Strategic Planning Session
(Online) 3/19/2025 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Leesburg Workday 1: 3/8/2025 9am - 2pm
(If you can't make it on the day, a list of lite duty Volunteer Opportunities is always posted in the Main Room)
Leesburg Workday 2: 3/29/2025 9am - 2pm(There's something for everyone -get those volunteer hours in!)
New Member Orientation(register online)
MS-L 3/11/2025 6:30 - 8:00 pm
MS-L 3/13/2025 5:00 - 7:00 pm
MS-L 3/25/2025 6:30 - 8:00 pm
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Letter from Makersmiths President Nedim Ogelman |
Friends,
I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of volunteerism as a crucial component of Makersmiths. There are many ways to get involved and make a meaningful impact. From marketing and fundraising to teaching classes and assisting with events, there's something for everyone.
I want to highlight John Carter’s post in Slack at #volunteers_needed outlining key goals and objectives for 2025. Makersmiths needs all of our help to achieve them.
Whether you're interested in helping with marketing, fundraising, or instruction, or if you have a particular skillset you'd like to share, we want to hear from you. We're also looking for volunteers to help us stay organized and on track.
Remember, every hour counts, and every contribution makes a difference. By working together, we can build a stronger, more vibrant community that benefits everyone.
Let's work together to make Makersmiths an great place to learn, create, and connect.
Nedim Ogelman
President, Makersmiths
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On February 17, eleven Makersmiths members gathered to talk about grants. Jim Waldron led the meeting. Regarding why Makersmiths might want to write a grant, Jim asked, “Why are doing this?” He stated that what needs to be considered is what is good for us and what is good for them (grantors). Laura Ogelman then presented an overview of what organizations might be looking for when awarding grants to organizations such as ours. She stated that they may be looking for ways to help us. However, we must be prepared to address several things. Who are we? Mission and vision statements must be clear. Demographics and identification of who we are trying to reach as an organization are essential things to determine.
Jim emphasized that writing a grant takes time, and at a minimum, there needs to be a chair and at least two other members on the committee. The committee must be willing to work with the Board of Directors. Jackie Grant emphasized that there needs to be a grant administrator per grant. How do we find out about available grants? John Carter and Pete Biby are familiar with the database Grant Station. Several other members mentioned Make Magazine, which lists organizations that will fund maker spaces. VISA, Google, and Amazon were mentioned as organizations that we should explore.
At the end of the meeting, a grant committee was formed. People willing to form the committee are Jim Waldron (chair), John Carter, Owen Doherty, Diane Bollinger, and Carol Grigg will serve as members. If you have any insights, ideas, or questions for the committee, please contact: James.Waldron@makersmiths.org. |
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On Feb 27, a ceramics meeting was held at Makersmiths Purcellville. Heating and cooling, HVAC was discussed. Air conditioning is planned in the ceramics room this summer. The volume of kiln use per member will be studied to determine cost needs. Bo is working on a handbook for the ceramics studio that will address contact information, procedures, and expectations when working in ceramics. What can be fired, how an item must be prepared for firing, and no mixing of the glazes and clays will be included in the handbook. Electrical and water expenses were also discussed. Only one of the three kilns is working. Dave Painter will check the wiring in the building to see if that might be the problem. Garage doors were discussed. The garage door in the wet room will not open or close. It is an unusual size, so it may be hard to replace. Dave Painter will look at it carefully to see if it can be fixed. The members at the meeting also
discussed the use of chairs in the lower building classroom. John Dubelko brought a chair to the meeting that he purchased for $50. He said he thought it would be good for when arts and crafts and ceramics members use the room. It appears easy to clean, but sitting in it for long periods of time may be an issue. If you have any comments or questions about the chair, please contact John.Dubelko@makersmiths.org.
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Board of Directors Update Scott Silvers & Bo Wernick |
The February meeting of the Board of Directors was held on February 26th at 7:00PM. Highlights of the actions taken by the Board: - Appointed 3 new co-stewards: Ralph Pugh as co-steward of the Laser Cutters, Robert Johnson as co-steward for 3D Printing, and Ian Schue as co-steward for the Plasma CNC Table. Thank you all for volunteering and helping to keep our tools working. - Reinstated the Grants Committee with Jim Waldron as Chairperson and John Carter, Diane Bollinger, Owen Dohtery, Carol Grigg, and Mary Waldron as its initial members. If you have any experience writing grant or donation requests, or just an interest in helping out, please reach out to Jim or one of the committee members. You can also join the #grant_writing channel on Slack - Accepted the upcoming donation of a Janome MC15000 Sewing/Embroidery machine from Sew Margarbo in Ashburn. The machine will be part of the Sewing, Arts & Crafts area in the Main Room at Leesburg. There will be required Red Tool training for use of the machine, and classes will be coming soon. We do not currently have the embroidery software for this machine, but it will be added at some point in the near future. As a reminder, at the December meeting the Board adopted the 2025 Budget which included an increase in Membership dues. The dues increase will take effect on April 1, 2025 and will be $65/month for an Individual Membership and $130/month for a Family Membership. Robert Johnson has been appointed co-steward for the 3d printers in MSP, supporting Scott Silvers, since Robert is at the Purcellville space more often that Scott. Jessee Maloney procured a donated sewing machine for the MSL space. It is a very fancy machine that should find good use, including with the leather making community. Here is the link to the machine for more details. There is an ongoing search for new chairs for the lower classroom at MSP. So far we haven't found anything that fits the bill in terms of price, quality, and ease of cleaning. The search continues. Reach out to John Dubelko if you have any ideas or suggestions. The Board covered several accounting motions to ensure budgeted expenses were being distributed from the proper accounts. The full details are here.
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New Classes Available at Makersmiths Diane Bollinger |
Check the calendar for a wide variety of new classes posted by our instructors, including this selection of classes taught by Diane Bollinger:
- Make a Wire and Bead Succulent Suncatcher
- Make a Sublimation Notebook
- Make a UV Printed Notebook
- Make a Laser Engraved Notebook
- Make a Sublimation Wind Spinner
- Make Simple Wire Earrings
- Basics of Chainmail
- Make a Painted Mandala Stone
- Make a Butterfly Hair Clips with the assistance of UV Printing
- Make a Leather Sheath from Scratch
- Leatherworking Skills - Finishing Edges
- Leatherworking Skills - Sewing and Stitches
- Leatherworking Skills - Setting Rivets
- Leatherworking Skills - Tooling Part 1 - Using Stamps
- Leatherworking Skills - UV Printing on Leather
- Make a Simple Leather Dog Collar
- Make a Leather Card Wallet
- Make a Leather Dopp Toiletry Bag
- Leather Armor Series - Bracers
To see the dates/times and costs for these classes head to our events page. Can’t make an event? Be sure to notify the instructor of the class you would like to take or fill out the form to request more of the class be posted. The scheduling committee reviews these submissions to help more classes be posted.
Link to Event Calendar |
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Educational News Diane Painter |
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We are coming to a close in terms of our KidWind work sessions. Teams
must now prepare reports and presentations of their projects for the March
14 Winchester Regional KidWind Challenge at Shenandoah University. On
March 8, Diane Painter will host a wind tunnel testing day at Makersmiths
Purcellville for other KidWind teams in Northern Virginia. So far, two wind
turbine team coaches have indicated they are coming to our space to test
their teams’ wind turbines. Testing times will be from 9 am to just after
noon in the Green Room on that Saturday. There are seven Makersmiths’ KidWind teams this year: three wind turbine
teams and four solar teams. There are twenty-six participants in grades 5-
11. We began sponsoring KidWind teams in 2018 when Diane Painter and
Jennifer Chu coached four fourth graders. The team competed in spring
2019 as a wind turbine team. What is remarkable are the numbers of
Makersmiths members involved in this year’s community outreach
initiative: Diane Painter, Mike Asaro, Allen Hamblin, Andrew Taylor, Justin
McMillen, Maria Busuioceanu, and Oliver Arend are serving as coaches.
Jennifer Chu, Ken Fuentecilla, and Amy Copley are Challenge volunteers.
Ken will operate a wind tunnel, Jennifer Chu will serve as a runner for
judges, and Amy Copley will be a photographer. Thank you to everyone from
Makersmiths who are helping to make KidWind so successful as it teaches
making skills, fosters collaboration, and helps our youth develop problem-
solving skills as they learn about renewable energies
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Blades printed with 3D printer and Cricket Maker 3
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Fairfax County grade 11 student Jocelyn Ro, completed the data collection
portion of her science research project that looked at the effect of wind
turbine blade design on energy production. Jocelyn designed three different
blades using Tinkercad. To learn the online software, she completed all six
Promo Ambitions YouTube tutorials demonstrating how to design objects in
Tinkercad and then save them as files for 3D printing or laser cutting. Working with Makersmiths Robert Johnson, the blades were 3D printed at
Makersmiths. Then, working with Makersmiths member Diane Painter, she
used the wind tunnel to test the blades. She found that the cambered blades
performed the best. Her next steps are to complete her research paper and
get feedback from her science research teacher at Oakton High School.
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Red Tool Classes are an important step in your Maker journey!
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MS-L
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Sublimation Printer Red Tool 3/10/2025 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Big Red CNC Red Tool 3/12/2025 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Woodworking Red Tool 3/16/2025 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Wood Lathe Red Tool 3/18/2025 6:00pm - 9:00 pm
Wood Lathe Red Tool 3/21/2025 11:00am - 2:00pm
BN2-20 Red Tool - Print Vinyl Stickers 3/24/2025 6:00pm - 9:00pm
CO2 Laser Basic Red Tool 3/29/2025 2:00pm - 5:00pm
CO2 Laser Advanced Red Tool
3/29/2025 6:00pm - 9:00pm
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MS-P
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Media Blast Cabinet, Powder Coating and Paint Booth Red Tool 3/11/2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Woodworking Basics Red Tool 3/13/2025 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Welding - MIG Red Tool 3/16/2025 10:00am - 1:00pm
Welding - Gas Red Tool 3/16/2025 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Woodworking Advanced Red Tool 3/16/2025 1:00pm - 3:30pm
Media Blast Cabinet, Powder Coating and Paint Booth Red Tool
3/18/2025 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Metalworking Basics Red Tool 3/19/2025 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Media Blast Cabinet, Powder Coating and Paint Booth Red Tool
3/25/2025 6:00pm - 7:30pm
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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!
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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 link to the list of tools which require training and authorization from a Steward. 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: |
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By clicking above, you can view the most current list posted on the Makersmiths wiki. Consider
checking it out, you might discover a new tool that you didn’t realize
Makersmiths had. |
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Makersmith Board Officers |
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Did You Know...
You can find the newsletters from the last several years archived on our website? |
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!
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Makersmiths Leesburg: 106 Royal St SW, Leesburg, VA 20175 Makersmiths Purcellville: 785 S. 20th St, Purcellville, VA 20132 |
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