Hello everyone,
The Fall semester is at a close and winter break is here! We’ve had snow (now melted), but need a bit more for Christmas. Merry Christmas from all of us in the Wayne College family!
Feel free to stop-by the 3D Lab on Tuesday & Wednesday, December 17 & 18 to learn 3D printing and make stickers, buttons, and laser engraved gifts. We show you how to use the equipment; you make the stuff! Why buy pre-made Christmas gifts when you can make your own? Handmade gifts are original, personalized, and have sentimental value; they also are a gift to the maker simply by the joy of creating something new! After the 18th, the lab is closed until January 2nd.
To plan a visit, please let us know the day & time of your arrival via tjh1@uakron.edu or 330-684-8722 so that we have staff available. People under the age of 18 need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Our hours of operation are listed here.
Staff member Jeanette learned the laser engraver to make enchanting night lights as gifts for friends & family. At over $6 each, these nightlights are easy and fun to make! Jeanette created black and white designs in Canva, then saved them as PNG to allow for a transparent background. These were loaded into CorelDRAW, a vector art program. Cutting lines were added to give the acrylic plates different shapes with the artwork in the middle. The laser engraver burns the image first, giving it a frosted glass look. Then the laser cuts the desired overall shape around it. The result is stunning!
Dave and Mani from ST Engineering Hackey, Inc. in Kidron found our large-format 3D printer helpful with creating prototype corner castings for delivery trucks. This proof-of-concept model expedited the revision process and allowed them to prove-out the design. These corner pieces reinforce the joints at the rear of the trailer, protecting them from loading/unloading damage.
The corner casting was too large even for our Prusa XL 3D printer with a 14.7” cubed build area. We were able to “slice” the part into two sections using the included PrusaSlicer software then print them separately. Regular super glue worked well to bind the PLA sections together. As you can see, it turned out great! Dave and Mani gave us a 3D printed version of their mascot printed with tri-chromatic filament as a thank-you gift.
Community member Rachel used the 3D Lab to make Christmas gifts for her son, a t-shirt and hoodie with full-color custom decals! We printed her designs using the Roland BN2-20A solvent ink printer onto white heat-transfer vinyl. The printer also cut the designs after printing, similar to a Cricket. The tricky part was “weeding” the vinyl which means peeling away the unneeded pieces, leaving the design on the vinyl’s backing material.
After weeding, the vinyl decals were pressed onto “magic mask” material which allows the decal to transfer from the backing material to the mask, ink side facing the mask. This was placed on the shirt and hoodie, then heat pressed to make them permanent. The result looks professional! It was a bit of work, but certainly worth it.
Stay tuned next month as we reveal more interesting things happening the 3D Lab!
Until then,
Tom
For Moon Missions, Researchers Test a 3D-Printable, Waterless Concretehttps://science.slashdot.org/story/24/12/02/0534255/for-moon-missions-researchers-test-a-3d-printable-waterless-concrete
3D Print Your Own Articulated Christmas Toyshttps://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/home/articulated-christmas-toys
Maker Faire Wayne County 2024 is a wrap! Click here to see makers who participated this year.
Join us on January 11th for a one-of-a-kind experience that takes you into the heart of coding and robotics, a Robotics Arm Class! Click here to learn more.
Check-out this makerspace’s upcoming events on their monthly calendar. Click here for more information.
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.