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Overheard Maker Conversation

We had a busy Saturday… Dana packed up the holiday decorations and I spent a few hours at lunch with Maks, my former student and current friend. We took care of a few other things around the house and then headed out for dinner, and the first place we went to was closed, the second place was too crowded, and finally we went to a place we’ve seen before but never visited. It also looked crowded but we sat at the bar for dinner and grabbed some drinks right away.

While waiting for our food I mentioned that the three giant TVs right above the bar all had the same channel showing some sports game, and maybe they should change one to show PBS and another to show the Weather Channel. Yeah, I’m not a sports fan, and I do think giant TVs could be put to better use… why not show some art, or work from local photographers? Sigh…

Anyway, as we were dining, the guy next to us at the bar started talking to a another guy he knew who came up to say hello to him… they were talking a bit about woodworking, and the younger guy mentioned a YouTube maker he liked (someone from North Carolina who made furniture) and the older guy explained his whole dust collection system, including showing some photos on his phone, and then there was mention of a Grizzly Bandsaw, and the younger guy said he had a jigsaw he needed to sell (and yes, I was tempted to say “Hey, I need a jigsaw!” but I didn’t…)

I said to Dana, “This is the best overheard conversation I’ve ever had at a bar!” and then when we left she had to stop and tell them that I enjoyed hearing their “shop talk” which sort of embarrassed me, but I said “Keep on Making!” and we headed out.

I made me feel good that these two guys were having a great conversation about woodworking, and furniture making, and shops, and tools, and dust collection. That’s it!

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Fake WiFi Sign

Much of my family belongs to a group that celebrates our German heritage and there’s a clubhouse on a lake that they spend time at during the summer. I’ve spent time there as well, starting when I was a child, and the place has the most basic amenities you need, but nothing fancy… there’s no TV or big stereo system, no video games or pinball… there’s not even an Internet connection, and most of all, there’s no WiFi. When you’re there it’s more about spending time with family and friends, being outdoors, on the lake, enjoying some downtime “off the grid” as it were.

So my cousin told me he wanted a (fake) sign to put on the wall advertising a non-existent WiFi network to trick people into trying to connect to it. I’m guessing he wanted to see the youth get excited and then frustrated, which is always a fun pastime for older people…

I liked his idea enough to kick out a quick design in Inkscape, load the SVG into LightBurn, and toss some 1/4″ Baltic Birch into the laser cutter to make one for him. I chose a Germanic looking font and the word “Gemütlichkeit” which is a German word used to convey the idea of a state or feeling of warmth, friendliness, and good cheer. Which is great for a fake WiFi network password aimed at tricking people. It’s even got umlauts! Who chooses a WiFi password with umlauts in it!?

When I heard my cousin was moving out of state for a new job I decided I had to make two signs, one for the clubhouse and one he could take with him to his new home. I used two different techniques as well. The first was simple etched wood that I then sanded and covered with polyurethane, and the second was etched, then spray painted white for the etched letters, then rolled with black ink on the top surface, and finally covered with polyurethane.

I used enough polyurethane on the black and white version to pretty much fill in the etched part so it (almost) matches the top surface of the black part. Since I used oil-based polyurethane it also took on a yellowy tint, which I think worked well because it makes it look like other things on the wall which have probably been there for the last fifty years. I mean, what’s better than a really old looking fake WiFi sign for 2020?

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Label Maker Tip

A few years ago I picked up a nice DYMO label maker for less than $10, and found that the third party label cartridges worked fine about 90% of the time for about one third the price. I liked it so much that I got one for work as well where we used it label electronics for exhibit components.

One of the problems, or maybe more appropriately, one of the annoyances, was getting the label size right, so I came up with the following solution…

Right on the back of the label maker, where you can’t lose it, is a simple visual guide showing what size type your label will use. Even with training in graphic design it can be hard to visualize what 16 points will look like versus what 20 points will look like. Guess no more! Here’s the guide!

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Maker Faire Orlando 2019

I managed to attend seven Maker Faires in 2019, including Elkhorn Mini Maker Faire, Maker Faire Miami, Maker Faire Kansas City, Maker Faire Detroit, Maker Faire Milwaukee, Madison Mini Maker Faire, and Maker Faire Orlando. For three of those I served as a Producer or Producer in Residence, and for the others I attended as a Maker, either representing Milwaukee Makerspace, Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, or taking part in the Power Racing Series.

Pictured above is a shot of the crew for Maker Faire Orlando. They are an amazing bunch of volunteers who work their butts off to put on an amazing event. I’m proud to have been able to join them the last three years and assist in any way I could. And besides all the local folks who help out we had guest Producers from New York, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee all helping out, each bringing a unique perspective to the group.

(Note: We’re missing a few valuable crew members in the photo because they were busy with Robot Ruckus, which is an amazing event that happens inside another amazing event. Amazing!)

I tried to get a little time to run around with my DSLR and capture some photos, and I’ve got a whole album, but here’s a few worth sharing… Above is a creepy doll, or to be more precise, one of the Deviant Dollz. I don’t know that I’d ever purchase one of these dolls, but I loved seeing them, and if I ever have to shoot a horror film, I know who I’m getting the props from.

Our old pal Matt Stultz was there with Prusa, the company and the man, and people really liked finding out more about what they do. Also, I learned that bringing your Prusa printer to a Maker Faire so Josef can autograph it is a thing people do.

Gary the Snail (along with Aren) made it for the Power Racing Series finale, and took the title! Many PPPRS friends were there as well, including Jim, Patrick, and racers from around the country. We also got to test a new water barrier concept on the track this year, which was fascinating and fun.

It’s always good to see Jeremy Cook and his latest strandbeest contraptions. If you haven’t met Jeremy yet, check out his videos. He’s one of those makers who seems to keep busy all the time.

Hey, if you’re gonna throw a Maker Faire you should have a DJ because they make sick beats happen, they make people smile, and they make everyone have a good time. At least that’s what the.kd.queen managed to do. She even handed the mic over to some crazy futuristic robot for a while… magical!

Want more? Check out my Maker Faire Orlando 2019 album or browse through photos from Jay De Los Santos, and start making plans to attend Maker Faire Orlando 2020 right now!

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First Place Ribbon

For some reason I’ve been into making things with felt lately. It probably has something to do with the fact that felt is cheap and colorful and laser cuts nicely. The colorful thing is a bit new to me. I tend not to do really colorful things, so that’s interesting as well. The colors I used for this piece are sort of terrible (in my opinion) but I wanted something “terrible” as it were.

This ribbon was made for Dana’s annual Holiday Bingo Game which has prizes for the winners, and I offered to make a (somewhat sad) ribbon for the first place winner, so here it is.

I started as I usually do, in Inkscape, designing the piece by stacking up objects. You can see the fully designed piece in the lower left corner. (The grey version next to it is sort of an x-ray view showing some of the original parts.) The top row contains the four pieces we’ll cut with the laser cutter. The second piece (red) has a slightly larger diameter than the similar part on the first piece (aqua) to allow for me not aligning things perfectly.

Here are all the pieces in LightBurn ready to be cut. Each piece gets the same cut settings but I assigned them all different colors (layers) as they’ll all be cut separately from different colored pieces of felt. I’ve also started to use LightBurn’s Library feature which allows you to save settings for different materials/thicknesses, etc. I can just click on “Felt” and assign those settings to the layer. Nice!

I think it turned out pretty good. The only thing I didn’t care for (design-wise) is the “st” part of the “1st” on the ribbon. I sort of punted on that (this was a quick project) and I think I could have come up with a better solution. I wanted to connect the letters “st” to the “1” to make assembling the whole thing easier. I think I can do better next time, I mean, if there is a next time. (Who wants a ribbon?)

Overall, though… I’m pleased with the outcome. It helps to have a spray booth and bottle of Super 77 spray glue sitting right next to the laser cutter to make creating these things quick and easy. It’s nice to have an idea for a project and see it completed in under an hour.