(Note: This name is still not set in stone and subject to change depending on the communities’ reaction however, this name will now be officially used until enough surveys and mailing list subscriptions have been completed.)

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Official Website

TBD (Awaiting vote on Guild name)

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Twitter Feed

Used for future AGIE updates rather than spamming Brass Goggles with posts.

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Mailing List

The core AGIE mailing list.

We urgently need as many people as possible to join the mailing list but more importantly, take part in the survey! Anybody from any walk of life within the Steampunk community is welcome to join this list regardless of location. Please note we have a large opening for skilled artists to work with members of the guild in exchange for each other’s services as well. One of the guilds aims is to become the ultimate one stop repository of skilled proffesionals from the Steampunk community for both personal and corporate client bases. However the guild itself will always remain strictly none-profit. The exchange of money will be solely controlled by the parties involved. Authorisation most be sought from the guild prior to this so as not to bring the guild into disrepute for its other members. Providing previous examples of your work will satisfy this so that we hold a strong quality base.

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Discussion Thread

Temporary base of guild discussions until a proper structure has been put in place and the name of the guild voted on. After which, the website shall have its own dedicated forums.

A NOTE FROM YOUR BLOG ADMIN – please take all discussion of this over to the forum.  Comment fields are NOT the place for lengthy discussion or debate. Thanks, Harold

Let me start by introducing myself. My name’s Leonardo Wolfe but feel free to call me Leo. I’ve long been the occasional visitor to the Brass Goggles website and once had a stint at writing for the blog however unfortunately, I think only a couple of my posts came to fruitrition. Long story short, I got myself into a commitment I couldn’t fulfil due to my terrible time management skills which leads me onto the irony that I’m a student with the British Horological Institute where I’m training to be a clock/watch maker.

So, why am I here darkening your doorstep? I have a proposition for all the amateur and professional engineers and inventors out there and I need your help however big or small to spread the word and join in.

I currently live in Cambridgeshire, England. The famous home of 84 Nobel Prizes and 8 Field Medals. The plan is to start in Cambridge and then to branch out nationally and potentially internationally. I’m hoping it really could become that big but I’m only testing the water here and it could go in the complete opposite direction. But what on earth am I talking about?

The idea is to start a guild (easy there MMORPG fans) of people that are mathematically and mechanically minded in the pursuit of creating devices and inventions from a period  now long gone but which we’re all here to enjoy, admire and relive. A rebellion against the torrent of cheap, mass produced capitalist junk that rolls out of the worlds factories to end up in the garbage day after day. Melted down to create the next fad and stale function. However we’d be by no means political and this is something that would have to remain key to the guild. Discrimination and snobbery also wouldn’t be tolerated.

So, due to the high level of talented students and professionals within the area, this seems like the ideal place to start such a project. Before we talk about drafting manifestos and creating secret handshakes (I joke), I need to gauge everybody’s initial interest. Now, the plan is we hold regular meetings within the Cambridge area however this will be determined by the average availability of those interested. A good idea if this takes off is to actually take minutes from our meetings so that we can publish them here or on a separate dedicated site so that others not so local and abroad can join in and contribute. As some of you may know, there’s regular lectures open to the public here in Cambridge and I don’t see why we can’t work our way up to some accredited recognition. However, this is a long way off. The plan is also to support each other in our inventions, that would be the heart of the guild be it swapping skills or maybe even applying for patents.

So, I need your thoughts and ideas. This isn’t my guild, it’s our guild! (As a note, the title “guild” is currently a working title)

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your ideas and suggestions. Also, a big thank you to Harold for allowing me start this project and post on Brass Goggles!

Lets get the steam ball rolling!

Direct E-mail: theagie@me.com.

When F.E. Stanley exhibited a small steam car at a horseless carriage show in 1898 the public response was so fantastic that he decided to start production commercially. However, before production began, Stanley sold the production rights. One of the purchasers, Mr. Amzi Barber set up the Locomobile Company. The first model was called Style 1 but this was quickly superseded by Style 2 which became the Standard Locomobile. By June 1901 it was claimed over 3000 had been sold. Many have been preserved and they remain immensely popular

The Lykamobile is a  full size steam vehicle similar to a Locomobile Style 2, but fitted with a modern boiler and different style of burner for safety reasons. The tyres are modern and treaded. Disc brakes are also fitted. The design reflects the Locomobile as far as is practical whilst maintaining a straightforward and cost effective design, utilising available materials and components.  The engine has  Modified Hackworth valve gear and is capable of 30mph with forward and reverse.

A Lykamobile recently did the 1000 mile John O’ Groats to Lands End run to raise funds for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf.

“The lives of robots have always been a topic explored by authors and artists alike. Isaac Asimov has written some of the best novels in the history of robots, DreamWorks created the computer animated movie Robots in 2005 and Pixar is currently making Wall-E.

“But it is not just the “big guys” who create amazing robotic art. Independent artist Andrew Chase is making this 50-page picture book about the Robot TME (short for “Trionic Morphatractable Engineer”)” and the pictures are absolutely stunning! See more at this Page. Thanks to a Mr Andy Barss for bringing this to our attention!

House of Secrets Incorporated is the independent designers identity of a Miss Hilde Heyvaert from Belgium, who specializes in original and custom-made steampunk outfits that should agree to any type of steampunk enthusiast!

The lovely photograph above show several items from her “Steampunk Adventurer” wardrobe. Besides the goggles (”Girl Genius”), aviator hat (”‘t Amerikaantje”), belts (”Moda Stoffen”) and boots (”Schuh”), all clothes depicted are custom made, combined to produce an attractive outfit that breaths both steampunk and adventure.

Miss Heyvaert makes not only steampunk, though, as a glance at her flickr page immediately demonstrates. Creations range from pirate outfits (which could well serve an airship pirate, of course) to evening wear, with lots of great stuff in between.

For the more casual lady “Steampunk Aristocrat”, the following is one of our favorites, partly because it comes with a curious canine accessory. Besides the fascinator (”H&M”), goggles (”Girl Genius”), tie (”De Krinkel”), belts (”Moda Stoffen”) and boots (”Alpha Ranger”), all items were fabricated by Miss Heyvaert herself, again, to produce a most elegant outfit that any fellow lady of fine breeding might envy.

As seen in the film of the same name, this high pressure steam vessel has been replicated by your very own Herr Döktor, a build diary of a sort can be found here.

Clive Batkin is a new (and hopefully upcoming) steampunk artist of whom we proudly display two perfectly stylish creations here.

The first image depicts a steampunk desk lamp called “The Optimus” by Mr Batkin, after the Swedish-made brass stove that forms the base of the lamp. Simple and beautiful, “The Optimus” should perfectly complement any steampunk enthusiast’s desk–and we want one too!

Depicted besides the lamp is a steampunk desk fan created in similar style. Mr Batkin explains that, “construction centered around lots of copper pipe,” with “some of the beautiful newly designed UK one penny coins” used as end caps and decoration, “and lots of random brass/copper bits and pieces here and there.” The result makes for an elegance pure and shining that represents the work of an undeniable new voice in steampunk style.

You might not realize at first quite what this contraption is, but it’s the first full-fledged steampunk cellphone! It has, “no display. No 3G. No data plan. No games. It doesn’t even have a dial pad,” write the people at Unplggd “You make your calls with binary-coded punch cards, steampunk.”

The device was created by a Mr Arthur Schmitt.