Last-Minute Steampunk Goggles

Due to the interruptions of chronic illness and the mysterious disappearance of some of my intended supplies, my plans to make some steampunk goggles for a pre-Halloween party have been pushed off until almost the last minute. I thought I would share my progress so far while I wait for the glue to dry.

Do yourself a favor and get a good compass, a set of triangles, and a set of french curves for a project like this. I assume you already have a ruler. I am working in imperial units, but the process is the same for metric.

My initial plans to use cheap safety goggles as the base fell through when even spray paint labeled as "safe for plastics" had a bad chemical reaction with the soft plastic and made it go all gooey. Yuck. So it's time to try making these from scratch! Dollar store goggles may not work, but dollar store foam core and poster board might.

I started by pulling out my drafting tools to lay out the locations for the circles. I then used a cheap box cutter to trim out my shape for the goggle frame. Working with foamcore means pencil marks make a good guide. Plasticard would have required using a Micron pen or the like in my compass adapter.

Once this was cut out, I used a flexible measuring tape to mark 1-inch increments around the edge of the template on one side. Since this will be symmetrical, one set of measurements from the center will take care of both sides.

After making these markings, I did my best to measure how far back I would want the side shroud to go, and used my french curves to help approximate the necessary curve linking these points. I made half, and then cut it out and folded it over so I could just trace the other half and then cut it as well.

So here we are now, waiting for glue to dry. I thought I had some Aleen's Tacky Glue, but I can't find it, so I am using carpenter's wood glue instead. It's all PVA glue anyway.

So now the rubber bands hold everything in place while the glue sets. After a bit I will see how it all looks. If it works out, there will be a future post with pictures.

EDIT: Continued here!