February 2024 Newsletter

Monthly Membership Meeting

    March 6 7:30pm to 8:30pm

7pm for social and goofing off

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Leesburg Workday March 9 9am - 2pm

check the white board in the main room for additional tasks

Purcellville Workday April 6 9am - 2pm

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

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New Member Orientation

March 11 and April 8 MS-L  6:30-8:00 pm

 March 25 MS-P  6:30-8:00 pm

register online, event link will be sent to all registrants

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Makersmiths Education Initiatives

Ralph Pugh with the kids and the Creepy Bots

On Sunday, Feb 18, PBS’ Dave Timko visited Makersmiths-Leesburg to film the High School KidWind team working on their KidWind solar project. They began their session with a review of renewable energy concepts and facts that they may encounter on the quiz portion of their Northern Virginia Regional Challenge on March 14. The team played Jeopardy as the review! Then the six team members broke into partner groups, as shown in captioned photos below.   

Soren and Jocelyn working on coding arduino

Evie and Scarlet working on a design for the platform of their desalination station

Zara and Max working on the team report for the judges. This report will cover the process the team went through from concept, to build, to testing out how solar power can be used to power a desalination process of salty water.

Pictured are the two coaches, Makersmiths members Justin McMillen and Maria Busuioceanu setting up the work station in MSL’s new classroom space.

On a personal note, I was impressed at how well this team worked together and really seem to enjoy what they are doing. All the team members have been on a Makersmiths’ KidWind for several years so that also tells me they are committed to KidWind. When Dave Timko interviewed Justin and Maria, the coaches stressed that offering STEM activities such as those we offer for our Kidwind teams is really important. In particular, Maria is excited to see girls learning about science, especially since she is a NASA scientist!

Creepy Bots Take Over Lincoln Elementary School!

Diane Painter and Ralph Pugh once again presented their Simple Machines and Gears lesson to Lincoln's third graders, ending with Creepy Bot races! To see more about this fun event the kids look forward to each year, check out videos and photos here

Request Class

Tom Cotter

when a class becomes available

You now have an easy way to request a class directly from the Makersmiths website main menu.  Select the Events & Classes menu to find the Request Class menu and fill out a short form for each class you wish to request. There is an ‘Other’ selection if you don’t first see your class in the dropdown.

Each month, volunteers on the Scheduling Committee compile the results mid-month and coordinate with instructor volunteers and get more classes on the calendar. 

As you can see from the chart above there is a lot of interest in learning new tools and technique. Stay tuned to Slack to learn more about the Scheduling Committee and the efforts to convert class requests into calendar events.

Course Catalog

Tom Cotter

You now have an easy way to see classes, projects, and events at Makersmiths.  From the Makersmiths website main menu select the Events & Classes menu to find the Course Catalog. The catalog provides a quick overview as well as links to more information about each opportunity.  When you find something of interest sign up on the Events Calendar or use the Request Class option.

did you know...

you can find the newsletters from the last several years archived on our website?

I heard...

 you can cut mats on the Logan Mat Cutter. Located in the laser/stained glass/framing/etc room at MS-P

Microcontrollers!

On Feb 8, members and guests of Makersmiths learned how one can make things move, light up or talk to a phone. Oliver Arend presented to a packed room at MSL what microcontrollers make possible: from turning LEDs on and off, moving motors, reading values from sensors and even measuring your airplane's attitude or running a small webserver!

He showed the various components involved and demonstrated how to go from an empty file to a full-fledged program providing all these interfaces.

Cricut Valentine's Card Class

Amy Copley assisted by Diane Painter taught a greeting card project class at MSP on Sat Feb 10. Some participants brought their Cricuts and one new member learned to use the Cricut Explore located at our Makersmiths location. The class made Sweet Tweet Valentine cards, but mostly they shared ideas for projects and websites that support Cricut users. Look for more future Cricut classes taught by these two ladies. Do you have any Cricut project requests like customizing clothing, making stickers or decals? Contact Amy Copley at copleyphoto@icloud.com.

Photo right - Cricut files can be used with the laser cutter as well! Try it in paper, complete it in other materials!

Makersmiths is Community - Desktop Edition

by Mike Keane

                                                                                                                           Hello all, my name is Mike Keane and I am new to Makersmiths. I approached Purcellville Makersmiths about 4 years ago inquiring about joining, but life got in the way. Life is still kind of in the way but I have been able to shoulder some stuff aside and joined in January this year. One of my first projects was to use some of the wood that we have harvested from our farm near Hillsboro.

We have a Woodmizer sawmill and a fairly large amount of timber. My wife Wendy and I are currently building a saw house/woodworking shop. We came across some Ambrosia Maple and thought it too pretty to throw into the burn pile. So far almost all of the wood we have harvested has been blown down timber and would have otherwise just lay to rot on the forest floor. We have managed to construct a 42’x56’ building and several pieces of furniture from the salvaged timber.

I attended the Purcellville Open House and then the Leesburg Orientation, both hosted by Mark Millsap. Mark really lit the fire. I had a project that my son and I were working on and decided to try and tap into some of the requisite knowledge at Makersmiths to see it through to completion. Mark pointed me in the right direction and I attended John Borden’s Red Tool Basic and Advanced classes.

I asked John about flattening some pretty big slabs as these 2 pieces that we were making my son’s desk out of had dried with a bit of a twist. John suggested that I put a feeler out through Slack to see if anyone could help with flattening these slabs.
I have to say that one of the reasons I wanted to join Makersmiths was the feeling of community that you get from groups like this. The willingness to lend a hand and assist people that you don’t even know, based on a common interest. That is what really gives me hope that the world isn’t full of cynics. Learning new things, meeting new people, now that is truly time well spent.

Jim Waldron quickly answered my call for help. He showed me how to use the CNC machine to turn these slabs into desktops. John then helped me use the large belt sander to finish off the desk. He also gave me some great info on using epoxy to finish off these boards. Great assistance and fantastic instruction by Mark, John, and Jim and I can’t thank these guys enough.

We found some legs on good old Amazon and assembled the desk. Take a look at the finished project, my son has put it to good use out at WVU and we both thank the Makersmiths community for helping us see this through.

February has been another busy life-gets-in-the-way month but I hope to be back in the shop in March.  I want to offer up to anyone interested the chance to come check out the sawmill operation (I could always use the free labor). We should be doing a fair amount of sawing throughout March so please reach out and I’ll share my schedule.

Cheers to everyone at Makersmiths, it feels good to belong. 

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancies Fundraiser Auction:
Supported by Makersmiths

Makersmiths member, Julie Borneman, invited Makersmiths members to use their time and talent to decorate barrels for the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancies fundraiser auction in February 15-22, 2024. Four Makersmiths youth responded to help the Loudoun County nonprofit support wildlife and conservation initiatives. Nick Burrus, Natalie Johnson and Liam Jo from our Makersmiths’  KidWind wind turbine team and Kayla Martin, a local high school student, painted a total of three barrels. All three barrels were well received, with Kayla’s barrel going for $250 in overtime bidding. In total, $10,000 was raised!

KidWind works are on the far right, middle, and bottom shelf

Kayla's beautifully painted full barrel

From #Whatcha_make_today

The most adorable Resin Bears from Greg Sasso! Made using deep pour epoxy, these little cuties stand 7"h x 3.5" w x 2.5"d. Greg used a silicone mold he found on Amazon. The case was created from repurposed (we love that!) 3/4" maple plywood and 3" select pine boards which he cut and put together in the wood working shop. Want some of your own? Ask Greg for more details on Slack!

I can almost taste them!

Wire Garden Fairies

Dawn Martin

I started making these little garden fairies after watching a reel by Sheila Wiseman and the went down a rabbit hole that ended with purchasing some items on Amazon and Home Depot. I was looking to do something creative in the evenings that didn't involve a lot of table space (haha, this wasn't the answer).

I think the funnest part is making the wands and the feet. The hardest part is making the head and the wings. The head because I feel like they look too animal-like and the wings because they need to be symmetrical, which can be quite tricky.

I plan on donating them to fundraisers as I go along.  They are made from stainless steel, glass or plastic gems and sometimes a bit of colored wire.  

editor's note: if you want to follow Alice down the rabbit hole, Sheila Wiseman's Instagram is here

Did you know...

Makersmiths has a blog on their home page? 

Makersmiths is on Instagram?

Makersmiths has a YouTube page?

The Newsletter could always use some new blood - share your projects, pitch some article ideas, tell me about something cool you've seen in your Maker travels! Many thanks to Diane Painter for her many contributions to this newsletter. Also contributing this month - Dawn Martin, Tom Cotton, Mike Keane, and Greg Sasso

New Toys!

Thanks, Kathy Copeland of Artisan Market and Studio for the donation of a light table, now residing at MS-P in the frame shop, um, laser cutter room, uh...stained glass classroom. We need a name for that location! Suggestions? Talk amongst yourselves in #general

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

MS-L

Laser Cutter Rotary Tool - 3/2

Chess Night - 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25

Electronics Night - 3/7, 3/21

Scouting Derby Car Cutouts - 3/10

Vinyl Cutting 101 - 3/13

MS-P

KidWind Tunnel Testing - 3/9

KidWind MakeUp Session - 3/10

MIG Welding beginning workshop - 3/12

Custom T-shirt Workshop - 3/12

Sewing Social - 3/13

Red Tool Woodworking Basics - 3/14

Red Tool Woodworking Adv - 3/17

Red Tool Metalworking Basics - 3/20

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!

check back on the website - new classes are added all the time

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 list of the tool groups which require training and for which we are tracking authorizations, or tool “sign-offs”. The tool steward(s) are listed next to each tool group, along with the method by which to get authorized to use the tools independently. 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.

The most current version of this list is posted on the Makersmiths wiki under “Tools, Materials & Training”.  Please check out the list.  You might discover a new tool that you didn’t realize Makersmiths had.

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

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