A Steampunk Screen: "Carbon Filament Crystal Cinematograph

My dear friends and followers

Long time ago since I wrote my last Instructables here. Sorry for that! In the meantime a lot happened - I wrote my first Steampunk book, I built a Steampunk car and for sure I invented some really sick Mad Science Machines.

One of them I would like to present you today. I call it "The Carbon Filament Crystal Cinematographer".

It's a unique PC screen illuminated by two antique carbon filament bulbs! The screen is based on a broken SAMSUNG SyncMaster which I stripped down and reused the LCD-Glassfront and the electronics for the picture control.

Step 1: Stripping Down the SAMSUNG SyncMaster Screen

I started the project by stripping down the broken screen I found on a junk yard. The power unit was burned, also the highvoltage device for the lights... but no problem, because I didn't plan to use them anyway. Be careful when you take out the LCD crystal glass, because it can break. Also be careful with this thin foil connectors which are sealed to the glass. If they break, you will habe black stripes later on your screen. The parts I reused are the LCD-Glass and the control unit for the screen. On the control unit you will find the informations about the needed power source: 12 Volts and 1.5 Ah... I used for that an old power supply from an external CD device.

Step 2: Framing the Glass

I framed the glass by using thin wooden bars. For me it was important to use something thin, because I planned to keep the thin design of the screen... then the finished machine looks more crazy...

The base I built from an old camera shutter case. For the bulbs I reused a nice brass lightholder, a present from a very nice old lady. The lightholder is mounted to the socket of an old clock gong.

After installing all the cables I covered the green circuit board of the screen by using real leather. That looks really nice and gives the device a victorian look and feel. The front of the screen I closed by using an antique weaver's shuttle and some heavy brass feets.

Step 3: The Finish

Because I mounted the screen upside down, so that the circuit board of the screen was at the botton, I had to change the screen setting on the used PC to rotate it 180 degrees. The heat of the bulbs seems to be no problem at all. To have a nice light coverage over all the screen I reinstalled the different plastic films again behind the LCD-glass.

Feel free to ask if you need more information to build your own one.

Sincerely yours

Dan Aetherman a.k.a. The Chocolatist

STEAMPUNK ARTWORK - www.Aetherman.com