Hello everyone,
It’s hard to believe that the Fall semester is nearly halfway finished. Fall is absolutely gorgeous this year with bright red and golden leaves adorning every inch of our rural campus.
Students in the Tools for Engineering class will be unveiling robots soon, including robots for the Battle Bots tournament in November. The most challenging project for this class is the stair step climbing robots which reveal some really original student designs.
Even though the 3D Lab is closed over the fall semester due to COVID precautions, its services are ready and available. If you have projects that need 3D printed, laser engraved, vinyl signage made, etc., reply to this email with your request. We will perform the work in the 3D Lab at no cost for pick-up later. Here is a list of our equipment to aid in making your projects come to life. Want to find a makerspace to work on projects there? Attached is a list of area makerspaces; contact them before arriving to determine any restrictions/temporary closures due to COVID.
Despite COVID causing people to stay home more often than not, makers still wanna make! Ben Engle, an alumni of the University of Akron Wayne College always wanted to build his own DIY version of a Jazzmaster guitar. He found a piece of Black Limba wood in a scrap bin, perfect for a guitar body. He designed the body with Fusion 360, then milled the wood with a CNC machine that he assembled from scratch. The below video is amazing, showing the design work, milling the body and acrylic face, and Ben playing his new guitar at the end. What a beautiful piece! Ben’s not a bad guitarist, either. 😊
Makers in our area are dreaming up new ideas all of the time. Bob, one of our community members, had an idea of using a leaf blower to safely clean house gutters without scaling a roof. He explained this idea to Joe, one of our 3D Lab staff, involving the creation of an adapter to connect an inexpensive gutter drain pipe to the leaf blower.
The above photos shows the adapter connected a straight piece of gutter pipe, but Bob also attached the adapter to a “U”-shaped gutter pipe, allowing him to stand at ground level with the leaf blower, the forced air blowing up and then down again to clean roof gutters from above quite easily!
This time last year, the 3D Lab made a road trip to the Made in Medina County event. It’s mission is to raise awareness and educate the residents, students, and businesses as to the economic importance and career opportunities of our manufacturing industry. Many vendors, companies, and service providers lined the halls of the Medina County Fairgrounds.
Tabled next to another University of Akron booth (the Chemistry Department was demonstrating exploding foam of all things), the 3D Lab table and 3D printer demonstration were fascinating to all ages of event goers. Quite a few had never seen a 3D printer before and students were interested in how they can further a career in engineering.
Stay tuned next week as we introduce more interesting folks who participated in last year’s Maker Faire!
See how 3D printing inside the body could patch stomach ulcers
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-d-printing-inside-the-body-could-patch-stomach-ulcers
Can a 3D printer print food? A resounding yes!
https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-food-3d-printing-food
Does your 3D printer print only one color? Learn how to create multi-color filament for a rainbow of possibilities!
https://all3dp.com/1/weekend-project-create-your-own-multi-color-filament-with-3d-printed-filament
Maker Faire Wayne County 2021 is canceled out of COVID19 precautions. Still wanted to attend a maker faire this year? Try virtual Maker Faire Cleveland this November!
Maker Monday is postponed out of COVID19 precautions. Please check www.schantzmakerspace.com for future meeting dates, workshops, and activities as some dates have changed.
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.