Truth be told, I’ve been a fan of the steampunk genre for a long time. I have found it to be visually stunning and originally creative. So, when it came time to remodel the tattoo shop here at Rayzor Tattoos, AJ and I agreed that a steampunk tattoo parlor was the perfect answer. We also believed it to be more fitting since the name of our town is Steelton and was built on the backbone of the Bethlehem Steel corporation.
Well fast forward two months and we are almost done (Sept 2016). We have made some really cool stuff that required a TON of work and turned out to be aesthetically pleasing to us and impressive to the general public, judging by their response.
For those who don’t know what steampunk is, the quick definition (put by a friend of mine) is “an analog non-industrialized evolution of technology, with a science fiction twist”. Well sounds good to me!
After a little (very little indeed) research, I surmised that the use of reddish browns and browns (wood like) was the general color scheme with the use of brass, copper and raw metal embellishments was the way to go.
Our only restriction in my mind (besides the hassle of doing this while being an open tattoo parlor to the public) was that our space needs are very specific. Everything we built needed to be functional to work off of and around. Aj agred to do the metal and electrical work and I was to do the wood and painting.
I looked online at a few ideas and off to the scavenger hunt I went.
A friend of ours owns a junkyard so I went there for some metal, the flea market and salvation army for furniture, builder surplus supply joints for odds and ends and alas home depot for paints. Home Depot has some awesome hammered metal paint. I also discovered that polyurethane and polyurethane with stains mixed in already was quite useful as well. My only complaint here is that I pretty much spent all my free time over the last 6 weeks painting EVERYTHING.
My first project, 2 nightstands that I combined. this is basically what I started with.
This was my first project, a four drawer shelving unit to hold skateboard hardware and tools for the skateshop aspect of Rayzor Tattoos. I stacked 2 night stands and went to work.
Painting, painting, and more painting.
Some pre-painted finds from a friend of mine who owns a junkyard in Harrisburg
This is what my backyard looked like for the next 3 weeks. The edging is painted with a hammered style paint.
A nightstand I got from salvation army to build a 4 drawer storage unit for the skateboard shop of Rayzor Tattoos
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Here it is coming together. Additional older (polyurethane) wood top added.
Next came the detail embellishments. I modeled this piece jokingly off of an imaginary teleporter. I later added map style gauges and a dial.
Here’s the beginnings of the steampunk embellished drawers
Here it is pretty much finished. Hopefully you get the idea.
And now onto the rest of the shop.
Custom steampunk lamp made by AJ tattooist at Rayzor Tattoos in Harrisburg
Meanwhile, just as I was gaining some real momentum in the steampunk decorating project, AJ started bringing in these REALLY incredible lamps he made in his garage and I knew we were on to something.
My next big project was one of our doors. I modeled this after a vault with aspects of a clock to give to hopefully give the impression of a time vault. Interpret it’s use however you wish. My interpretation is to lock things from the past away so time travelers can’t mess with these events.
The next big job to tackle, the Time Vault steampunk door for our tattoo shop
Here you can see the Time Vault door next to the Transporter.Now onto the rest of the”steampunk” tattoo parlor
AJ installing our freshly gear painted glass into the hutch I got for a STEAL. I achieved this effect by spray painting the back of the glass dark to light.
This mirror is in the bathroom. The bathroom is based off of a ship or submarine. I am pleased how it came out. There is much more to it than you see here.
Skateboard display counter, mix of wood and metals, It has a polyurethane map top.
Mounted Steampunk Dragon Head for my private tattoo room.
Body Jewelry Display Time Machine Stand
Interesting side note
Well it just so happens that the judge for the TV show Steampunk’d lives close to me, and stopped by for a visit during the beginning stages of this whirlwind. His name is Thomas Willeford and he is a really talented and nice guy. He hung out with us for awhile, offered encouragement and promised to come back….. stoked! His Steampunk production shop is called Bruteforce Studious (check it out).
Thomas signed a copy of his book “Gear, gadgets, and Gizmos”. Really nice guy, honestly.
Well, I could actually write much more on this project, and I am sure I will. This is only a sampling of what we have done so far,. If you are interested in seeing more pics of our steampunk tattoo parlor, please check out any of our social media pages, check back later, stop in for a look around, or come to our open house Steampunk Halloween party on October 29th.Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed a step into our nutty world.
Ray