March 2026 Newsletter

Leesburg Workday: 3/28/2026 9am-2pm

Purcellville Workday: 3/07/2026 9am - 12pm

(There's something for everyone -get those volunteer hours in!)

Monthly Membership Meeting

Meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 PM. Log to:

http://meet.google.com/ubz-ykxr-kiu

or

Dial-in: (US) +1 304-609-2532

PIN: 114 333 983#

Announcements

Update on Laser and 3D Printing Costs at Makersmiths

Jim Waldron, Board of Director

Now that the lasers are free use, I've updated the method for reporting usage for maintenance purposes.  This is setup is at Makersmiths- Purcellville, and I will be setup in Makersmiths-Leesburg in the next few days when I get down there.  Instead of a logbook, there is a QR code on each computer/desk, the same QR code on a poster next to the lasers, there will be a shortcut on the desktop, it is pinned to this channel, and I'll ask to get it added to the laser registration page.  You do not need to be logged into any account to log the time. The form includes the same information as the logbook which is your name, laser used, time (in minutes) and the type of material being cut.

Bryan Daniels, 3D Co-Steward

Pursuant to a vote by the Board of Directors on 02/25/2026, there is no longer a charge associated with the use of Makersmiths Filaments. We only ask that if you use Makersmiths filaments that you consider making a donation. Look for donation boxes in our facilities.

Important Information About Canceling Classes
Mary Waldron, Makersmiths Treasurer

Members, did you know that Makersmiths incurs costs when you request a refund for a class?  Unless there is an emergency or illness, please commit to attending the class that you chose. Refunds are not automatically issued. If you do have to cancel a class, you must let the instructor know and send a message to treasurer@makersmiths.org. 

Taking Red Tool Woodworking Classes at MSL and MSP

One recent problem we have experienced is new members not understanding the differences between red tool woodworking training at MSL and red tool woodworking at MSP.  If you want to use the woodworking tools at MSL, you must take the red tool woodworking class at MSL. If you have questions about the tools at MSL, the steward of that shop is Mike DeWan. If you have a question about the classes at MSL, the scheduler for MSL classes is Jennifer.Chu@makersmiths.org.

The tools at MSP are industrial grade tools so two red woodworking classes are needed at MSP. The first is the Basic Woodworking Red Tool class that covers most of the tools in that shop, but not all of them. The Advanced Woodworking Red Tool class covers four more tools in that shop. John Borden teaches those two classes. Blair Marendt and Allen Hamlin are now working with folks with no woodworking skills, and they co-teach the Basic Woodworking Red Tool Make and Take class at MSP. If you have a question about the classes at MSP, the scheduler for classes at MSP is Diane.Painter@makersmiths.org. 

Volunteers Needed

We have several marketing opportunities this summer into fall and we really could use a Marketing Chairperson working with amazing Makersmiths members to head an event. Please reach out to a Board of Directors member and let them know you are interested!

We currently have only two members working on the newsletter committee. We could use another person or two who would be willing to write articles or follow-up with members who post interesting tidbits on Slack. The newsletter now only tells members what other Makersmiths members are doing, but it is an archive of events, Board of Directors actions, messages from our president to the members and so much more. Please reach out to diane.painter@makersmiths.org if you want to join our committee.

If you are interested in hosting tours at either location, please reach out to Ken.Fuentecilla@makersmiths.org.

Of course, we need all hands on deck the first Saturday of the month for work days at MSP and when they Saturdays that they are announced and posted on the calendar at MSL. 

Thank you to everyone who helps make Makersmiths the best it can be!

Member Highlights

Makersmiths relies on volunteers to help our organization be the best it can be. There are two members we want to highlight to let you know the important volunteer work they are doing for us so when you see them, give them high-fives and a big thank you!

Bryan Daniels is our new 3D co-steward. Bryan states:

 I'm a new member myself and I'm excited to learn more each time I come in the door. Last month I volunteered to be the 3D printing co-steward. I'm currently working on updating and bringing new 3D Printing capabilities of both MSL and MSP. My plan has a few phases that include bringing in new printers, bringing in new capabilities such as 3D scanning, offering new classes (such as CAD basics) and other things to give the 3D Lab some new life with my ultimate goal being that the 3D Lab becomes a reliable focal point for new members to be excited for and returning members to enjoy using. Outside of Makersmiths I'm a (reluctant) cat dad, First Responder, and all-around goofy dork. 

Mike Brady is our new webmaster. Mike shares this:

I've been working on the website. I recently added some additional functionality to the tool reservation system. When you make a reservation, it now sends you a confirmation email with your reservation details. It also now gives you the option to cancel a reservation without requiring the assistance of a steward or IT. We've been testing this out with the CO2 lasers for the past two weeks. This weekend I plan on rolling out the upgraded reservation system to the rest of the tools. I'm also working on doing a bit of redesigning of the website. My goal is to make it easier for members to navigate and use. I also want to make it more informative and inviting to non-members who are visiting our website. A bit more about me... I'm a fairly new member to Makersmiths. I joined last summer. I primarily do woodworking, but I like to dip my toes into as many different hobbies as I can. I just can't seem to stop signing up for red tool classes! Outside being a maker, I enjoy playing chess. Most Monday nights you can find me at Green Tree Tavern duking it out with Ken Fuentecilla over the chessboard!

KidWind Projects Testing Days Coming Up

KidWind wind and solar teams are wrapping up their renewable energy projects and will be testing their projects to see how much electrical energy they produce. The testing day on March 14 will happen at both MSL and MSP locations. The wind teams will set up the wind tunnel in the Green Room from 8:30-4PM for wind teams to see how much their wind turbines produce energy. The solar teams will set up a solar rig in the electronics room and will host solar teams in Northern VA from 9AM-2PM. Then Makersmiths solar teams will have the use of the solar rig during their normal team meeting times on Sunday, March 15 from 1-7PM in the electronics room.

All five of our Makersmiths’ KidWind teams will be at the all-day Northern Virginia Regional Challenge on Tuesday, March 17. This event will be held at the Potomac Science Center at George Mason’s Woodbridge, VA location. If the teams win first or second place, they will compete at the State Challenge on April 11 at James Madison University in King Hall.

Questions? Contact Diane.Painter@makersmiths.org

What Are Our Members Making?

Each month, we like to highlight items our members make so we can see the wide variety of tools and types of materials they use to make their projects. This month, Greg Carter went into depth to explain how he made his cheeseboards. He states:

The boards are cheese slicers, pure and simple. The base is made of wood offcuts, being walnut, maple, poplar, canary wood, fir, ebony, padauk, redheart, purpleheart, cherry, wenge, and probably others, but I have forgotten their names. These offcuts are trimmed to a uniform width and height and then glued up into striped sheets about a foot long. I like to make about 4-5 different sheets so the stripes are not repetitive. The sheets are then crosscut perpendicular to make sticks that look like cubes glued in a line. I glue 10-20 sticks from different sheets to expose the end grain, making new sheets that look like sheets of cubes. Each of these (new) sheets is cut into four segments, each of which becomes a unique pattern on the cheese slicer base. 

Here are a few other projects that members made this past month:

Dana Eddy created a stunning suncatcher, crushed glass/resin project. She needed 24 hours for it to cure.

Mike Brady made an index wheel for a custom camera tripod mount. He lasercut MDF, sanded it and then finished the wheel with two coats of linseed oil.

Lyle Reger’s first attempt at making a leather western style hat is quite impressive. 

Bryan Daniels made team cards for colleagues at work.

John Jones made a charging station using the CNC and laser cut the dividers.

Dave Hamrick taught new member Miah Ullah how to wood-turn a pen.

Ian Poole is quite the woodworker. He made a mobile bar for Shutters in Leesburg.

Rob Donahue had fun making a multi-layer laser cut project. In fact, he made three of them, this picture is the smaller prototype. Jake (the dog) is an image he found online. Gemini created the frame image. He traced both out in Inkscape and cut them on the Leesburg laser. A hard sponge was used to apply paint and then some wood glue was used to hold it together.

Loudoun County Public Schools Five-Year CTE Expansion Plan

Diane Painter

On February 26, Jeff Irland and I had the pleasure of participating in the LCPS Career, Technical and Adult Education dinner and small table discussions about the 5-year CTE expansion plan. This plan, under the direction of the superintendent and managed by the Department of Career, Technical and Adult Education (CTAE) was discussed and a booklet entitled, CTE Pathway Expansion Plan: Expanding Career Connected Learning was given to each person who attended the event. Jeff will leave a copy of the plan at MSL and I left a copy in the Green Room at MSP for anyone visiting that Makersmiths location to learn about LCPS’s CTE expansion programs.

Before attending the February 26 event, I put out a call in Makersmiths’ SLACK asking for input from members that I could share during the small table discussions. John Carter and Jeff Irland responded, giving me their ideas. John wanted LCPS to know about a non-profit public tool lending library in Baltimore that offers classes and a dedicated DIY workspace, a home repair classroom for members and the community. See The Station North Tool Library at https://toollibrary.org.  Jeff mentioned that young people today need to learn the importance of measurement, accuracy, and tolerances and the physics and math that go along with those skills in STEM training initiatives. He stated, “The skilled trades of today require a broad understanding of how things are made and the materials used, hands-on training in traditional manual fabrication, power, tools, and use of numerically controlled tools.” 

I printed out a copy of John’s and Jeff’s comments and gave them to Nick Grzeda, the supervisor for CTE in the Department of Teaching and Learning. As I sat and listened to the people seated at my small discussion table, I was struck by how many people from different industries talked about “soft skills” students today need. A woman representing a car dealership said she recently worked with a recent high school graduate to have his pay checks sent directly to his bank account. The student told her he did not have a bank account, but he had a bank app on his phone. Did this student not understand that behind that app is a bank account in a real bank? An owner of an HVAC company, a woman representing a construction company and other business representatives at my table mentioned the following about today’s high school graduates: They need to learn time-management, collaborative, and problem-solving skills. Students need to learn to take initiative to make decisions and do things on their own. For example, these companies found that many recent high school grads do not drive and must rely on uber or parent transportation. When asked why they do not have driver licenses, they say they have not gotten around to getting one yet. 

I had to ask myself, what are we doing or could be doing to help our members’ youth prepare for the world of work?  At both Makersmiths locations, we have KidWind teams where team members learn both hard skills (related to making wind and solar projects) and soft skills (related to the engineering design-process, collaboration, problem-solving and taking initiatives). Blair Marendt and Allen Hamlin are now teaching red tool make and take woodworking classes that at times include a parent with a teen to learn woodworking skills. On March 19, we will host teachers from LCPS from 1-3:30 PM at both locations to see what we do at Makersmiths. If you are available, please come make something and engage in a conversation with these educators about how we can help better prepare our youth for learning soft and hard skills that will benefit them in adulthood. Finally, let me know your ideas for Makersmiths that will help our youth develop important “soft” and “hard” skills.

Design with Empathy: Make:able Challenge
Diane Painter

Over the past few summers, Makersmiths hosted Tinkercad workshops for youth and their parents. Here is a chance for you to show your creativity to prototype 3D-printed assistive devices, and build real-world solutions. PrintLab and Autodesk are excited to launch the 2026 Make:able Challenge, inviting students, educators, makers, and designers worldwide to create 3D-printed assistive devices. Who can enter? The challenge is open to anyone passionate about assistive technology—teachers, students, designers, engineers, and makers of all experience levels. You don’t need to be an expert in 3D design. Many 2025 teams began with rough sketches and basic prototypes before refining their ideas using Tinkercad and Autodesk Fusion. What matters most is your willingness to listen, iterate, and improve. If you need a refresher, or are just learning how to use Tinkercad, PromoAmbitions has excellent tutorials on YouTube. Begin here: Tinkercad Tutorials

Learn more about this design challenge and scroll to the bottom of the page to register: Make:able Challenge website.   

The February Board of Directors Report

James Waldron, Secretary

The Makersmiths Board of Directors met on February 25th both on-line and in the Leesburg basement. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Evin at 6:59pm.

The Treasurer reported that income was up and expenses were down in January. The year is off to a good start. Membership is up slightly although we still have a significant churn (new members joining but some old members dropping their membership). We would like to explore what we can do to retain members.

The new Plotter is installed and on-line in Purcellville. It is easier to use than the old plotter and produces excellent prints. Instructions for use are in the Wiki. New lighting was added to the Frame shop. The computer originally destined for the CNC Plasma table will be repurposed for the new Bambu printer in the Purcellville lower building classroom.

The Board approved a new compressor for Purcellville to replace the 20-year old (and dying) unit.  The new unit will be ordered, installed, and should be online by April. A new color copier/printer was approved for Leesburg.

A new Cost-Sharing schedule was approved and will be implemented in the coming weeks. Laser time will be free. Suggested donations for Steel, Filament, Resin, Copies, and Mat Board were removed. However, if you are making use of Makersmiths supplies for any of these, we will ask you to consider a donation. All other Cost-Sharing costs remain essentially the same except for Sublimation prints. Using Makersmiths sublimation paper which will drop from $2 to $1.50. Here is the new Schedule.

Red Tool Classes are an important step in your Maker journey!

MS-L

March 6 LCL-R100: C02 Laser Red Tool

March 10 WWL-R100:Woodworking Red Tool 

March 10 WTL-R100: Wood Lathe Red Tool

March 11 SWL-G000:Sewing Social

March 12 WTL-T101: Pen Turning

March 12 3DL-R100:FDM 3D Printing (Bamboo Red Tool)

March 13 UVL-R100:UV Printer Red Tool

March 19 ELL-G100:Electronics,AI, and Cloud Night

March 22 3DL-R100:Fdm 3D Printing (Bamboo Red Tool)

March 24 LCL-R100:C02 Laser Basic Red Tool

March 27 UVL-R100:UV Printer Red Tool

MS-P

March 8 LCP-R100: C02 Laser Basic Red Tool

March 8 FLP-R100:Fiber Laser Red Tool

March 12 WWP-R100:Woodworking Basics Red Tool 

March 13 CRP-s110:Ceramics Basics

March 15 WWP-R200:Woodworking Advanced Red Tool

March 18 MWP-R100:Metal Working Basics Red Tool

Makersmiths runs on volunteers!

Consider teaching a class or holding a workshop! check out the #class_planning_and_requests channel on Slack and join a meeting to get some help with your idea!

MONTHLY OPEN HOUSES

Every Tuesday In Purcellville from 6pm-8pm

785 South 20th Street Purcellville, Va 20132

Every Thursday In Leesburg from 6pm-8pm

106 South Royal Street SW Leesburg, Va 20175

Tool Authorization Groups

Dean Williamson

Makersmiths has lots of cool and useful tools, machines, and equipment.  Many of them require training or authorization before you can use the equipment.  The training can be as simple as an orientation, to a more formal “red tool” class, to demonstrating proficiency to the tool steward. Such mandatory training helps ensure that all users understand how to use the equipment properly and safely, thus helping to keep the equipment running smoothly and minimize maintenance downtime as well as ensuring the safety of our members.

Below is a link to the list of tools which require training and authorization from a Steward. Please contact the steward for more information about each tool. This list is not exhaustive of the tools available at Makersmiths and is updated regularly as we get new equipment or as needed:

By clicking above, you can view the most current list posted on the Makersmiths wiki. Consider checking it out, you might discover a new tool that you didn’t realize Makersmiths had.

Makersmith Board Officers

Board Name/Officer | Position | Term

Brad Hess | Board Member | 2022 - 2025

Bo Wernick | Board Member| 2024 - 2027

Evin Grano | Board Member/Chairperson | 2023 - 2026

Jennifer Chu | Board Member | 2024 - 2027

Diane Bollinger | President | 2025 - 2026

Mary Waldron | Treasurer | 2025 - 2026

Jim Waldron | Board Member/Secretary | 2025 - 2026

Mike Brady | Webmaster | 2025

Rob Donahue | IT Steward | 2025