Copper craftsman: Minsk resident creates amazing things in steampunk style

Large round glasses in a copper frame, a copper bracelet on his arm, a phone in a copper case, which is an amazing design of buttons and levers, says a lot about the passion for steampunk in the guise of Dmitry Tikhonenko. However, the master himself learned about the fashion trend after he created many of his works from copper. Although in our opinion, a better quality case from https://chekhol.com.ua /.

Dmitry's workshop is officially engaged in the repair of household appliances. Tuning refrigerators and electric stoves is rather a hobby that has become Tikhonenko's calling card. Not everyone is allowed into a separate room where Dmitry's works are located. If ordinary Tikhonenko's clients knew what miracles he can create, they would surely gasp. We are talking, sitting at a copper-bound table, next to a copper stove, a copper coffee machine, a microwave.

Source: onliner.by

1. "The fascination with metal began in the army, when he served in the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea. There are a lot of copper parts on the ship that you have to scrub regularly. Gradually it turned into a habit, — Dmitry smiles. — The first copper crafts were simple — decorations for the demob album: letters, ships… And if you dig even deeper, my father worked as a locksmith all his life, and he was so good at his business that he put a name stamp on his products. This was considered aerobatics at the factory, the parts made by the hands of my father did not even have to pass the OTC."

2. After three years in the navy, Dmitry immediately fell into the atmosphere of the "dashing nineties". Like many young people at that time, he was engaged in buying and selling, and eventually became the owner of a workshop for repairing household appliances, which he does to this day. In parallel, he began to collect antiquities from non-ferrous metal.

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4. Since he constantly had to work with household appliances, the master wanted to do something unusual for himself. What the world's serial manufacturers offered did not suit him.

5. "I had a working refrigerator left from my grandmother, it was a pity to throw it away, I decided to "update", — says Dmitry. — The microwave was next, followed by a stove… If someone is relaxing in bars, at a billiard table, then I went to the workshop."

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7. Dmitry learned about steampunk in 2011. It's amazing, before that he tuned a lot of household appliances, without even imagining that he works in a certain style!

8. "One day I received an email: the guys from Moscow saw my work and invited me to the steampunk festival. I answer them: guys, you made a mistake, I'm not a punk... — Dmitry laughs. — After we figured it out, I read the literature, looked at the photo reports from the meetings of steampunkers and understood: this is mine."

9. As you probably already understood, Dmitry Tikhonenko is a thorough man, so soon he created a Belarusian website dedicated to steampunk, and, in fact, became one of the main movers of this culture in our country, while remaining unique in his own way.

10. If the main goal of most steampunkers is to create an image, a fake costume, then Dmitry has every thing he has made functioning. The master has protective glasses hanging around his neck, or, as they are also called, "goggles", a leather apron on his belt, in such he can always be seen at the machine, so he comes to steampunk parties in everyday work clothes.

11. "Every button, every lever, with rare exceptions, works and performs a certain function," says Dmitry, showing his products. — Moreover, I try to make the thing not only beautiful, but also convenient, as well as maintainable. For this, for example, I made an observation window in the stove, opening which you can see what is happening in the oven."

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13. Dmitry continues to show his work: "This is one of the first models of flat-screen TVs. Her body was a traditional silver plastic, and this did not suit me at all, since everything at home was in yellow metal. For more than a year it was gathering dust in a box, until I finally took it up.

14. Now the TV is in a copper "case", all the buttons are working (their design was borrowed from brass musical instruments). The only prop on it is a coil located next to the keys, it's just a decoration.

15. Then I added a DVD player case to the TV, speakers made of old "Radio equipment". The columns on top in the form of trumpets are also working. My friend is engaged in horn acoustics, and I made them exactly according to his drawings."

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17. The coffee machine was created simultaneously with the TV and gradually developed into a large project. A bar counter made by special order was added to it.

18. There are beverage containers on top. There are several shelves at the bottom, each of which has its own specific function. On the first there is a copper tray, on the second the dishes are stored, and these dishes are heated by a special device.

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23. And, of course, the phone. Everyone notices him at once. A few years ago, his wife Olga gave Dmitry a Nokia 6670, which, after a long and painstaking work, turned into a real work of art.

24. "Metal shields the signal, and most of all I had to tinker with the antenna output," says the master. — But we managed to solve this problem as well. The result is amazing: each of the buttons is working, we personally checked it."

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30. Dmitry puts a name stamp on each of the products and attaches a special plate with a number in which several important parameters are encrypted at once. The master tuned refrigerators, microwaves, hoods, coffee machines, televisions, sinks…

31. Today, there are plaques on more than a hundred items, but it is very difficult to see and purchase them: the master either gives most of the works to friends or puts them at home. There are exceptions. For example, the coffee machine "Copper Joe", tuned by Tikhonenko, has recently been standing in the T.N.T. club, and recently household appliances "improved" by his hands appeared in the program "Apartment Question". The representative of the famous brand, who provided the stove, asked that the company logo not be visible. Not because he didn't like Tikhonenko's work. On the contrary, they were afraid that consumers would start asking for the same plates in stores, and there, of course, they are not there.

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37. Such a tuning plate, if you order it from a Russian master (which you can count on your fingers), will cost about 10 thousand dollars at least. Tikhonenko refuses to discuss the "price of the issue", says that most of the works shown to him are not for sale, but at the same time admits that sometimes he still makes something to order. So, for example, now he is working on columns that will appear in one of the capital's clubs.

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39. "My friends call me a happy person," the master says goodbye. — Besides the fact that I have a beloved wife and children, I am engaged in my favorite hobby, which even brings a little money. What else do you need to enjoy life?"