President's Message
John Dubelko
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Welcome to spring! I would like to highlight that the gardeners are busy on their slack channel (#Gardening) and now have a horticulturist to advise them. My daughter, Madeleine Dubelko, is part of the channel and an expert in plants. She is finishing her graduate degree in horticulture from Michigan State. Her undergraduate was in horticulture from Purdue University, where she interned with Ball Horticulture. Feel free to ask her all your plant and garden questions. The space has a garden at each location and a plot at the community garden at Ida Lee. Purcellville’s garden is limited to just flowers and decorative plants per our lease.
We continue to explore the possibility of getting a UV flatbed printer for Makersmiths. To learn about the printer’s capabilities, watch these videos from Roland and Mutoh: https://youtu.be/Qxn96rnVLfU, https://youtu.be/8jU7J08QG5k. Print samples are at Leesburg to get a good look at want they can do. Just some ideas for its use include monogrammed golf balls, printed acrylics, boxes, trophies, control boards, gauges, puzzles, and much more. If interested in exploring this possibility, please join the Slack channel #new-equipment.
Jessee Maloney (jesseesuemaloney@gmail.com) is looking for someone with API experience to help with the Makersmiths webpage. APIs connect user-facing front ends with all-important back-end functionality and data. Scott Newman, the chairperson for the Membership Committee, is looking for members to help give tours to potential new members and help with orientations. Please contact Scott (scott.newman@makersmiths.org) if you can help welcome our new members.
Hopefully, we are coming out of the pandemic. We still 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 have 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.
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Chairman's Statement
Dave Painter
March 24, 2021
Calling All Members! The monthly work days in Purcellville are returning!
As we did in Pre-COVID-19 times, we will meet at 9:00 AM on the first Saturday of each month at our Purcellville location to drink coffee, eat donuts, and maintain and improve the space. This is also one of the easiest ways for you to fulfill the volunteer hours that are a requirement of your membership. It’s not all work, though, this a great way to meet other members, forge new friendships and sometimes learn new skills. So, pull up your calendar now and mark Saturday April 3 at 9:00AM. While you’re at it, go ahead and make it a monthly recurring event on the first Saturday of each month so you won’t miss out on any of the fun.
You don’t feel you have anything to offer? I assure you that isn’t the case! Everyone can contribute even if you just tag along and help someone who knows more or has a special skill, you’ll learn something AND you can go home feeling warm and fuzzy knowing you made a difference. Remember, you can only get out of your membership what you put into it!
Group Build Project
We have agreed to build an information kiosk for the town of Purcellville that will be located at the old train station. It will be built of steel and powder coated. The design calls for a modular build approach. Each piece must be small enough to fit in our powder coat oven that also means that each piece must be easily transported to the location, assembled on site, and then bolted together. This is a great opportunity to dust off some old skills or learn some new ones. We will be laying out patterns on sheet metal, cutting them out, using the box and pan brake to bend them, and MIG welders to weld them together. We will also use the vinyl cutter to recreate Purcellvilles Logo and other signage. For information subscribe to the “Kiosk Build” channel on Slack or direct message me if you have any questions. |
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Featured Makersmiths Member
This March, the theme of Women’s History Month is “Women Inspiring Innovation through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).” Women make up 48 percent of the workforce, but make up less than a third of STEM workers. The burgeoning makerspace movement provides advantages for startups and entrepreneurs, and the most beneficial parts are the resources it provides and the connections members make…surrounded by like-minded, creative people sharing support, ideas, and opportunities—possibly sparking a collaboration. We have many resourceful women that have been members for several years contributing to our community, some are highlighted in this newsletter. We will begin this section of our newsletter by featuring one of our female members in-depth, Caryn Cozzolino, or as we all know her, Cozz.
From a young age Cozz had the calling to create and loved building things. For many years she would buy a tool and another and yet another. The desire to expand and learn always left her wanting more. Unfortunately, as we all know there is never enough money, time, or SPACE! Cozz found limitations to creating all the things her mind dreamed of.
So, enter Makersmiths…she remembered that a friend used to go to a community workshop in Arlington and that triggered her search for something similar and voila…she found Makersmiths. She finds many benefits to Makersmiths, the biggest being access to many tools that one person could never afford, especially if you are just wanting to try out a tool and play with it a bit. On top of that, she finds the generous community of like-minded people, who are always willing to help and teach you, very inspiring … a very special gift. “There is always someone who is a master at something in the shop whether it is metal work, wood working, electronics, etc.”
Her favorite tool is definitely the LASER. “Love that thing. It's so cool.” She is looking forward to spending more time with the awesome welding equipment, the new plasma cutting table, and the powder coating machine. She says, “It's like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Surprises behind every door. More tools than you could ever play with.” The tools along with the people at Makersmiths, “the Salt of the Earth” provide a genuine and creative playground for all makers, including her son who has done several projects including learning to solder.
Since COVID, like many, she hasn’t had as much time at Makersmiths and she is starting back full time in an Accelerated Nursing Program. One of Cozz’s recent projects was made for her tutor who helped her survive her first semester. A shortened version of the project followed these steps using numerous tools.
- 1. Cut a piece of 1/2 plywood on a table saw to size of project.
- 2. Found took pallets apart. Cut them to size using a miter saw.
- 3. Framed the plywood using 2-inch wood cut with the miter saw.
- 4. Designed a template of the school logo on the computer using Corel.
- 5. Cut out the logo and patterns using the laser.
- 6. Hand painted the lettering and pieces and glued them together.
- 7. Glued and used a brad nailer and to get pallet pieces secured on 1/2 plywood.
Pictures of her project and working with her son are below. |
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Beverly Murdock, a Makersmiths member since 2017, is a multi-talented maker. By trade, she is an engineer who consults in program management, compliance, and technology strategy in the wireless telecommunications industry. She grew up woodworking with her dad. Off hours, she enjoys cake decorating, nature photography, a variety of crafts, home renovation, and helping friends and family solve problems by making things. She uses the laser cutter for everything from etching pumpkins to wall signs. This Christmas, she and her sister constructed giant nutcrackers that evolved into hosting a class for friends to do theirs.
Contact information:
Beverlymurdock1@gmail.com
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Erin Werling, a Makersmiths member since 2015, currently serves on the Board of Directors for Makersmiths. She loves to sew, quilt, and use her Cricut machine to create all kinds of things such as cutouts to make paper flowers. She even learned basic blacksmithing skills at Makersmiths-Purcellville! As a Makersmiths community outreach volunteer, Erin participated in a maker fare hosted by Loudoun County’s Rust Library to teach families how to make sidewalk chalk! Erin and fellow Makersmiths member, Jessee Maloney, like to host Crafts Nights at Makersmiths-Leesburg twice a month, and hopes to resume this family-friendly event at Makersmiths once COVID-19 restrictions end.
Contact information:
Werling6@gmail.com
703-554-9116 or 703-858-0989
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Jessee Maloney, owner and operator of the brand Art School Dropout for the last 18 years (https://www.artschooldropout.net), is a professional quilter and freelance artist. She joined Makersmiths in 2017 to learn how to use the laser cutter, and since then is now skilled using 3D printers, the vinyl cutter, t-shirt press, welding equipment, woodshop, and CNC machines to make her art work and products that she sells online and at various craft shows and conventions. Jessee also assists our Cosplay members in helping them design and sew costumes. During our COVD-19 initiatives, she made many face masks and has helped onboard members virtually.
Contact information:
jesseesuem@gmail.com
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Julie Borneman joined Makersmiths in 2018. Julie is a VNLA Certified Horticulturist Chesapeake Bay Landscaping certified. She also currently serves on the Rural Economic Development Council for Loudoun County and runs her business, Watermark Woods Native Plant Nursery (https://www.watermarkwoods.com) in Hamilton, Virginia, the only pesticide-free nursery in Loudoun County. She has her own workshop at the nursery, and makes various welded and ceramics garden art that grace native plant gardens. She is also currently serving on the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy as the board president. As a Makersmiths member, she has shared her ceramics skills in our ceramics shop, such as teaching how to make these nested soap dishes.
Contact:
Julie@borneman.com
703-973-9896
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Tami Scannell and her husband, Pat, are founding members of Makersmiths. Tami has a long history of adventure and creativity. She skied for the United States Ski Team in the sport of inverted aerials, coached the largest freestyle skiing program in the nation and her corporate career included marketing for Olympic sports, telecommunications and technology. At Makersmiths, Tami enjoys using the CNC, laser cutter, woodshop, blacksmithing, kilns and welding equipment. Her favorite projects include: A welded wine bottle Christmas tree, mentored by Jim Waldron. Christmas ornaments and signs for Snickers Gap Christmas Tree Farm. An ocean themed towel rack on the CNC, supervised and guided by Jim. To date her "piece de resistance", is a replica of the Thomas Jefferson revolving book stand, she built under the tutelage of Mike Dewan. One of the few times, in 30 years, she was able to give Patrick something he needed and did not have. For Tami it is curative and rewarding to make items that solve for a need or create something that gives joy. Tami states the hidden beauty of Makersmiths is getting to know other makers, sharing ideas, learning and celebrating the accomplishments of working together. Makersmiths is a unique community of ingenious and inspiring people for whom she is incredibly thankful for. The only downside is, not having enough time to do all of the projects on her wish list. |
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Tami states the hidden beauty of Makersmiths is getting to know other makers, sharing ideas, learning and celebrating the accomplishments of working together. Makersmiths is a unique community of ingenious and inspiring people for whom she is incredibly thankful for. The only downside is, not having enough time to do all of the projects on her wish list. Her next projects include:
* Pounding out an Irish Kilt Pin
* Building a toilet paper dispenser, in the wall that automatically replaces itself and discards the inner cardboard roll
* Catching up with Dave Painter to make a casting of a brass moon candle holder
Contact information:
test12018@gmail.com
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Call for Helping to Make a Non-Profit Expo Makersmiths VideoPurcellville is having a non-profit expo held virtually on April 24th. This would be fantastic free marketing for us. Please visit the Marketing channel in Slack and see how you can contribute to this fantastic way of promoting Makersmiths. Questions? Contact Scott Newman. |
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Interested in running for the Board of Directors? |
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In June 2021, we will have an election for new members of our Board of Directors. If you are interested in serving on the BOD of Makersmiths, please contact Erin Werling at werling6@gmail.com |
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Makersmiths Leesburg: 106 Royal St SW, Leesburg, VA 20175 Makersmiths Purcellville: 785 S. 20th St, Purcellville, VA 20132 Unsubscribe |
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