I created this "radium" (laser) pistol from an old circa 1940 hand drill that I refinished, a 200mW 532nm green laser/LED flashlight, and a sound board from a broken laser gun toy. The extended handle is made from a madrona tree that fell in my yard, this wood cracks like you wouldn't believe and is extremely difficult to work with, but it has a beautiful, dense grain which I clear coated with a satin finish. Getting the chuck out of this drill was a nightmare, but with some heat and extreme force it finally broke loose. The laser/flashlight is fitted with its battery compartment removed and a brass fitting with external power wires installed to hold it in place (where the chuck used to be.) I had to do some serious milling with a dremel to get this arrangement together. There is also an internal sleeve that activates the push buttons for the LED's and laser (or both at the same time) by simply twisting the nozzle. I also replaced all the original screws with brass ones and fitted a brass lanyard ring to the base of the handle in place of it's original power cord. It may look like I touched up the beam in the pictures but it was actually a bit foggy out when I took them. I did smoke a cigar in the greenhouse to enhance the effect for those shots though. It runs off of three AA batteries that are in the main housing where the motor used to be.
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And that means, sigh, the rest of this is going to sound negative. Because I've been thinking about the safety concerns of using a laser, for one. Pity that at about the point it gets nicely beam-visible, it also gets very much eye-dangerous. And the cheap Chinese 532 nm's are even worse; they often lack an IR filter.
And the other negative is that I want to see more people using the term "Diesel Punk" (or Atom Punk if you prefer) as a distinct style from Steampunk. Still retro, still flavorful, but with more of an emphasis on metal and fins and radio parts.
Oh, BTW...you can get a can of "Smoke in a Can" at Ace Hardware for about nine bucks. Pretty much invisible, but makes laser beams nice and shiny. Hangs in the air for a good five minutes at least.
As for diesel/atom punk, that's a cool idea, and I think there is plenty of room in the genre for it. When I was a kid I used to catch reruns of the old "Rocket Man" and "Flash Gordon" serials on a Saturday morning kids show called J.P. Patches (true genius that man) and I always loved the bold "stainless steel" and aerodynamic look that they gave everything...and the fins!!!
You are certainly right about the associated dangers with this thing, which is why I literally treat it like a gun, and one that ricochets (light) to boot. But I did indeed start with the goal of realism, in that I wanted to create a "steampunk" weapon that was actually (or at least nearly) a weapon rather than a prop, which brings me to my next, and far more dangerous project, the "steampunk" "Repeating Meteor Rifle" which will fire 12 gauge red flares. I will, of course, not be able to use this during the Summer or when boating (unless I'm sinking).
One of the things I've been thinking of is putting TWO laser heads in it -- one a 5 mw and the other more studly, and putting that behind a selector switch. So you have a "pew pew!" setting for play, and only throw the switch when you are serious.
Did I mention the brass and wood really sell this thing? Anyhow, nice work on the housing -- looks really cool. And nice work fitting those internals in, too!
There is nothing like brass, steel, wood, leather and khaki canvas to give an aura of art (well, cool hats too)! It's especially nice if you can throw in exotic materials, but the Crème de la Crème has to be real functionality in my book. In that if I want to fire a friggin laser or fireballs at something, then that's what happens. I mean, there's nothing quite like the heft and feel of something that will actually have 'effects' downrange. I guess I'm somewhat of a purist weapons aficionado.
though the lazer wouldnt look as cool as the colored and it would be dangerous not only for the chance of fire starting but also it would blind you perminantly if you got a good shot in the eye.
I've got a few old drills myself, so I shall see what I can pull off with them.