The Agatha Clay [Heterodyne] Locket

This Won Honorable Mention--Outstanding Craftsmanship at Costume Con 28, Milwaukee, May 8

 

Barry Heterodyne’s plans for the locket that he used to retard Agatha’s spark were lost at the time of his departure. However, some of his notes found by the Professors Foglio in the records of Transylvania Polygnostic University were fortunately preserved and formed the basis of the design re-constructed here.

 

      

...............BACK.................................FRONT                      .....................FRONT....................................BACK

      The exterior of the Locket (front and back shell)              The interior showing inside of front and back shells

 

The main mechanism is contained within the front and back covers.  The clockwork drive provides energy for the acoustic resonators which interfere with the brainwave frequencies associated with the spark, and results in keeping that part of the brain in a continuous state of seizure.  Since this is not a center for motor neurons, the only symptoms are severe headaches and being really, really KLUTZY. (a technical term beyond the scope of this discussion)

 

Rendering the front and back shells was relatively easy.  A metal plate was cut in the shape of the back shell, and a matching wooden die was carved out of a hickory block, using a handheld rotary tool for a sheet of thin brass to be pressed into shape:

 

  

 

From the same block of wood, an intaglio carving of the trilobite front shell was carved freehand, using the same rotary tool.

Using a grinding wheel and some spare pieces of aluminum rod, special chisel-like tools were made to hammer the brass into the hollow spaces of the dugout form, and two screw holes were placed diagonally to hold the brass sheet in place while it was being hammered into the form.  [This process is called repoussé.]

 

     

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A laser-print was constructed, based on the text on the back of the locket, and the black toner transferred to a sheet of brass.  The brass was then etched with ferric chloride to engrave the lettering.  The sheet was then pressed into the back form using the metal oval press-die, and a spring-clip was attached to the resulting back shell.

 

         

      ALUMINUM DAPPING TOOLS                               FRONT SHELL

The front shell, after being hammered into the mold with the aluminum tools, was placed inside an oval back-shell similar to the one with the Agatha Clay engraving, but with the center cut out for the trilobite to show through. The trilobite was soldered into place using silver-solder.

 

A plan was made for the assembly of the “works” to be placed in the front and back shells of the locket:

 

   

.........FRONT “works”.................................................................................BACK “works”

 

A number of small brass screws were ordered, in sizes for which I already had taps to thread the holes. A pattern was designed for a laser print to transfer onto brass and aluminum sheet, so that the gears and other shapes could be etched with ferric chloride:

 


  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These gears were etched out of brass and aluminum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These components were soldered using steel wire.

 

 

 

Locket parts were assembled according to the ‘exploded’ diagrams above, and the resulting locket front and back were installed into the shells, mostly held in with epoxy. 

 

Additional rings to hold the “works” in place were etched using a “hearts and spirals” pattern shown in the diagrams provided by the Professors Foglio.

                                     Result: Etched in Brass:

 
This is the  template used for etch-resist on the metal to be etched.    

 

And the brass and aluminum parts shown below were also etched and cut out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When completed, secured and held in with the brass rings at right, the

front and back “works” looked like this:

 

 

 

 

      ..........FRONT.........................................“works” ....................................BACK............................................“works”

 

In the interior of the locket, each section of “works” is covered over with two plates holding pictures of Lucrezia Mongfish and William Heterodyne.  The engraved brass rings, constructed to hold these pictures are also part of the hinge arrangement.  This is shown in the layout of the etching laser-prints transferred onto the metal sheets that these layers are cut out of:

 

       

 

                    INTERIOR PLATES FOR PICTURES                EXTERIOR PLATES HOLDING THE  works” IN PLACE

When curled into loops, the black extensions shown between the rings form the hinge that holds the locket parts in position.

 

These diagrams by the Professors Foglio show how the interior of the locket looks when the pictures are covering up the “works:”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


  PLATES HOLDING PICTURES OF LUCREZIA AND BILL             REVERSE SIDE OF THE PICTURE HOLDING PLATES

 

In the notes, the reverse side of the picture holders show a reticulated Floral pattern.  This pattern was converted into a laser-print for etching, transferred onto the back of the metal plates, and etched to give the result shown below:

 

   

   WILLIAM’S PICTURE FLIPPED OVER LUCREZIA’S                 FLIPPED OPEN

 

A picture showing a glimpse of the fully-assembled locket appeared just after “that naughty flashback scene.” and shows some of the layers:

 

 

There was more to putting together the lockets – Mark I and Mark II – but this description covers the basics, and for anybody planning to duplicate this project, connecting the dots that don’t have lines right now is part of the fun...

 

Patrick J. O’Connor

 

November, 2009

 

 

P. S. Kaja Foglio now has the Mark I Locket