday since it was bank holiday. So I’m not sure when I’ll get that foil. But hopefully shortly after they charged my card :p
So I’m still waiting for something, as usual.
I did however find some new bits and pieces for my multi-tool yesterday. Needed some new basic bits that are needed so I can use it to saw and polish again So I did find something useful after all, even though it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.
Posted by Christa on August 31st, 2009
Unless B&Q is closed today since it’s Bank Holiday Monday and all, I’m buying myself the keyset you see in the picture here. I need it to get into my cell phone. Not sure why they haven’t used regular screws, but I guess they want to make it a bit more tricky to destroy :p
Robin asked yesterday if I was sure I wanted to take the phone apart…heh Guess I could order a new one just in case I fiddle too much and happens to lose things that are needed for it to work :p
The metal sheet I need for the sake of dressing the base of the phone is not exactly the kind of metal sheet that you buy from a supplier. You learn a lot about a lot of odd stuff when you’re into Steampunk modifications and this time it’s about the thickness of brass and copper. What I need is copper or brass foil, which still is metal, but very thin metal. Thin enough to actually cut with a regular scissor…even if that’s not recommended if you care about your scissors :p
So today, if there are any hobby stores open, I’ll buy some copper foil as well so I can get started with this
Which means that there will probably be piccies tomorrow or in a couple of days )
Until then….
Posted by Christa on August 27th, 2009
You know, 1,2 mm doesn’t sound like much, but it is. At least when it comes to brass.
I got my two brass sheets today that I need to begin to Steampunk my cell phone…however, I will have to use those for something else because they are way too thick. And heavy. So I will have to get a couple of sheets that are less than 0.5 mm instead. Might get some copper since that’s a bit softer than brass too.
However, I can use these brass sheets for something else. Once I can get a hold on my saw :p Only heaven knows who ate it, but it’s gone. But as soon as I found it there will be new stuff in the store. Well, not straight away, but as soon as I’m done with what I can do out of this brass
And I still need to get a screwdriver so I can actually take apart the phone. I need tiny IKEA ones really…so it’s not a screwdriver in a regular sense. Time to go to B&Q, me thinks.
Posted by Christa on August 23rd, 2009
I’ve wanted to Steampunk a cellphone for some time, but I keep postponing it since these things tend to be easy to break. And that still applies. Cellphones are sensitive and high tech and I’ve got absolutely no clue what they look like under the hood…well, other than chips and stuff of course.
Quite a while ago I bought myself a new phone…which you can see in the picture here. It’s very simple. No camera, no mp3 player and no extras. Just a phone with text ability…which was what I was looking for. I can’t even send a picture from it since there’s no storage for that sort of thing.
It doesn’t have any buttons, except from the big round silvery one in the front…and I hope that will make this easier. I haven’t manage to get inside it yet because it takes a screwdriver that I don’t have, but intend to buy. However, I’ve got a feeling that underneath the front where the digits are, there’s a layer of rubber and then you’ve got the bits and pieces that will make things happen when you push a button.
So right now I’m planning on buying a thin sheet of brass, remove the front and not replace it, but dress it in brass. And that will be the base. What I also know at this stage is that the “buttons” for the digits, for the on and off…and for the phonebook and the function button under the screen will be different. Most likely both in shape and in material. I’ve got both brass and stainless steel parts that I can use for this, in a lot of shapes.
We’ll see. I might present a sketch or something in here at some point before I get started. There will definitely be progress pictures, so keep your eyes open. If nothing else you might be able to see how to break a cellphone and how not to do this :p
Posted by Christa on August 17th, 2009
Lets see if I can make this informative and not too messy.
As far as I can tell, Steampunk Box is back up again and if you want to see the items currently for sale, just click the Home link in the top menu. I’ve tweaked this WordPress theme to death, so the first page you’ll get to if you use the regular link here is static. This blog lives under the link “blog” in the top menu…nifty eh? :p
I have no clue how often I will update the blog here, but most likely as soon as there’s anything new in store, so if you want to keep yourself up to day, grab the RSS link. Or, if you follow me on Twitter this blog is automatically posting my rants in my time line there.
Again, it’s worth mentioning that the shipping is a bit quirky around here. The basic shipping that will be automatically added whenever you put something into your cart is £2.00. That is enough to send a small item anywhere within the United Kingdom with First Class.
If you are outside the UK, please read the shipping note under the link “shipping” in the top menu. This store works great and is a lot less complicated to setup than a regular e-commerce, but it’s got limits. So I haven’t been able to calculate the shipping costs for any other country.
As before, I ship world wide. Read all the information before you decide to buy anything. If there’s any questions, you can always use the Contact link above and send me an email. And I think that’s about it for now
