September 2026 Newsletter

Leesburg Workday: 9/26/2026 9am-2pm

Purcellville Workday: 9/5/2026 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 on to:

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

or

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

PIN: 114 333 983#

Want to submit something to the newsletter?

Please email Jen Reese, Newsletter Editor jluporeese@gmail.com

Message from the Board of Directors

James Waldron, Secretary 

Makersmiths’ Board of Directors met August 26th at 6:01pm.  

Also in attendance, among others, was our new President David Lang.

Officer, Committee, and Steward reports were heard and the Board moved on to new business. During the new business session, there was a motion to perform a computer monitor refresh for our spaces. New standard monitors with standardized connections will be procured for both Leesburg and Purcellville. This should help resolve the flaky monitor problem that has been plaguing us recently.

The other new business item was to purchase two small pressure washers to aid in cleaning out CO2 Laser beds. The laser steward, Jonathan White, will purchase the units and post information on their use on the Wiki.

There was an extended discussion concerning members who are leaving the space without cleaning up. Our new president, David Lang, will be working with others to implement some new ideas to hopefully curb this problem.

The meeting adjourned at 6:57pm. As always, details of the meeting and the detailed Treasurer, Officer and Steward reports may be found on the Wiki.

President’s Letter

David Lang, Makersmiths President

“If it’s lonely at the top, you’re doing something wrong!”~ John Maxwell

I’ve worked in leadership for most of my life and I’m still learning. I spent several years working directly with John Maxwell as I learned to lead as a program manager in industry and government, but my true leadership interest has always been volunteers. Why? Because volunteer leadership is hard and messy and that’s where we are always learning and growing. From being the Cadet Commander of my high school Civil Air Patrol squadron, to leading a Civil Air Patrol Wing more than a decade later, helping dedicated people so something amazing has always been my passion.

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. ~President John F. Kennedy, 1962

I was two years old when President Kennedy gave that speech. When I was nine when we landed on the moon. I was 42 when I met my hero, Neil Armstrong. He was bitter, depressed, and unhappy. The most famous person in the world was staring into his cocktail glass without a dream left to dream. That day I understood that it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey.

As makers we have an astounding ability to transform dreams into visions and on to realities and we’ll never run out of dreams! In the months to come I look forward to hearing about your dreams and how we can advance them to enrich you, your families and friends, our community, and who knows, perhaps even the world!

For my part, I plan to see how Makersmiths can enhance our community by contributing to mental health through therapeutic maker projects, strengthen our environment through master naturalist projects, and perhaps even develop new projects based upon our landmark COVID 19 and Desks for Distance projects.

Bring your dreams and let’s see what we can make today! ~David

News from the Site Managers

John Carter

Our Leesburg location has recently seen a good bit of progress. 

Our Fume Room is now fully operational and open for members to use to finish projects that require a spray booth or a place to cure or dry. 

A new, more organized cabinet has been built to house the vinyls and laminate for the BN2-20 vinyl printer. 

Repairs have been made to the Big Red CNC and updates to the controller software. 

The new embroidery machine has been delivered and is now being tested by the stewards so that classes can be implemented. 

Electrical work has begun on fixing the lighting in the classroom downstairs.

Also, a new bench has been donated for our front porch.  It needs some refurbishing on the wood and a bit of TLC on the cast iron, but its a solid addition. 

If you'd like to help getting that project into shape, please contact Jennifer.Chu@makersmiths.org

News from Makersmiths Purcellville

Dave Painter

We seem to have a dilemma with our upper gate. The trash company seems to be coming on Tuesdays and leaving the upper gate open and not locking it after it empties our dumpster. If you see it open and no trash truck around, please lock the gate with the locks facing the street (South 20^th St.). Thank you.

Our lawn mower needs an overhaul (again), so I have been bringing my own lawn mower when it is dry enough to mow. However, we really need folks to turn out for Sept 5’s workday and bring string trimmers.

The 16/32 Drum sander is out of service until a new on-off switch arrives mid-week Aug.31 - Sept.4. This sander is a workhorse in the wood working shop but sandpaper from Jet has become astronomically expensive lately with some sanding belts costing over $10 each. To control costs, we purchased sandpaper in 200-foot rolls which will reduce the cost of a sandpaper belt to a little over $1.65. However, this means someone must carefully cut the sandpaper to length. We will need volunteers to cut the sandpaper on our September 5^th workday. I have a pattern and all it takes is a utility knife and a metal straightedge to cut the ends to the appropriate taper and length.

On the subject of rising sandpaper prices, we purchased a selection of sandpaper belts for the Delta Oscillating sander and there is a brand-new belt on the sander now. However, these belts are also quite pricey. The price varies based on the grit, but each belt is North of $12.50 now. Because this sander is not covered in detail in either of the Red Tool woodshop classes and because we burn through several belts in just a couple of weeks, I will be offering a free training/orientation class on the Delta Oscillating Sander at 10 am Saturday September 5th during the Purcellville workday. 

I strongly urge everyone who is interested in using this machine to attend.

Everyone owes Jim Waldron a huge thank you for repairing the second mini split in the MSP wood Shop. We have been impatiently waiting for parts since spring and since they are still on backorder. I machined a repair hub for the fan and Jim spent the better part of a day disassembling and then rebuilding the AC unit. So, when you are enjoying the cool air while you’re working remember to give Jim a shout out.

Working in a shared shop is wonderful because you have access to equipment you normally wouldn’t have available to you. But it comes with some responsibilities also, here are a few things I noticed or been told about recently:

1. Put everything away and clean up after yourself before you leave.
2. Do not leave your personal tools or materials at the space. Yes, there are a few exceptions, glue-ups can be left over night and some really big jobs that are too large to load every night can be left with the shop steward’s permission, but the shop should be clean and all the tools available for the next member who walks in.
3. Put everything back where it belongs. If you use hand tools remember where they came from and put them back where they belong before you leave.
4. Remember to empty the shop vac when you use it. Coil up the power cord, and don’t leave it sitting in the middle of an aisle.
5. Straighten up the Green Room before you leave. Push all the chairs back under the tables so the next person walking in isn’t met with chaos.
6. Empty the trash cans into the dumpster outside when they are close to getting filled up. If you need a new trash can bag, you will find trash bags in the wood shop to the left of the double doors leading into the Green Room.
7. Remember, we do not employ paid staff at Makersmiths. iI you leave a mess other members must take time out of their projects to clean up after you.

Marketing Committee News

Alexandra Graves, Committee Chair

The Marketing Committee met on August 30 with ten Makersmiths members, including our president, David Lang. These are the future Items the committee will bring to the Board of Directors for discussion:

• Consider our organization to offer therapeutic creative skills classes for local in-need communities.
• Approval for a small annual discretionary budget ($1000) for Marketing to provide Member of the Month/Member of the Year incentives.
• Approval to add member interests/skills to a searchable directory (or at least add an opt-in for members moving forward if privacy is an issue).

The committee also discussed calling for volunteers to do the following:

• 1)    Refresh marketing materials (John Bordan will head this initiative)
• 2)    Head the Purcellville Red Tag Sale on Oct 10 to be held downtown Purcellville.
• 3)    Head Celebrate Purcellville that would require organizing a marketing booth on Oct. 17.
• 4)    Volunteers will be needed to give tours for the Purcellville Artisan Tour during the days on November 7 and 8 at Makersmiths-Purcellville.

Please contact me if interested in helping: Alexandra.d.graves@gmail.com

Education News

This summer Blair Marendt and Diane Painter held a three-day workshop called KidWind Tinkering Fun Days at Makersmiths-Purcellville. Five youth who had KidWind experience and five youth new to KidWind attended.

As a result, some of the new youth registered for KidWind teams that are forming for this school year. Because of the high return rate for this initiative, the High School Solar team is now full, with Dan Schmidt returning as coach.

The Middle School Wind team is full, with Chris Rodgers as its new coach. The Elementary School Wind team has a few openings.

Please contact Coach Blair Marendt at bmarendt@gmail.com if you have a child in grades 3-5 who would like to join his team.

The High School Wind team will be meeting in the Great Falls, VA area.

Please let Coach Oliver Arend at oarend@gmail.com know if you have a child in grades 9-12 interested in joining his team.

If anyone is interested in coaching a KidWind team, Diane Painter will be holding a free Renewable Energies – STEM training on October 17 at Cool Springs Retreat Center in Bluemont, VA.

To register, go to Renewable Energies Training Registration.

Loudoun Environmental Education Alliance

Did you know that Makersmiths has affiliate status with the Loudoun Environmental Education Alliance (LEEA)?

Each spring, LEEA holds a Student Environmental Action Showcase (SEAS).

This is an annual event where students present their work on:

• ·       reducing waste
• ·       conserving energy
• ·       conducting citizen science
• ·       improving water quality
• ·       preserving natural habitat
• ·       and other sustainability-minded projects in their schools and communities

For the past two years, our KidWind solar teams presented their solar projects. Last year, the high school solar team won third place at the SEAS event.

If your youth is interested in completing an environmental project at Makersmiths, please let Diane Painter know. diane.painter@makersmiths.org We would love to showcase our youth who are contributing to the environmental stewardship in our communities.

Robotics Interest

This fall, Brian Jo is teaching Fundamentals of Engineering (with an Emphasis on Robotics). Jeffrey Irland is teaching Physical Computers for Beginners. Both workshops are laying foundations for projects related to computers, electronics and projects such as robotics.

If you have an interest in robotics and especially know youth who would like to help begin a robotics initiative at Makersmiths, please let Brian Jo bjj2003@gmail.com and Jeff Irland jeff.irland@gmail.com know of your interest.

Teaching with Tinkercad — Back-to-School Webinar Series

Autodesk Tinkercad is offering a back-to-school webinar series beginning Wednesday, September 30 at 7pm designed to address design, computational thinking, coding and an emphasis in robotics that bring code, motion and systems thinking together.

The webinar will address the following:

• ·       How design challenges build creativity, problem-solving, and iteration
• ·       How Codeblocks Shapes introduces computational thinking and parametric design
• ·       How Tinkercad Robotics connects coding, design, motion and systems thinking
• ·       Ways to build testing, debugging and iteration into student projects
• ·       How to connect Design and Make with computer science and future-ready skills

To register, go to Teaching with Tinkercad

Young Teens Craft Group

We had an inquiry about forming a teens craft group.

The mother stated, “I’m trying to have her be around kids her age, crafty people.”

We offer a number of craft workshops such as ceramics, Cricut workshops, sewing circle and classes using the UV printer and laser cutter.

But what this mother is looking for is a craft-oriented social group for her 15-year-old daughter.

Anyone else interested in starting such a group? Please contact diane.painter@makersmiths.org and let’s see what we can put together.

Twelve Days of Making

For the past two years, Makersmiths members participated in teaching and/or taking a make-and-take class from what we call the “Twelve Days of Making”.

Do you have a particular make and take idea that you are willing to teach in late October, November and December that would result in people making a fun gift to give during our winter holiday season?

For example, Diane Painter makes holiday soaps that make great stocking stuffer gifts.

The Scheduling committee will hold a meeting on September 16 at 6pm at MSL for those who have ideas and want to schedule a make-and-take workshop this fall.

You are also welcome to join us by Google Meet for this meeting. Meeting link: meet.google.com/zqy-iczp-jkd

Questions? Please contact Jennifer.chu@makersmiths.org, the chair for this committee.

Whatcha - Making?

Dan Schmidt

End grain cutting board for my nephew and his fiancee.  Black walnut, cherry and spalted maple. 

Herb Regensburger

Saved a set of fiberglass praying hands from a broken statue and set them into a coaster sized mold of white colored epoxy.

John Jones

Back to the Future - Now I just need some plutonium

Amy Copley

Fantastic pen finishing class. Can't wait to make more.

Colleen Borley

I made Snoopy and Woodstock to decorate my daughter's dorm room using the laser and the UV printer.

Scott Becker just finished this guitar after milling the raw lumber and shaping the neck and body at Makersmiths. He states that the body is made of Basswood, the neck was created with Quartersawn Maple, and the fretboard is made of Gaboon Ebony with a Vintage White Nitrocellulose finish. He has four more to make for his customers! (guitarSB.jpg)

Dave Hamrick made this keychain bottle opener using Gaboon Ebony and golden hardware. 

Robin Schenck made a wedding gift for her brother and sister-in-law who are avid disc golfers She used the UV printer when printing the flowers that represent her and the mountain scape that represents him.

Bryan Daniels is having fun 3D printing water fountains

David and Thresa Lang turned their first bowls in Ken Fuentecilla Bowl Turning Class. Ken states, Both students were naturals! They picked out Spalted Tamarind and Tatajuba wood. Beautiful grain and great shapes!

How Does Makersmiths Handle Donations

John Carter  

We take donations on a case-by-case basis, and only with prior approval from a Shop Steward or the Site Steward.

Which translates to - don't just drop stuff off.

Ideally, snap a couple of pictures of what you're looking to donate and send them to the Stewards with details about what it is, what condition it's in; then wait for a response.

We all have things in our basements, garages, or backyards that 'might be useful to someone, someday', but often this is not the place for them to be given a new home.

We're already running thin on places to put equipment, so we don't want to stoe a bunch of extraneous stuff.

MS-L

Sept 2 MSL-M000: Monthly Membership Meeting

Sept 3 ELL-G100: Electronics, AI, and Cloud Night

Sept 7 LCL-R100: CO2 Laser Basic Red Tool

Sept 8 BNL-R100: BN2-20 Print Vinyl Stickers Red Tool

Sept 8 BRL-R100: Big Red CNC Red Tool

Sept 9 UVL-R100: UV Printer Red Tool

Sept 9  3DL-R100: FDM 3D Printing (Bambu) Red Tool

Sept 11 MSL-D100: Understanding the Financial Report for Stewards

Sept 14 MSL-R100: New Member Orientation

Sept 17 ELL-G100: Electronics, AI, and Cloud Night

Sept 19 LCL-R100: CO2 Laser Basic Red Tool

Sept 19 UVL-R100: UV Printer Red Tool

Sept 26 MSL-G000: Leesburg Work day

MS-P

Sept 5 MSP-G000: Workday

Sept 8 MSP-G000: Open House

Sept 9 3DP-R100: FDM 3D Printing (Bambu) Red Tool

Sept 9 MWP: R100: Metal-Working Basics Red Tool

Sept 10 WWP-R100: Woodworking Basics Red Tool

Sept 12 EXP-G000: Gourd Group Meeting

Sept 13 WWP-R200: Woodworking Advanced Red Tool

Sept 15 MSP-G000: Open House

Sept 22 MSP-G000: Open House

Sept 29 MSP-G000: Open House

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 members are very fortunate to have access to a wide variety of capable and powerful tools. Many of the tools are designated as “red tools”, meaning individuals require prior authorization before they may operate the tool.

This is necessary to promote personal safety and support equipment maintainability. Stewards for red tools and red tool groups (along with other shop areas), are nominated and approved by the Board of Directors.

Methods of authorization vary depending on the tool group. Examples include completing a red tool class, demonstrating proficiency to a steward or their designee, or attending an introductory class with a subsequent independent “check-ride”.

The chart below identifies the current Tool Authorization Groups, the assigned steward, and the applicable authorization method. This list is not exhaustive of all equipment available at Makersmiths and does not include shops or tools that are not designated as “red tools”. Contact the steward with any specific questions about a tool group.

Tracking of authorizations involves monitoring red tool class attendance, confirming authorizations with instructors and stewards, coordinating tool applicability with stewards, and incorporating changes from the Board of Directors. A member may view their current tool authorizations by logging into the Makersmiths website and viewing their own member profile. The “Members Only” section of the website also provides lists of all authorized members by tool group.

Makersmith Board Officers

Board Name/Officer | Position | Term

Brad Hess | Board Member, Vice Chair | 2025 - 2028

Bo Wernick | Board Member| 2024 - 2027

Evin Grano | Board Member/Chairperson | 2024 - 2027

Jennifer Chu | Board Member | 2024 - 2027

Jon White | Board Member, Chairperson | 2026 - 2029

Rob Donahue | Board Member | 2026 - 2029

Mary Waldron | Treasurer | 2025 - 2026

Jim Waldron | Board Member/Secretary | 2025 - 2028

Mike Brady | Web Admin | 2026

Rob Donahue | IT Steward | 2026

David Lang | President | 2026 - 2027

Did You Know...

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

Makersmiths also has a Blog, Instagram, and YouTube!

The Newsletter could always use some new blood - share your projects, pitch some article ideas, tell us about something cool you've seen in your Maker travels!

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

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