October 2014

Hello everyone, We are pleased to announce the newest addition to the Wayne makerspace, a professional vinyl cutter!  Though a generous grant from AT&T to the Orrville Boys & Girls Club, this machine allows the creation of stick-on graphics, lettering, and decals.  These have adhesive backing for application onto windows, laptops, cars, walls, basically any flat surface.  We also have a heat press for transferring designs onto t-shirts. Many thanks to Kevin Platz (Executive Director of OBAGC) who made this possible.  If anyone would like to see and learn how to use this device, please stop by!  As Sarah Jane notes, it is so easyRead More →

Hello everyone, The engineering students are using the Wayne makerspace practically full-time, thankfully all three printers are basically working well.  Students are designing motor parts for their current projects, some will be hand operated while others will be powered by air pressure.  Their CAD designs are amazing. We are always up for a challenge to create and fix things, too.  One of the tutors in the Learning Center owns a “string trimmer” that is basically a weed eater in a lawn mower form factor.  The company went out of business, so he could not obtain replacement trimmer line.  After bringing a sample to the makerspace,Read More →

Hello everyone, There are so many things going on at the Wayne makerspace that it is difficult to keep track of them.  The lab seems to have a life of its own, given the students who are pursuing all sorts of projects. Aside from the LEGO robots being built by students in the Tools for Engineering class, the R/C Club has made the makerspace their home.  For the past couple of weeks, students are cutting airplane parts from foam board, printing motor mounts, propellers, and firewalls with the 3D printers, designing complex assemblies in CAD, etc.  It’s amazing what 3D printing makes possible with thisRead More →

Hello everyone, The Wayne makerspace lab has been busy since the start of the semester.  There is always someone in the lab, printing, drawing, testing robots, or just hanging out.  The printers are almost constantly running and the students have no problem with figuring them out. Our portable printer (affectionately named “Polly”) exhibited platform heating problems for over a month now.  A heated platform is important when printing with ABS plastic as it needs to cool slowly to reduce the risk of warping.  As the printer was under warranty, the vendor sent a replacement heating element.  It worked for a little while, then failed again. Read More →