January 2021 Newsletter

President's Message

John Dubelko

Happy New Year! We have some great news to start 2021. Membership continues to increase. As of January 6, we have 174 members and 114 memberships. There have been 7 new members since December. 

We have several other announcements to make. The first exciting announcement is the laser cutter is ours! Its retail cost five years ago was about $50,000. Through some negotiations and members Tom Hill and Pat Schennel becoming our signatories to secure a lease, Makersmiths was able to get it for about half that amount. Since we no longer have a lease payment, this reduces our expenses by about $600 a month. Every little bit of savings helps in keeping our operating costs under control.  

Recently some new drone rules were released by the FAA.  Owners must now have a remote ID system on their equipment or fly in a FAA designated area. We plan to apply for this designated area status at Purcellville. This will allow those with older drones to fly there without having to purchase the upgraded equipment. The new rules go into effect in about 18 months, so we have plenty of time to apply. Follow the RC channel on Slack if you want to know more.

The COVID numbers continue to increase. We need to remain vigilant and continue to follow CDC and our state guidelines for group gatherings. Everyone must wear a face mask at ALL TIMES when inside a building. No more than 3 people to a large room. Classes can have 4 (instructor and 3 students). Be sure to maintain a social distance of at least 6 ft. The spaces may NOT be used for social gatherings, group recreational activities, as a substitute for a home office, work from home, or as a remote office. In many cases, pandemic initiatives are given first priority such as face mask, face shield, or other pandemic support activities. Located at each site are hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes for use in the facilities. Each member needs to wipe down any parts of the facility used before and after use.

At this time, current associates can have door rights if they have taken new member orientation and at least one red tool class. If you are an associate member requiring access, please send an email to AugustAccess@makersmiths.org so we can set you up on the August smart lock. We will need your full name, cell phone number, and the first date you plan to visit the space. If you must drop your membership for financial reasons, let us know. We may be able to work something out if that is the case. Please send us an email to info@makersmiths.org and tell us about your situation.

Board of Directors News

Chairman's Musings

Dave Painter

Although I’d prefer to keep my monthly musings upbeat this month, I’d like to discuss an incident that occurred in Purcellville.  On January 2nd, responding to complaints about the table saw, I installed a new blade on the saw and spent some time “tuning up” the saw by adjusting the table slots parallel to the blade and then adjusting the fence so it was perfectly square. I also straightened the blade guard which had become bent making it hard to push wood smoothly through the saw. Then I found that the special wrenches for changing the blade were missing, so I ordered a new pair. None of this routine maintenance is difficult but it is time consuming. When I finished, the saw was working perfectly and I posted to Slack to let everyone know.

On January 15th a member mentioned to me that he had wanted to use Dado Blades on the saw but was unable to get the nut off so he could switch the blades. I assumed that his problem was due to the missing wrenches. Happily, the wrenches I’d ordered had arrived. Since I had them with me, I put them with the saw.  On January 20th another member told me that he couldn’t get the nut off the saw and that the flange (big washer that goes between the blade and the nut) was missing.

The missing flange was the cause of the problem. The shaft in the saw is designed to hold the blade between two flanges, one is part of the shaft and the other is retained by the nut. If a blade is installed without the outer flange then the nut runs out of threads on the shaft before it can tighten the blade. This is exactly what happened. The saw was run with a loose blade that spun on the shaft. The heat created by the friction between the blade and the shaft was so great that it began melting the blade and finally got so hot that the blade, shaft and nut were welded together.

I expect that someone wanted to change the blade on the saw and either dropped the flange and lost it, or just didn’t realize that it was critical and reinstalled the blade without the flange. The ramifications of this are substantial:

1. While the blade was spinning on the shaft, it got very hot and likely was throwing off sparks which could have easily started a fire in the saw or even worse in the dust collector!

2. Whoever was operating the saw had to have noticed the heat as there would have been sparks, smoke, and the odor of very hot metal.

3. Parts to repair the saw are expensive; a shaft is $177.00, a flange is $10.00, a nut is $20.00, and another new blade is roughly $30.00.  A total of roughly $250.00 if you include shipping and tax.

4. New parts aren’t an option though since Delta has gone the way of so many USA manufacturers. Delta has ceased operations, sold the name to Stanley/Black&Decker who then sold it to a Taiwanese company that will continue to sell the Unisaw but has no interest in providing parts for previous models.

5. A replacement Unisaw would cost us well over $2500.00.

We got lucky this time and were able to repair the saw but it required another new blade, extensive disassembly, and a fair amount of machine work to restore the damaged shaft and nut and make a new flange.

Because this isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with the problem of unreported machine damage, the Board of Directors has instituted a new procedure for reporting problems. You will now notice new signs throughout both locations that display a QR code that will allow your smartphone to link to a report form. The process is anonymous so you don’t need to give your name and we are hoping that members will utilize it so that we can respond more quickly to issues that come up. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Secretary's Statement

Jon White

The Makersmiths Board is the group of elected members that are tasked with the stewardship, governance and financial management of the Makersmiths organization but this does not mean that every change or activity in the organization has to be a Board level decision.  There are many ways for members’ voices to be heard including talking to Board Members 1-2-1, delivering a presentation at a Board Meeting, committee reports at the Board Meetings, or putting forward a resolution for consideration by the board.   Fundamental organizational structure changes, concerns that need to be addressed by policies or new initiatives that require funding, could impact our non profit status, or commit the organization to something are some of the many topics that the Board normally addresses during Board Meetings.  Most of the time, resolutions submitted by members are requests for funding a project, but by no means are they the only type of submissions.  If a member wants to submit a topic for resolution at a Board Meeting, we welcome them doing so by emailing jonathan.white@makersmiths.org, or submitting their request to board_agenda_talk in Slack.   When doing so, please submit the resolution at least 48 hours before the monthly scheduled Board Meeting, using this format:

Problem: What is the problem you want to solve?  Does the club need a new tool that you can help organize but need funding?  Do you think we need a new committee that you want to lead?  Do we feel that a policy needs to be changed?
Solution: Describe the way that you want to solve the problem.  If money is needed to solve the problem, how much and when?  What will the new committee be called, how many people will it have and what will its mission be?  What should a new policy be?
Relevance to our tax exempt status: If the value required is over $250 then this needs to be mentioned here.
Motion: Be specific - state exactly what you want the board to vote “yes” on.  “I propose that $500 be spent on purchasing X tool”, “I propose establishing a (insert name here) committee.” or “The new policy on (insert policy here) should be...:”.  
At the Board Meeting, the person submitting the resolution should attend so that questions can be asked prior to voting.  Discussion of the topic can also take place on Slack before the Board Meeting.

Featured Makersmiths Member
David Lang

Slip, Trip, and Fall

Safety is a topic many people don’t think about until someone gets hurt.  Growing up in a machine shop with a tool and die maker for a step-father and a precision machinist for a mother, I heard about safety a lot, “Put that tool away” and “Pick up that extension cord” were frequent commands.  Trip, slip, and fall injuries send more than 9 million people to emergency rooms in the U.S. every year.  Add to that the danger of tripping and falling in a machine shop amid unforgiving machines with rotating parts and moving blades and the chance of serious injury goes up significantly.

So, if there was one thing you could do to make Makersmiths safer, would you do it?  Just one simple thing? Yes?  Well, it turns out there are another of things we need to pay attention to at Makersmiths. Slip, trip, and fall hazards happen when scraps are left on the floor, and oil and water spills that are not mopped up. If a mess is made, clean it up.  If something spills, mop it up. After using a jig or tool, put it back in its proper storage location.  Proper housekeeping goes a long way in keeping our shops safe.

Machine Guards

Machine guards can be very annoying because they are sometimes in the way of doing what we may want to do. However, we must remember that guards are in the way for a reason.  If you can’t do what you want because of a guard, then you are likely using the wrong machine for the job, or you are using the machine in a way that it was not intended to be used.  In either case, it’s a safety issue.  Guards, which are frequently painted yellow or orange, are routinely installed to prevent your hands, hair, and clothes from getting caught in a machine.  Guards also keep shavings, chips, or the work itself from striking a worker.  The most common guard safety violation is removing guards from grinders and saws in order to better visualize the work.  Although removing guards is never a good idea, if you feel you absolutely have to remove or reposition a guard, you must get the permission of the shop steward and use additional safety equipment such as goggles, gloves, and/or protective clothing.  Moreover, once you complete your work, you must properly reinstall the guard and have it safety checked by the shop steward.  Guards should never be removed without permission or left off after your work is complete.  If you find a machine with a broken or missing guard, do not use the machine, mark it as unsafe, and notify the shop steward.

First Aid

You can find first aid kits at each Makersmiths location. At Leesburg, the first aid kit is located in the front hall closet. At Purcellville, a first aid kit is located in the woodshop, just left of the double doors leading into the Green Room. In the hallway by the Green Room's back door, to the left of the sink, you will find both a first aid kit and an eye wash kit on the wall shelf.

For other Makersmiths safety information see our wiki at: http://wiki.makersmiths.org/display/MAK/Safety+Briefings

If you want to contribute to a safe environment by helping out, see our safety project list at: http://wiki.makersmiths.org/display/MAK/Safety+Projects or ask a board member what you can do to help.

Inside the first aid kit in the woodshop at Makersmiths-Purcellville

The eye wash kit at Makersmiths-Purcellville in the Green Room

The Agriculture Research Team

Shereef Sayed, Corporate Member

MakerSmiths Gets Down in the Weeds!

Because Makersmiths is a non-profit, community-based organization, we do work with youth groups in a variety of ways. One of our partnerships is with Loudoun County Public Schools. This academic year, two students from Woodgrove High School taking an independent science research course contacted us for mentorship help.

Meet Alessia and Marliana, two students at Woodgrove High School (Go Badgers!). For their Independent Research class, they needed to submit a research proposal that would address a problem. While visiting family in Italy, Marliana noticed that her Mom could eat foods containing gluten, unlike eating similar foods back home. “Why is that?”, she wondered. With help from Alessia, they came across a research paper that showed a strong correlation between Celiac disease and certain herbicides that are applied to wheat fields to hold weeds in check. They also learned that countries in Europe have banned the use of herbicides, but we are still using herbicides in the USA. “Hmm, how can we fix this?” they wondered. Alessia and Marliana determined they should build a robot that can only spray herbicides on weeds, but not crops.

It turns out that their idea is one of a growing industry (pun intended) called Precision Agriculture. From academia to start-ups to corporations, the agriculture industry is developing innovative solutions to make better use of farm resources, including herbicides. So it’s no wonder that Alessia and Marliana came to MakerSmiths for mentorship help in formulating a research plan.

Because of my background as a systems engineer, I volunteered to mentor the girls.  When the girls described their initial research plan, it seemed like an awful lot of ground to cover in one academic year (pun intended). In order for a robot to spray only weeds, it seemed that we should first focus on solving the problem of distinguishing crops from non- crops. All you need is a neural network, right? They’re everywhere, right? 

Siri? Alexa? How do you build a neural network? 

To build a neural network you need to first train it with pictures of the objects you want to find. All we had to do was search the Internet for a bunch of pictures of weeds in a field, but we needed to find a lot of pictures...like, hundreds of pictures. Despite our best efforts to search the Internet, the only comprehensive image database of weeds that we found currently comes from Australia. Just to be sure that our Internet search was complete, we contacted a Professor at Virginia Tech in their Weed Sciences department, Professor Vijay Singh, and asked what database his students use for their research. Turns out they use a database from Denmark! Well, I explained to the girls, if the Internet is a sum of all human knowledge, and your search leads you back where you started, then you’ve just found a hole in the Internet; a place of incomplete knowledge. So, the research project was beginning to become more focused. Alessia and Marliana decided that their research for this year's research class is to fill that gap and create the first North American Weed image database for training neural networks to find weeds in a field.

Right now, the team is focused on finding a camera that can take pictures in both the visible light and infrared spectrums. They are also learning how to annotate images to help train a neural network. 

With the help from Jay Frankenfield, a conservation specialist with Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation District, the girls now have two farms that they can visit that are growing winter wheat.  Once the weather warms up, they will be busy taking lots of pictures, changing the world, one weed at a time. 

If you would like to help Alessia and Marliana collect pictures of weeds, please contact Shereef Sayed (shereefsayed80@gmail.com) or Diane Painter, Educational Liaison for Makersmiths (diane.painter@makersmiths.org).

The Agriculture Research Team visiting a farm on Flint Farm Drive
in Loudoun County, VA

Learning how a neural network works- Makersmiths Leesburg

Learning to calibrate a camera that will be used to photograph wheat plants and non-wheat plants

What's New? 

The Maker’s Project Notebook 
Published by Fox Chapel Publishing

Author: David Lang, Makersmiths member

This is an 8.5 x 11 notebook with formatted pages for notes and drawings.  Specifically, the notebook is designed for the ideation of physical maker projects. The notebook contains 60 pages (10 sets) of Cornell notes & sketch area, isometric grid & college rule, and 4x4 grid and college rule; 10 pages of half-page blank - half-page college rule; 10 pages of half-page 5x5 grid – half-page college rule; 10 pages of storyboard; 8 pages of dot grid.

You can see it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08STPFN2D

Red Tool Training

 New to Makersmiths? Red Tool Training for those wishing to use the Makersmiths-Leesburg woodshop is scheduled for the evenings of Feb. 11 and March 11 from 6-8PM. See the Makersmiths calendar on those dates, click on the event and register. 

For those wishing to have Red Tool Training in Purcellville, contact dpainter50@comcast.net to schedule virtual with hands-on checkout training.

Join Us for February's Members Meeting

We meet the first Wednesday of every month to share organization news, initiatives and accomplishments of the members. It is also a great time for new members to ask questions or request help with specific projects they have in mind. For now we are meeting online in Google Meet. Our next meeting is February 3 at 7:30PM at: http://meet.google.com/vbf-xhga-csx
Phone Numbers (‪US‬) ‪+1 570-630-1100‬ PIN: ‪368 823 885#‬ 

Please join us! We especially want to get to know our new members!

Makersmiths Leesburg: 106 Royal St SW, Leesburg, VA 20175

Makersmiths Purcellville: 785 S. 20th St, Purcellville, VA 20132