Hello everyone,

With Maker Faire 2019 behind us, summer sessions begin at Wayne College next week.  During this time, the 3D Lab goes through cleaning and repair over the summer months.  One of our broken Taz printers will be (hopefully) repaired, issues with the full-color 3D printer will be resolved, and the Prusa printers will receive hardware upgrades to make their unique multi-filament feature more reliable. 

The 3D Lab is open to the public during our summer hours here.  If you would like to use our 3D printers, laser engraver, poster maker, vinyl cutter, and other equipment, feel free to stop by!  The Romich Makerspace in Creston is also open for community use; please reply to this email you wish to visit that facility.  The makerspace supports laser engraving projects, CNC woodcarving, and plethora of wood and metalworking tools for almost anything. 

Projects continue in the 3D Lab even over the summer.  Tristan, one of our students, embarked on a sophisticated camera slider project for one of his engineering classes.  A slider is a unique tool in a cinematographer’s kit that has many uses.  A slide is simply when a camera moves laterally through three-dimensional space. In layman’s terms, the camera moves side to side.

Tristan’s slider design used various equipment in the 3D Lab to build it.  Electronics were assembled at our Electronics Station using stepper motors and an Arduino microcontroller.  Pulleys were custom designed in CAD then 3D printed from ABS plastic and also laser-cut from acrylic. The enclosure was laser-cut from MDF board. 

The result is impressive, a motorized slide that moves a camera at predefined speeds, complete with sensors to detect movement and endstops.  We look forward to Tristan revealing the finished product for a demonstration.

Earlier this Spring, a group of students from Hiland High School in Berlin visited the 3D Lab for a morning of learning about 3D printing.  This has become a yearly field trip to the college and we certainly welcome them! 

We taught students how to download 3D objects and operate the various 3D printers in the lab, as well as make items with the laser engraver and vinyl cutter.  These students also have access to a 3D printer at their own school for building derby cars and model rockets.  It seems that most schools are supplementing traditional wood and metal shops with digital fabrication rooms like the Wayne College 3D Lab, creating interest in minds of all ages with careers in engineering, creativity, and simply “making” for personal enjoyment.  Thanks to lab staff Ashton and Thomas for assisting the group during their visit.

Also in the Spring, a community member that I met at the Wayne County Home & Garden Show owns a woodworking business and expressed interest in laser engraving his products.  He creates handsome “layered wood” shot glass serving boards among other things.  Corel DRAW was used to import and cleanup a restaurant logo, converting a low resolution graphic into smooth, high-detail vector art.  As you can see, the lasered result looks beautiful!

In the second photo, the blue painter’s tape on the board prevents heated, charred wood particles from settling and binding to the wood during the lasering process.  A jig was made to ensure that each non-square serving board was accurately placed for consistent results. 

Again, the 3D Lab is open over the summer, so feel free to stop in!  Our hours of operation are posted here.

Stay tuned next week as we introduce interesting folks who participated in this year’s Maker Faire!

Until then,

Tom

Israeli Researchers 3D Print Tiny Heart with Blood Vessels and Chambers
https://all3dp.com/4/israeli-researchers-3d-print-tiny-heart-blood-vessels-chambers

World First 3D Printed Bionic Pancreas Could One Day Treat Diabetes
https://all3dp.com/4/world-first-3d-printed-bionic-pancreas-one-day-treat-diabetes

Like gardening?  Build this robot to do the work for you! https://www.facebook.com/tominohio1/posts/832329476901424

How to make a “Floating Faucet Fountain” for your garden
https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Magic-Faucet-Fountain

Thanks for another incredible Maker Faire 2019!  You can find information about past participants here.

Don’t miss the next Maker Monday on Monday, June 17th  at 7:00 p.m. at the Schantz Makerspace in Wooster.  Find out more at www.schantzmakerspace.com

We offer a free “listserv” that allows to you ask questions to members in the makerspace. It’s great for sharing ideas, forming friendships, and helping & advising each other. To join, send an email to listserv@lists.uakron.edu with “SUBSCRIBE MAKERSPACE-GROUP” in the subject line.