Back when we had a sticks and bricks home I had a pretty nicely setup garage shop. After working on screens all day building virtual things I loved to head out there and get my hands dirty working on physical things. I learned to weld, paint, solder, wire, plumb, and..create. I spent years working on 1960’s era Jeeps then the last year we were home I branched into junkyard sculpture creating zombie cats, zombie cat killers, dogs and caterpillars from car springs, wheels, rakes, shovels and garden tools.
While still enjoying our mobile lifestyle I started to miss that creative time. I resolved this year to do something about it.
Decorate the RV
My first thought was to just add some decorations to our RV. We love the steampunk look so my idea was to make the bedroom look like a Jules Vernian command center for a submarine or airship. At the local fleamarket I started looking for gauges and dials to make the basis for a dashboard piece that would attach over our bed.
Norm
At a booth filled with vintage radios, record players, recorders and test equipment I met Norm - the booth owner. His stock all works and his prices are higher than I was looking to spend - but he invited me to come to his house and see what he had there. I visited later that week and picked up some basics and Norm told me about his friend Ted who runs a local TV repair shop called TedCo.
Ted
TedCo was like walking into my past. I worked at a local mom and pop TV sales & service place while in college in the late 80’s and TedCo had that same vibe. Antennas, rotors, stocks of old vacuum tubes, and restored reel to reel tape decks on the shelves. Ted didn’t have anything for me but sent me down the road to an electronics surplus place where I scored.
Score!
What I found wasn’t steampunk, but an old television test signal generator that had a really cool aesthetic. I bought it not really knowing what I would do with it - but as it shaped up it became an alien listening station for a mad scientist. I used the campground picnic table as my workbench and gutted the unit, cut the case down to wallhanging depth, added TV antennas, handles, and vintage military headphones.
I really enjoy “Rockhounding”. Since we started RVing it’s become “pebblepuppying”. Next sweep I’ll add the polisher and saw-they are reasonably light weight and I may be able to figure out power sourcing to fit with boondocking- thanks for the inspiration!