January 09, 2009 -- Steampunk Crafter Public Service Announcement

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to cast blame on any eBay seller, any crafter, or any manufacturer. I'm sharing this as a public service, because I was really taken aback by what was shown to me this evening. I'm not posting this to encourage the kind of 11 o'clock news paranoia so often raised by this kind of information, but rather to raise a healthy level of awareness in my fellow hobbyists.

As many of you know, I make Steampunk Jewelry for fun and sometimes profit. I buy old watch parts off of eBay, glue them together into new and interesting shapes, and make them into pins and necklaces and earrings. Back in October, I won an auction that contained a bunch of old military watch faces. When they arrived, I looked them over, and after fiddling with them for a bit, and even preparing some of them to be made into jewelry, I noticed that several of them had greenish paint on their numerals. Huh, I thought. I'll bet that's the infamous radium paint I've heard so much about.

I didn't pay it much mind. After Googling a bit, I decided they were probably risky, so I segregated the suspect faces into a plastic bag and stuck them inside an Altoids box. I made up the rest of my jewelry, and took it to a local show. I sold a few pieces.

Fast forward through the holidays. I was making up a care package for a buddy in Alaska, because I had promised her a pin for Christmas. I picked out a hair barrette for her that I was particularly proud of, and noticed that the center dial had slipped under my radar: It too had greenish paint on the numerals. I hemmed and hawed a bit. Is it risky? Is it safe? Am I being paranoid? More Googling. More wibbling. (Side note: I grew up on a farm, around pesticides and cow manure and axle grease. I'm a little less paranoid than many people about "toxicity".)

I finally gave in to my suspicion and contacted the DEQ and also sent an email to a friend of mine who's a Chem professor at Western Michigan University. He directed me to WMU's Radiation Safety Officer. After an exchange of emails, the Radiation Safety Officer graciously agreed to come over to my house after work and check my jewelry supplies with a Geiger-Müller meter.

Turns out it was a darn good thing he stopped by.

The faces that I thought had radium paint were definitely giving off minute levels of radiation -- not enough to be immediately harmful, but definitely there. We surveyed my entire batch of watch parts and found a bunch more faces and parts -- plain metal parts the casual observer would never suspect -- were also radioactive. Old movements that probably had radium faces on them -- but without the faces, there was no way to tell. Tiny wristwatch hands with a pinhead-sized dab of paint on them turned out to be giving off as much radiation as some of the full-sized faces. Faces with so much of the paint flaked off of them that you could barely see the numerals on them showed as being hot. That barrette I was going to send my friend, the pin that a co-worker was going to get for Christmas, a pair of earrings a friend of mine made for me years ago -- they all had radium paint.

How radioactive were they? Not enough to harm you unless you swallowed one of the radium dials or duct-taped it to your forehead and left it there for a few years. Casual contact would probably not do you much harm; even an inch or two away from the hot pieces, the meter only picked up background radiation. Metal that had been in contact with the hot faces was also largely fine: after I pried the hot movement off of a pin-back, the pin-back registered as normal. Still -- radium has a half-life of 1600 years, so it's not like it's going to go away anytime soon. Far better safe than sorry.

According to the Radiation Safety Officer (and this MIT document),the legal annual occupational exposure of radiation for an adult (people trained in the use and handling of radioactive materials and radiation-producing machines), above background levels, is 5 REM per year. (1 REM is equal to 1 rad times a quality factor for the type of radiation being emitted.) The watch-hand in the middle video was giving off 5 millirads (Beta-Gamma). Since 1 rad == 1,000 millirads that means that you would have to affix that watch hand, radium-side-down, to your skin for about 1,000 hours (41 days straight) for this to start becoming a hazard.

The danger here is from proximity; radium emits radiation, but it's a relatively weak emitter. That means that just about anything (metal, glass, skin, even a few inches of air) will stop its radiation. As you saw in the videos, you had to get the Geiger-Müller meter really close to the objects before the radium registered.

Another danger is that as the radium paint gets older, the binder that holds the paint together decays, allowing the radium paint to flake off and migrate around. Which means if you're handling a lot of radium pieces, and then you wipe your nose, or eat a sandwich, or if you have cuts on your fingers, you're introducing radium into your body, where it will migrate to your bones and hang out, still emitting radiation slowly for years to come.

Exposed radium paint on jewelry is a bad idea -- not because wearing it under normal circumstances would cause heavy exposure, but because the risks associated with handling the piece and allowing the radium dust to spread to other places, or internally. If you're intending to make jewelry out of watch parts, you should be very careful to not collect any pieces with unshielded radium paint, and if you see anything you even remotely suspect is radium, set it aside and get it checked out by a professional. You should not try to scrape or wash off the radium paint yourself. Radium dust can move around easily, so you may also want to have your work areas checked. When the Radiation Safety officer did an inspection of my work areas, we found only background radiation. That was comforting, let me tell you.

The good news is that now all the clockwork crafting supplies I currently have in my possession are clean and have been inspected thoroughly by a professional. The bad news is that I've made and sold a bunch of this jewelry already.

So: If you, or anyone you know, has ever purchased clockwork jewelry from me, you may return it to me for either inspection or a full refund, your choice. Just mail it to me with a note telling me how much it cost, and I'll either have it inspected and sent back to you free of charge, or if it turns out hot, I'll have it properly disposed of and will send you a check, including your shipping fee, for the balance.

I've probably only sold about fifty pieces of jewelry -- I don't have an Etsy shop, but I have sold my jewelry at several comic book conventions, including SPX and Wizard World Chicago. I suspect that only one of my pieces contained a radium watch dial, and I've already contacted the owner of that piece directly. However, I'm offering the buyback/inspection to my customers because I care as much about their peace of mind as much as I do my own work.

Please feel free to cross-post this to other forums and boards, and share this information with anyone you know who is a Steampunk crafter or who makes jewelry out of watch and clock parts. If you have questions about your own materials, do what I did: call your local public university and ask to speak to their Radiation Safety Officer. Alternately, call your state's Department of Environmental Quality: the Michigan DEQ rep was also willing to come out, free of charge, and inspect and remove any hot material -- the WMU Safety Officer just responded first*. A blogger with experience in radioactive materials also offered this helpful link to the Health Physics Society, which has a FAQ and links to help you find health physicists in your area.

The Radiation Safety Officer asked the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality about registering the material and was told that Michigan has exempt quantities of radium for timepieces and it does not require that the pieces be intact. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also has exempt quantities, but does have stipulations about intact or loose parts. If you have questions regarding disposal of radium timepieces (or their parts), you should look into your particular state requirements for quantities. However, it may open an expensive proposition in quantifying the curie content of the materials.

Radium paint isn't anything to be terribly frightened of, but as crafters, we need to be well aware of the risks inherent in our medium, especially if we're intending to sell our pieces to the public.

* I need to give an enormous thankyou to WMU's Radiation Safety Officer for the time he spent inspecting my house and crafts, and for safely disposing of my hot material. He was very kind and thoughtful and thorough and took the time to explain a lot more about how radiation works, and more importantly, how it doesn't work. I totally got my science-nerd fix for the week. Thank you again, sir!

December 31, 2008 -- Clockwork Game, Sketchbook Fun

I was scanning and prepping ten new pages tonight, and I thought I'd share some of the better-looking sketches from the storyboard book. Some are from upcoming scenes, and some are just me doodling. (My favorite is stately old Anthon.) Enjoy!

(Click for a larger version.)

December 28, 2008 -- More Self-Publishing Resources

Lately I haven't been very good about keeping up the Self-Publishing Resources section of Vogelein.com, mostly because I'm still trying to figure out this self-publishing stuff myself. The stakes keep changing, as do the ways of getting your work noticed, and it's hard for me to say much of worth on the subject right now -- I'm still flinging spaghetti myself, and as soon as I see what sticks to the wall best, I'll feel better equipped to blog about it.

Until then, I'm going to start linking more often to people who do know what they're doing -- people like Sara Ryan, because she's a really great writer and she writes some pretty awesome comics in addition to her prose work.

Here's a quote from her journal entry, "On Writing and Risk, Redux":

Does being an author carry risks that other fields do not? Yes. Obviously, unless you’re doing, say, reporting in a war zone, the physical risks to life and limb are minor. This is not mining, or heavy machinery operation, or farm work, or firefighting, or combat. But there are other kinds of risks. Friends, family members, and lovers will see themselves in your work. They may be flattered, but they may also be deeply hurt. Either way, you may not have had them consciously in mind at all when you created those characters or situations. Also, as a writer, you spend a lot of time in your own head, which is not always a pleasant locale.

Go read the rest, it's really good. And if you haven't read Sara's stuff, go read that, too.

Also, here's a really nice essay written by Lisa Jonté, on the blog of Lea Hernandez:

It occurred to me that building a good rep is not much different than building a good credit rating. The best advice is to start small. With credit, you would start a small account, make small, (easily paid off) purchases against it and make timely payments. So, by that logic, to establish a good rep you would take minimal jobs (one at a time please!) make only minimal promises and follow through in a timely manner. However, you also have to make a living, no easy balance to strike, but (I think) doable. Perhaps the focus should be on an entire year, not just the next project at hand. Seeing as how we are about to start a new year, I think this is as good a time as any to start fresh.

Good, sound advice in there. Go read.

December 16, 2008 -- Artistic Masochist

Man, I'm an artistic masochist lately. This week's page had four separate crowd scenes in it. Four. I am a real glutton for punishment.

On the other hand, I've really crossed a mental line with the story, and despite the horrendous amount of time each page requires of late, I'm having a real blast. The pages are looking a heck of a lot better than they were, and -- fortunately or unfortunately -- I'm probably going to go back and start tinkering with earlier pages once I get this chapter done.

One of the minor benefits of being a self-publisher is that I don't have to release my book until its ready. This can be as much curse as blessing: one has to know when to stop tinkering and print the darn book already. However, it does give me the luxury of going back and bringing the early versions Kempelen and Anthon closer to their final look. I wound up deviating from the model sheet as I found out more about the characters' personalities, because the changes looked better and rang more true than my original designs. It will also give me the chance to make the entire chapter more cohesive, artistically -- the advancements I've made with page composition and execution in the last fifty pages are really visible to me, and I hope they will be to my readers, as well.

So yeah. Visible improvements (at least, I think so, YMMV) are a good thing, except for my free time.

November 27, 2008 -- BPM Love

Hey, everybody. I've got more BPM love to share!

Here are just some of the reviews so far --

"...Roxy is a fully formed character, complete with self-doubt, determination, and a palpable euphoria when a night of music, dancing, and a great crowd all come together. Highly recommended for older teens and adults." —Eva Volin, ICv2. Rating: 4.5 Stars Out of 5

"...Call it a mashup, call it a remix, call it a day-glo pop love letter to a misspent youth: B.P.M. is brain candy in the best sense of the word." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"...It is an amazing transformation that unfolds for the reader. Starting slowly, tentatively, Sizer brings the story to a feverish pitch and when the graphic novel is over, the reader is energized, wanting more. Like a good techno set (and yes, they do exist), Sizer elicits the emotions that he wants." —Lee Newman, BROKEN FRONTIER

Plus, there's a new interview with Paul at Comic Geek Speak.

BPM hit stores last week, so you can buy it from your LCS, order it from any chain store, or get it direct from Paul here.

I know I've been talking about this a whole lot lately, but given that between the two of us, Paul and I only produce a comic book about once every two years or so, this is a pretty big deal. Go Paul!

November 16, 2008 -- One small step

Crossed a minor milestone this weekend: I finished page 50 of Clockwork Game. May not sound like a whole lot, but I've managed to keep myself on track for a full year, and have made more art, and faster, than anytime since I was in college. Not all of it is my absolute best work, but it has been on time, and I'm fairly pleased with the balance of quality and speed I've been able to maintain.

And speaking of speed, today's page involves my first attempt at speed lines. We'll see if they actually work.

November 15, 2008 -- Aw, yay!

I got Scans_Daily-ed today! How thoughtful of you, Joysweeper! This totally made my day.

November 02, 2008 -- Hallowe'en Steam

I haven't made a good Hallowe'en costume in years and years, mostly because I'm usually spending all my time working on comic books. This year, however, Paul and I got invited to a party over at Katja and Steven's house -- and since they're both costumers, the bar was set pretty high. I knew I'd have to come up with something decent, so I decided to be an air pirate.

Then the jacket I ordered made me look all goofy and not cool and menacing at all. Then I couldn't find a cheap aviator helmet (or anything that looked close enough to an aviator helmet to count). And then after going through my basement and visiting both toy and craft stores, I couldn't find enough junk to cobble together a convincing Rocketeer-style jet-pack.

So I had to come up with a new plan: The Backyard Aviatrix.

Inspired by this awesome Instructable, I decided to make a set of daVinci-glider-looking wings. I'm enough of a klutz, however, that I knew I couldn't rig them to open and close as my arms moved, or people ten feet away would lose their drinks. Talk about widening my spill field. After a few adjustments, I settled on a pair of handles that I could use to spread and retract the wings, and they worked pretty well until the foamcore gave out. Unfortunately, I didn't get the angle on the wings quite right, so at full extension they were at waist-height instead of shoulder height.

Still, they were so much fun and such a neat challenge that I'm thinking of making a better set for next year's Hallowe'en out of more sturdy, permanent materials. Lightweight wood like basswood probably wouldn't weigh much more than the foamcore, and a stretch fabric between the wingbones instead of a solid sheet would allow the wings to collapse up much closer to the body.

Yay for costuming! I forget how much fun this stuff is. Anybody else got Hallowe'en pictures to share?

October 09, 2008 -- Most People Are DJs

Over the last couple of weeks, Paul created a series of video podcast interviews with Mike Pfeiffer at Most People Are DJs. The first one is here and the second is here. If you've ever wondered where Paul gets his inspiration, this is a great place to start.

Check 'em out!

October 06, 2008 -- SPX 08 Report

This year's SPX was a total blast. I was really overwhelmed by the quality of the comics I bought during the show -- it seemed like everybody had brought out their absolute best. Many of the faces I saw were entirely new to me, which was wonderful. It was great to se so many new entries into the field, and I blew more money this year on new comics (mostly minis) than I have the last two years put together.

We were also blessed to run into old friends aplenty, including Jay Hosler, whose new book, Optical Allusions, a gradeschool-level explanation of how eyes work, is gorgeous, and I can't wait to sit down with it. We also ran into Whiteout and Road to Perdition artist Steve Leiber and his crazy-talented wife Sara Ryan, who just got BoingBoinged! Go, Sara!

Paul and I were lucky enough to stay with Carla Speed McNeil and fellow traveller Jim Ottaviani (who has an awesome new webcomic with Sean Bieri at Tor.com as well as three beautiful new books coming out soon, so you should totally keep an eye on his site). We arrived late to the Ignatz awards, and couldn't even wedge ourselves into the aisles, so instead we sat in the lobby and hung out for a while with Jen Hachigian, Denise Sudell, Pam Bliss, Dan and Katie Merritt, Rich Watson, and some of the folks from Portland's Periscope Studios: Jonathan Case, his wife Sarah and Susan Tardif. I was bummed about missing the awards, which rewarded my spontaneous decision to purchase Swallow Me Whole. Congrats, Nate!

The reception was great, complete with a return of Karon's chocolate fountain. I didn't photograph too many fellow creators, unlike last year, but here are a few:

The real surprise of the show came from a prop I brought to help attract attention to my clockwork jewelry: a pair of steampunked goggles. I won them on ebay and then almost ruined them trying to mod them up; I finally cannibalized some light fixtures I found in the basement and got them done just in time for the show. They were a huge success, and helped me sell out my entire stock of Clockwork Game minis, and all but four pieces of jewelry. Everybody wanted to try them on, so after about the third person, I started taking pictures.

Overall, this is the best show I've had in a long time. I ran into a whole bunch of other folks, too numerous to mention, but here's a stab at it:

• Kate Beaton, who was mobbed the entire time. She seemed kind of overwhelmed at all the attention she was getting, but we tried our best to convince her that it was really well-deserved.


• Spike and Dirk, both attending their first SPX ever. Spike sold out of her graphic novels, so here's hoping she makes it back next year. Dirk did pretty well, too, from what I hear.


• Leah Riley from Willrad.com, who sold me a really killer squid-with-its-tentacles-in-the-shape-of-a-heart tee-shirt. Paul was insanely jealous. Leah also took a picture of me blinking as usual Man, I hope I didn't look like that much of a goober during the show.


• Three of my favorite webcomickers, all in a row:
  Meredith Gran, David Malki (the new Dark Horse Wondermark collection is really quite lovely), and Aaron Diaz. I was really happy to see such a strong webcomic turnout.


• Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman, selling their many, many series -- and announcing some more good news!


• We were right around the corner from Bryan Lee O'Malley and Hope Larson, but hardly got a chance to talk to them the entire show. We did pick up a copy of Scott Pilgrim and one of Chiggers, complete with a lovely ink-brush cover sketch by Hope. People whose tastes I trust say it's a fantastic book, so I can't wait to dig in.


• All the folks at the Dada Detective booth were really sweet and stopped by several times to chat and swap books. Really nice folks, and I'm looking forward to reading their series, which just released its second volume.

There were so many more people I ran into -- if you're reading this and I forgot to post a link to you, let me know -- it's hard to remember everyone. Such a busy, exciting show!

I had a great time meeting old and new fans, passing out Clockwork Game cards, trading minis, and discovering new artists and comics. I've got a ton of new minis and graphic novels, and I'm really looking forward to a pair of long lazy mornings this weekend. Yay for SPX!

For older news, please visit the News Archives  on the Vögelein site.