Blog

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.

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 working on his startup he is at MakeHaven in the woodshop showing people safe tool use or teaching techniques.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Materials used:

MakeHaven has sensors and Arduinos with them you can take senor data (sound, light, vibration, radio, etc) and turn it into light. How about a skate board that lights brighter the faster you go, or earrings that light up when you shake your head, or a scarf that tells you the temperature.

We bought a bunch of these led lights (neo pixils) for the make-a-thon, register now and start inventing!

Ears

We have a Shapeoko CNC will which can many designs into wood and other materials. A great place to start is thinking about makeing a name plaque or even inlaying a design in wood.

MakeHaven has three lasercutters and a 3d scanner. You can create a model or scan an object which you slice in Autodesk’s 123D Make software. This generates a pattern you can use to make fantastic cardboard sculptures.

You can even capture the 3d model by doing a 3d scan.