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 easy to use. This Friday, boys and girls from the Club are coming to Wayne to use the vinyl cutter, 3D scanner, and to design nosecones for their model rockets.
The vinyl cutter is simply a tiny, computer controlled blade which cuts lines in the material. After cutting, the unneeded vinyl is peeled off. A special, clear “transfer tape” is applied to the top of the remaining design. When the tape itself is then peeled off, the design sticks to the tape. Applying the tape to a surface transfers the design, like magic!
Students from the Tools for Engineering class are busy designing and printing working air powered engines using the 3D printers. These large objects consume a lot of plastic, though our printers are holding up well. Hopefully we will have several working motors to reveal by the end of semester. Check-out the flywheel that was recently designed:
Students are also creating personal items in CAD, then printing them. Nathan needed a replacement buckle for his backpack, so he designed his own. Dusty is helping another student with an smart phone stand, trying different designs that are functional yet minimalistic.
The makerspace is still accepting requests from www.thingiverse.com, a repository of hundreds of thousands of ready-made 3D designs. You don’t need to know CAD to use a 3D printer! We made a first-place trophy for the annual costume party by combining the coveted Grumpy Pumpkin with a candlestick. The results are quite impressive. I even used my minimal CAD designs to design an adapter to fit the two pieces together. Chad requested a funnel that would allow pouring powder into a bottle, so we found a Thingiverse design for that, too.
We have been busy teaching community members and organizations about CAD design, 3D printing, and the makerspace initiative. Below is Dusty teaching CAD to members of the University of Akron Human Powered Vehicle Team.
Last evening, he taught CAD to a local company that discovered us during Manufacturing Day. This effort is a six-week workshop with two sessions a week. Many thanks to Dusty for his time and patience in doing this.
Did you know that Intel is releasing a robot later this year? Named “Jimmy Research Robot”, you 3D print most of its body, then add an Intel mini PC board, motors, and so on. This way, consumers can create their own customizable robots for under $1,000.
http://www.gizmag.com/intel-jimmy-3d-printed-robot/32325
We have some big developments and announcements in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
Tom