Copper Steampunk Monocle/decorative Eye Thingy

This instructable can be used either to make a kind of monocle type thing or simply a pair of specs.
perfect for steampunkery or general jewellery.

you will need a 1and one half foot (approx) length of copper wire, about 1mm in diametre and certainly no less.
about 3 feet of thinner copper wire, from transformers ( i would give precise instructions on how to dismantle them but i should think they differ quite a bit. i used an old knife and cut away the glued together plates that formed the core until i could get at the wire)

Some translucent plastic, from say, a bottle of something fizzy

a swiss army knife
a pair of pliers

in this instructable we shall be making the piece with the green tint. it would be a full set of specs but unfortunatley the wire was too brittle on one side and i had to cu one half loose. keep in mind the processes for making a straight set of specs and a monocle thing are essentially the same except that you have an extra side on the specs.

take the length on thick wire and grasp it in the middle with the pliers (which should idelly not be needle nose. its not disastrous if you dont have big ones though as it will only require two grips instead of one) and bend either end of the wire up to 90 degrees, leaving them bothe parrallel after the bend.

ok, now we go fro the second set of bends. grip a point on either long bit of the wire that is the width of the pliers (thick ones) away from the initial bend on that side. or more or less, depending on your preference/nose, and then bend it over to about 30 degrees.

then grip the bend and tighten it up so that the long end of the wire is pointing directly upwards if you were to balance this on you nose. do it to both sides.

after youve done this bend the the two ends out, at about 90 degrees again so that they would run straight out from your brow if you balanced it on your nose. bend aty a point about an inch from where the horizontal nose bit meeets the main body of the wire. sorry if this is confusing but it is difficult to explain. i hope the pictures are sufficiently explanatory.

the main pic for this slide also shows aspects from the next set of instructions so dont act on the pic and bend i the ends over your face yet please

NOW we fit the frame onto your face. take the frame and bend it to fit your face. by this time the length of wire on one side had snapped off for me so all pics will now be for monocle version. there is no major difference though so no matter.

when fitting make sure that yopu keep everything in line otherwise you may bend the specs in such a manner as to have them lopsided etc etc. also remember to not bend it too tightly other wise it will be uncomfortable to wear.

sorry that i cant supply more pics but i cant really take any properly explanatory ones at this stage as everything is obscured by my hair.

this is pretty easy. tkae the thin wire, which should be as shiny as humanly possible and wrap it onto the frmae, reasonably tightly. remember to keep some to attach the lense later.

follow the pics and you should be ok. you may have to double back on yourself near the nose bit.

now take that plastic and cut out a circle abotu 1 inch or so in diametre and use the attachment shown on the knife to *drill* three holes along the edge. then take the disc and attach it to the frame with the remains of the wire by looping it through the holes, twisting it around itslef and then bending it aroun the frmae. make sure you have one link to pull it to one side, one to pull to the other and a third to secure everything.

on the paired set i added a samml curly bit of left over thick wire.

if you ish to add decoration then use either the following technique or dream up something yourslf

it is easy to secure extra titbits. you simply wind wire around both it and the frame at the smae time, thus binding them.

to make a coil just get a bit of wire and either use pliers or your hand to bend it into shape.