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So I ride my bike to and from work almost every day and given NHV's slow but methodical march towards normalization of bicycles on roadways, I decided it would be safe and proper to get a bike light. The bicycle accessory industry has a dazzling array of options with equally dazzling expense. Because my priorities are focused less upon lighting the roadway and more upon making my presence evident to motorists, I opted out of spending hundreds of dollars on a high tech “bike light”. My solution is a pretty high lumen, decent quality LED flashlight from Home Depot ($30-$40) and two pipe clamps (

A long time ago I saw a funny logo about bike riding in San Fran and, given the rustic state of our own city's road infrastructure, it inspired me to rework the logo for New Haven. I've always been fond of the New Haven Railroad logo designed by Herbert Matter and used that as the basis of the design. I then merged in a human figure ala Saul Bass (Hitchcock's "Vertigo" logo) and a touch of Milton Glasier's "I Love New York" logo. However, I knew nothing about silkscreening and had to teach myself (meaning heavy reliance upon the intertubes and sage screenprinting advice from awesome local

Do you wuv puppies? 

Do you wish to allow them the dignity of eating at a wittle table?

Do you hate the unsightliness of dog dishes sitting on your floor?

If you answered yes to all of these questions and love 1 hour projects, this one is for you. I took some scrap 5/4 pine (1-1/8" actual thickness...the table frame wants to be meaty to hold the bowl properly) and cross cut it into three pieces (the table can be any height or width that suits your canine friend). Get two stainless steel bowls with a lip at the top so the bowls don't fall through the table holes. The tricky part is measuring

So on July 4th I did an epic barbecue involving dry rubbed, apple smoked pulled pork served on Hawaiian Malasadas (Portuguese deep fried donuts) with fresh cabbage slaw and mango/jalapeno sauce...but that’s not what this blog entry is about. A byproduct of that effort was me not wanting to waste the half inch of fatback (skin and fat layer) that I cut off of the two pork shoulders. I decide to make Chicharróns, which is small squares of slow baked fatback that shrink into succulent, crispy chunks of fatty goodness that you salt and eat, preferably with a cool beer...but that's not what this

We have your favorite characters returning and three new stars entering the cast.

• Colin Bunting is an engineer and designer. He has built lots of drones, can bend a laser cutter or 3d printer to his will and has entrepreneurship in his blood.
• Catherine Cazes-Wiley is a hat designer and crafter. She is from France but has taken to her new home in the USA by volunteering to teaching marketable crafting skills people with disabilities, exiting homelessness or who are settling refugees.
• Lior Trestman is an advocate for making a better community. If he is not volunteering at the bike coop or

This cornhole board has lights that normally flash white.  When a beanbag goes through the hole, the lights flash red.  I used an infrared transmitter/receiver pair, a strand of NeoPixels, and an Arduino.  Anyone up for a game?

 
Cutting openings on the Shapeoko.

 
Finished board with wooden legs and clear acrylic inlay (cut on the laser cutter).  Neopixel strand is held in place with wire and masking tape.

 
 
A peek at the messy innards.  The IR sensor is mounted on the small posts next to the hole.

As part of the Arts and Ideas Festival we asked a number our members to demonstrate the work they are doing on projects. Here are three of those makers summarizing their projects in under a minute and a half. 

Elisa Shares Her Laser Cutter Work

Elisa talks about her work to use the laser to cut intricate paper designs and create a fold-able wood book cover.

Jacob Talks about Hand Tool Use in Building a Bench

Woodworker Jacob describes the tools he is using to build a bench for MakeHaven.

Jeremy Talks about the Shapeoko CNC Mill

MakeHaven member Jeremy explains what the Shapeoko CNC

So I finished my first bowl. In truth the past few months have been mostly waiting for the wood to dry and stabilize. One has to do that by slowly opening a bigger and bigger aperture in the plastic bag the bowl is stored in. At first it literally sweats and then slows down over time. Near the end of drying I had to mitigate some splitting with butterfly keys (a.k.a. bow ties or dutchmen) and then do some filling with cyanoacrylate glue (crazy glue or zap-a-gap) mixed with sawdust. I've read that there's a good 25% chance that a bowl will split because wood is unpredictable and $#!+ happens

MakeHaven has been recognized as the first FabLab in Connecticut. This designation will help to propel MakeHaven as a technical prototyping platform for innovation, invention and entrepreneurship. Being recognized as a FabLab means connecting to a global community of fabricators, artists, scientists, engineers, educators, students, amateurs, professionals, of all ages located in more than 78 countries. This community is simultaneously a distributed technical education network, and a distributed research laboratory working to digitize fabrication, inventing the next generation of manufacturing

You can use Electroluminescent (EL) wire to make a faux-neon sign for your wall or window. 

Materials used:

• Sculpture wire, available in the jewelry section of most craft stores.  I used 16-gauge, but 18 and 20 will also work.  http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Wire-Gauge-Gold-feet/dp/B0018NB9Q2/ref=sr_1…
• EL wire: https://www.adafruit.com/products/403
• EL inverter: https://www.adafruit.com/products/564
• Fishing line (10 lb test)

Bend the sculpture wire into the desired shape.  I would recommend not adding too many sharp angles