September 2022 Newsletter

Monthly Membership Meeting

October 5, 7:00pm to 8:30pm

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New Member Orientation

October 10, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

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Leesburg Workday - Oct 8 9am

Purcellville Workday - Nov 5 9am

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

President's Message

Adam "Squirrl" McClintock

Greetings Makers,

This is my first “President’s Message” so please bear with me. I would like to thank everyone who has assisted me in learning the ropes so far. I know I have a long way to go and a lot more to learn but I also know that there are plenty of people here who will continue to help.

I am looking forward to cooler weather and providing some additional Intro to Blacksmithing classes at “Squirrl’s Smithy” at the Purcellville location. Look for those on the event calendar as usual.

As always, we are looking for people to give/host classes. You don’t have to be an expert on a subject to give a class, you just need the time and willingness to organize something. If you don’t know where to get started you can ping me directly on Slack or start up a conversation in the #host_a_class channel.Feel free to engage me with any suggestions, questions, requests for help or just a “How do you do?”

See you online at the next members meeting on Wednesday the 8th of October at 7:00 PM.

Sincerely, 
C. Adam “Squirrl” McClintock 
President, Makersmiths 

Education News

During September, Electronics steward, Geoffrey Hoffman, taught a Basic Electronics and Soldering workshop at Makersmiths-Leesburg. Parents working with their youth learned about basic electronic components, tools and circuits. They practiced soldering by constructing a simple electronics lab kit that Hoffman 3-D printed. They went through a list of projects, starting with a simple circuit and added switches to control LEDs and generators with fans. Geoffrey added a breadboard in the design so that eventually participants could add to their kit such as building integrated circuits, micro-controllers and sensors.

New computer for

Big Red CNC

Bo Wernick

3D Printer updates!

Scott Silvers

We’re in the process of increasing and diversifying our 3D Printing capabilities at Makersmiths to better serve our members at both Leesburg and Purcellville. Our Ender-3 V2 printers have been upgraded with new firmware and auto-leveling sensors to make them more user friendly. Two of those printers will remain at Leesburg while the third will be relocated to Purcellville. We’re also adding some new printers, with each site getting two Neptune 3 printers and one Longer LK5 Pro. The Neptune 3s are similar in print area to the Enders and have built in auto-leveling and touch screen control pads. The Longer LK5 Pro features a significantly larger print area than the Neptune and Ender printers at 11.81 x 11.81 x 15.7 in (300 x 300 x 400 mm), which is large enough to print a full size Mandalorian helmet in one print!      

Our SLA printing capabilities at Leesburg have also been upgraded with a new Elegoo Jupiter 6K Resin Printer which has a much larger print volume than our exiting resin printers at 10.9 x 6.14 x 11.81in (277 x 156 x 300mm) and 0.05 mm resolution. This will allow printing of things like 1/6th scale statues, full size masks, and other large objects. We can’t wait to see what members will do with these new, larger format printers!         

Of course, as we’re limited in space, bringing in new printers means we need to make some room by selling our older printers. We’ll soon be listing our LulzBot Mini, Makerbot Replicator 2, and XYZ Davinci Pro for sale. As always, members will have the opportunity to buy these before we offer them to the public.

More to come!

Ceramics shop is looking for...

• a few more pottery wheels
• a big wall-mount extruder
• a slab roller

reach out on the #ceramics channel in Slack to let them know if you get a lead on this equipment

New Class Offering - STEMLingo

Makersmiths will be offering a 2-session STEMLingo workshop for youth ages 12+ on Nov. 5 and 12 from 10am to noon at MS-L. Adults and teens are also encouraged to attend. Limit to the workshop will be 8 people since it will be offered in the classroom at Makersmiths-Leesburg. During the workshop, the participants will complete three projects: 

• A reaction time measurement project – there will be a fun round robin competition to see who has the fastest reaction time – can the students beat the instructors? 
  
• A head to head round robin reaction time project for 2 competitors – Who will be the class champion? 
  
• A music project – make a Theremin electronic musical instrument that is played without physical contact by the performer.  Improv concert to be staged. 

Board Appoints New Committee Chairs

Welcome our new IT Committee Chair, Scott Silvers and our Membership Committee Chair, Jen Barlev. They will help put the organize in our organization! Please join the #it-committee and the #membership-committee on Slack if you want to help out. 

Additionally, special projects and the video committee were rolled into the #marketing-committee, headed up by Jason Gilligan. 

Any member can join these committee channels on Slack

Did you know...

Makersmiths has a blog on their home page? 

Makersmiths is on Instagram?

Makersmiths has a YouTube page?

You can support Makersmiths using Amazon Smile for your purchases?

In the News

Makersmith member Kristina Rall's Kaper Woodworks in the Haymarket Gainesville Lifestyle Magazine October 2022 Issue, page 6.

KR: [Makersmiths] helped me get off the ground and continues to help me learn new things

Have you seen the #hire-a-maker channel on Slack? Perfect for someone looking for a few jobs in their skill set or expanding their maker business!

Stunning spalted maple with jatoba bench

made by Greg Carter

Check it out on the #whatcha-make-today Slack Channel

The Fruits of Our Labors

Roasted Green Chile Sauce recently appeared at both locations, courtesy of Greg Steinbach! The sauce we made using peppers grown at our very own Makersmith Ida Lee garden plot using serano, jalapeno, and anaheim peppers. It boasts a mild heat and the sauce has been pasteurized. Hit him up for the recipe if you missed this spicy offering!

thanks, Greg!

MS-L

Intro to 3D Printing - FDM 10/3

Red Tool UV Printer - 10/4

Electronics Night - 10/6, 10/20

Fusion 360 Design Workshop - 10/10, 10/15

Intro to Laser Cutter - 10/11

Big Red CnC Operation - 10/12

Red Tool Woodworking - 10/18

MS-P

Gas Welding Beginner - 10/2 *

Basic TIG Welding - 10/6, 10/20

MIG Welding Beginner - 10/8*

Beginner Blacksmith: Dragon Scale Poker -10/9

Beginner Blacksmith: Viking Pizza Axe - 10/9

Intro to 3D Printing FDM - 10/10

Red Tool Woodworking Basics - 10/13

Red Tool Woodworking Adv - 10/16

Intro to Blacksmithing: Forge a Leaf - 10/16

Intro to Blacksmithing: Forge a J-Hook - 10/23

Red Tool Metalworking Basics - 10/19

* 2 classes offered these days

check back - new classes are added all the time

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

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