Leesburg Workday: 10/25/2025 9am - 2pmPurcellville Workday: 11/01/2025 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 to: http://meet.google.com/ubz-ykxr-kiu or Dial-in: (US) +1 304-609-2532 PIN: 114 333 983# |
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President's Message Diane Bollinger |
This month I had the opportunity to take a number of classes I had been looking forward to taking. I absolutely love the classes and teaching aspect of our lovely Maker Space. We have a wonderful crew of volunteers with so many talents and knowledge to share. It really makes our space unique and valuable.
I took the Ceramics Wavy Plate Class with Kate Amstutz. This ends up being a 2 part class. In the official class we arrived to a prepared slab and we were walked through the specific steps needed to reform the slab into a plate. I brought some 3D printed rollers which I shared with the students near me. With a bit of cornstarch and some creativity we prepared our plates. I had a fantastic time chatting with newer member Cortney and another member I hadn’t had a chance to get to know, Erin. It was a very pleasant morning!
I met up with Kate a while later to glaze my piece. Kate worked with me to make sure the color scheme was something I would like and discussed a few glazing techniques. A few days later after the kiln was able to fire a second time, I had a finished plate! It’s a gorgeous teal color just like I was hoping for.
I was also able to take a highly anticipated end-grain cutting board skills class taught by Lyle Reger. Lyle makes some amazing projects and is always great to work with regardless of if I’m teaching him or asking him questions. In the class, Glenda, Nick, and I worked together on the steps to create a cutting board. They are typically time consuming steps that require dry time in between. Lyle figured out an awesome way to teach a ton of information, be able to use the machine and materials hands on, and see all the process steps. We were able to cut down, plane, and glue one cutting board, and then he magically had another cutting board that had just finished those exact steps! It felt like one of those cooking shows where they pull the almost finished dish fresh out of the oven! With that board we were able to cut it down to size and use the router table to finish it. I’m very excited to work on some cutting boards for Christmas gifts this year.
The third class I took this month was a Pen Turning class with Dave Hamrick. It was a blast. I have taken the lathe class previously, the bowl making class (twice!) and worked on a bowl on my own time. But the unique steps of turning a pen or similar kit item was just overwhelming enough that I hadn’t gotten around to trying. I’m a bit glad I didn’t try because there were a ton of little tips and tricks Dave taught myself and Glenda in this class that I wouldn’t have succeeded on my own. I saved a ton of time and research by hearing directly from an expert in the craft. I was able to ask lots of questions and feel confident that I will be able to make some pens as gifts for the holiday season.
While I haven’t had as much time for teaching this month, I have been enjoying taking a little time to take classes and learn new skills. I have been working really closely with the Ceramics department as the President and as someone excited to learn about a department I haven’t had much time to use yet. We’ve made some great steps to help push forward a number of the in-progress projects such as getting the hot water and heating/cooling figured out. As well as making the ceramics department more accessible to those who would like to learn and use the space who may not have had the opportunity to learn pottery skills elsewhere. With my research I’ve found that what we have is a really amazing and sought after opportunity to use this studio at a crazy low price, but it just needs a little push to really be the amazing space I know it can be.
I hope that my influence helps the department thrive and if anyone would like to hear more about this, let me know of your thoughts on it, or if you have any other areas you would like me to take a look at. Please know you can always send me an email or slack message and I am happy to chat it out with you.
Diane Bollinger Makersmith President
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A Word About Registering and Taking Classes at Makersmiths Diane Painter |
Not long ago, while I was at Makersmiths, I overheard a member mention to another member that it was lucky he got into a class he wanted to take because they fill up so quickly. I stopped what I was doing, spoke with the members, and offered them some advice. I told them that if they are having trouble finding a class they need and/or really want to take, they should direct message (DM) Jennifer Chu or Diane Painter on Slack and let us know. Or, you can email us at Jennifer.chu@makersmiths.org or diane.painter@makersmiths.org.
Jennifer schedules classes at MS-Leesburg, and Diane schedules classes at MS-Purcellville. We will try to find an available instructor or talk to the instructor whose class just filled and ask if another class section can be offered. But there are other things you can do as well.
When trying to register for a class, look for this in the class description: If the class is full, click here to request additional classes. We have a member on the Scheduling Committee who informs us each month about the classes people want to take.
I also shared with that same group of members that we have a Class Catalog site. It is called the Makersmiths Class Catalog. It contains information about classes we have previously offered. If you see something that interests you, please contact Jennifer Chu or Diane Painter and let us see what we can schedule.
One of the most challenging aspects of our jobs as schedulers is determining what members want or need to take. Another hard part is finding instructors willing to share their knowledge and skills. We would like to hear from you about your willingness to serve as an instructor for Makersmiths. So, if you can help us with that, we thank you in advance for your interest! |
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Makersmiths Board Report Jim Waldron |
The Makersmiths Board of Directors met on September 24th at 7pm in the lower classroom at Leesburg. It was a quick meeting with a short agenda. We are in good shape financially, running a little ahead on income and not quite spending as projected on expenses, leaving a small profit. Membership is at 322 members.
Old Business item 1. A new table 14.1 was adopted for the Standing Rules. The big news here is that there will no longer be machine time suggested donation fees for the UV, BN2-20, or Sublimation printer.
New Business item 1. The Board approved a gift certificate for the winner of the Purcellville Stamp Game. Diane Painter is providing a free Soap Making class for the winner (and Diane is donating the materials).
The November Board Meeting will be moved to November 19th to avoid a conflict with Thanksgiving, and the December Board Meeting will be moved to December 17th to avoid a conflict with Christmas. |
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2025 Makers' Market Fundraising Auction is LIVE! |
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Thanks to the effort of some dedicated Volunteers, our fundraising auction is now live! Click on this link to see what Members like you have donated for the event.
This isn’t just about raising money, we really want to show off the amazing things we can do here at Makersmiths. So, as the auction grows, please share the auction link on your social media to garner the attention of bidders and other Makers who could join our space!
The auction will be running until 3pm, October 11th, the day of the Makers’ Market at our Purcellville location. For those who’d like to contribute or have donations at the ready, please DM John Carter to make arrangements. |
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Changes have been made to the fees for the BN2-20, sublimation printer, and UV printer. New fees have been added for frame shop mats and Bambu 3-D filament. You can find the fees on the Wiki under Our Organization then select Bylaws, Standing Rules, and Guidelines, page 13 of the Standing Rules.
Frame shop mat board $1.00 per sheet
- Bambu 3-D Printer Filament $0.03 per gram
- UV printer $3.00 per mL (1 mL minimum)
For sublimation select one of the two options:
- Sublimation printer BYO (bring your own) paper $1.00 per sheet or roll-ft
- Sublimation printer using MS paper $2.00 per sheet or roll-ft
For BN2-20 select the option that fits what you are using: - Printed using MS media and MS laminate $5.00/ft
- Printed using MS media but no MS laminate was used $4.00/ft
- Printed using your own media (BYO) and Makersmiths (MS) laminate $3.00/ft
- Printed using BYO media and BYO laminate $2.00/ft
- No printing, no media, just used MS laminate $1.00/ft
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Which Red Tool Basic Woodworking Class at MSP is Right for You? Diane Painter, MSP Scheduler |
You heard about Makersmiths, toured the facilities and then joined Makersmiths because you want to use the woodworking shop at Makersmiths Purcellville. You have woodworking experience and just need to be oriented to the industrial, professional tools in that woodshop. First you will take the Basic Red Tool class is known as WWP-R100: Woodworking Basics Red Tool. It is taught by John Borden on the second Thursday of each month.
You will also then follow-up by taking the advanced woodworking red tool class known as WWP-R200: Woodworking Advanced Red Tool class that John Borden also teaches on a Sunday afternoon of each month. Once you satisfactorily complete those two red tool woodworking classes at Makersmiths Purcellville, you are good to go to use the equipment.
But what if you are an inexperienced woodworker or not quite comfortable using the industrial, professional tools on your own and would like to be guided through a first project in that woodshop? Then soon to be offered WWL-R101: Woodworking Basics with Make and Take - Red Tool Purcellville followed by WWP-R200: Woodworking Advanced Red Tool class may be a better way for you to be red tool trained to use the woodshop at Makersmiths Purcellville.
WWL-R101: Woodworking Basics with Make and Take - Red Tool Purcellville will soon be offered toward the end of October by Blair Marendt. We are in the process of figuring out material costs. This two- session workshop is for beginning woodworkers wanting to learn how to use Makersmiths Purcellville woodworking tools safely. The schedule is designed to allow sufficient time for reviewing proper tool usage and completing a beginner’s woodworking project. No prior woodworking experience necessary.
Participants in this make and learn red tool basic woodworking workshop will be signed off on these tools (Table Saw, Miter Saw, Band Saw, Drill Press, 12” Disk Sander, Router Table, 16” Drum Sander, Downdraft Sanding Table, Dust Collector) and be approved for taking the MSP wood shop advanced class, WWP-R200: Woodworking Advanced Red Tool class with John Borden that covers other tools in the woodshop. |
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Participants in this two-day session will also create a basic cutting board, encompassing the glue-up process and finishing techniques. All materials will be provided, and the registration fee for this class includes the cost of materials.
Please do not hesitate to ask questions. Contact John Borden at borden.john@gmail.com or Blair Marendt at bmarendt@gmail.com |
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Making for the Holidays Diane Painter |
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Mini-Halloween House Build Diane Painter |
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A few years ago, I came across Lucy Foxcroft’s PaperGlitterGlue.com website. Fascinated by all kinds of wonderful craft ideas for the holidays, I dove deeply into the website and came across her annual Miniature Halloween House Contest. As Lucy states, it is “where you can showcase your creativity by designing and submitting your own handcrafted miniature house inspired by Halloween! Whether you love candy corn cottages, whimsical witch mansions or spooky forest retreats, this is your chance to share your artistry and win some fun prizes!”
This is the third year we are offering this miniature Halloween House build workshop as a family-friendly event. For the past two years, members have won Amazon gift cards $50 or more when they entered the contest! However, entering the contest is up to you!
For every registered adult, feel free to bring a child or two as helpers. A variety of paper and glue craft resources will be available to help you design and build your haunted house. We will also have two Cricuts available to use to find and print out objects and house templates. Feel free to bring items such as fairy lights, and Halloween-themed objects from the Dollar Store. For those who want to enter their completed projects on Lucy Foxcroft's contest website, please see this year’s list of prizes to be won! Visit: https://paperglitterglue.com/2025-mini-halloween-house-contest/ to learn more!
We will meet in the lower classroom at Makersmiths Purcellville, Saturday morning Oct. 18 from 9:30AM-12PM. Please register for the Halloween House Build Workshop at: https://makersmiths.org/event-6371674 |
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Education News Diane Painter |
A two-day workshop for youth and their parents was held September 6-7 in the Electronics Lab at Makersmiths-Leesburg. Four adults and three middle school youth learned from Makersmiths member, Alex Rice, about circuits and programming micro:bits, a device as small as a credit card. They learned that there are three ways to program a micro:bit using MicroPython, Scratch or JavaScript. Developed in the UK, the micro:bit was designed to actively involve youth in hands-on learning as they write software code that is sent to the Micro:bit to make something happen such as make lights blink, or make a red heart appear on the micro:bit screen. |
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This workshop as well as the Basic Electronics for Kids workshop held in August at Makersmiths-Leesburg offered by three Makersmiths members, Gary Dufour, Jeffrey Weiss and Robert Johnson, are designed to interest our youth in learning about basic electronic components, tools and circuits.
We cannot offer these opportunities without the support and interest of our members. A huge thank you to the workshop instructors who spent time creating and giving the workshops! But we also need to hear from our members. What do our youth want to learn that we can offer at Makersmiths? What members are interested in working with our youth? What skills set can they offer that will inspire our youth to design, make and test out?
Kidwind is another example of initiatives we have offered to our youth since 2018. To continue this hands-on, science-based inquiry program that teaches youth about renewable energy as they design, build and test wind turbines and solar projects, we need Makersmiths members who will serve as coaches. This school year (2025-2026), Makersmiths member, Oliver Arend, states that he wants to continue to work with his daughter and other students at her high school to learn design, build and test out a wind turbine and enter the open-design wind division of a KidWind Challenge. If you live east of Leesburg and your high schooler is interested in working with his team, they will meet in the Great Falls area. Contact him at oarend@gmail.com. |
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(Oliver Arend and his wind team and Diane Painter’s wind team in March 2025)
I will work with grade 4 and 5 students at Lincoln ES in Purcellville to begin their journey in the design, development, and testing of basic KidWind wind turbines. Makersmiths member Blair Marendt will be coaching an elementary wind power team. If your child is in grades 3, 4 or 5, please contact him of your interest at bmarendt@gmail.com.
If you are a Makersmiths member and have children interested in learning about either wind or solar KidWind initiatives, I am interested in hearing from you. However, we need a middle school wind and all levels of solar coaches, Makersmiths members willing to work with our KidWind youth. I am offering a training session on Saturday, November 15 at the Northern Virginia KidWind training at Shenandoah University in Winchester. We will focus on wind in the morning and solar in the afternoon. Please contact me at diane.painter@makersmiths.org and let’s talk about it, or just register for the training at https://tinyurl.com/59m7n73p. |
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What are our Members Making? Diane Painter |
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3-D Map of Narragansett Bay |
The University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, M.S. 1992 alum Russell C. Kelz, presented to the university’s president, Dr. Marc Parlange, a 3-D map of Narragansett Bay and surrounding waters. Russell created the map with eight layers of medium-density fiberboard, a plywood top, and an aluminum floating frame. The project was laser-cut with Makersmiths’ CNC 100 W CO2 laser, then carefully hand-assembled, glued, and painted. Russell purchased the materials to make this map from Crusty Materials, LLC, Subsidiaries, Phat Bottoms Maps, Phat Glass Masters, and Big Country Hardwoods. |
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Challenge Coins and Tokens |
Ian Sitek is now a new den leader. He laser-cut “Do Your Best” tokens for his Den 4. Diane Painter fiber-lasered brass coins to make challenge coins for Christmas 2025. Sometimes it is a challenge to get to a holiday family reunion! |
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Commemorating the Sound of Blood Flowing |
Nick Carr-Voigt’s friend has an LVAD to keep blood flowing while he's on the transplant list. He discovered that the device in his chest produces a sound when he holds guitar pickups against his heart, so the natural next step was to record a hardcore album centered around that sound. Nick states that this is a good excuse to honor his friend, and to get familiar with the laser cutter, so he made this plaque. |
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Front Entrance of Shutters Restaurant |
Ian Poole just finished and installed a new pair of doors on the entrance of the Shutters Restaurant in Leesburg. You will often find Ian at MSP using the industrial-grade machines to do much of his work! |
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Mike Brady made these pouches to store his chess pieces. Perhaps he is willing to teach members his zipper installation secret at the next Sewing Circle? |
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During retirement a project of interest has been the design and fabrication of an off road, remote control, ground vehicle nicknamed Rover. An initial prototype was tested in 2024. |
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Based on its performance; a second-generation design was developed that included: - Independent steering and vehicle speed control
- An elevated chassis and motors to reduce drag and allow for driving through shallow water and snow
- Flexibility within the frame to better maintain tire traction on rough surfaces.
The design was developed in Fusion 360 with commercial hardware and fabricated component models, which were combined into subassemblies and then subassemblies were combined into a single general assembly. The final assembly is comprised of several hundred component models. Components include modified commercial, CNC milled, CNC turned, 3D printed, and laser cut material. CNC CAM programs were prepared in Fusion 360. |
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The steering action and flexibility added to the frame are depicted here. |
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The tires are driven in pairs connected to a common keyed shaft and powered through a chain drive by 250W gearmotors. Steering is also controlled by a 250W gearmotor with chain drive and an encoder for position feedback. A segmented 3D printed shell covers the bottom half of the chain drive to prevent debris catching on the drive chain and sprockets. |
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Flexibility to the frame is added with a linear bearing mounted on the four-tire assembly that rotates on a shaft fixed to the top frame assembly. A shaft mounted on the four-tire frame can be moved up or down to control the degree of rotation. |
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A RadioLink RC4GS surface vehicle controller is used for driving, where the side wheel controls steering, and the trigger controls the vehicle forward and reverse speed. One programmable switch remotely turns the LED headlights off and on. I explained to my 8-yr old grandson, Graham, the forward direction was toward the two-tire steering wheel side, he insisted this was incorrect and forward steering should be toward the four-tire side. In practice he was proved correct with better terrain handling and grade climbing with no loss of steering sensitivity. I had envisioned it as how a tricycle is steered, and he imagined it as a rudder steers a boat. Here is Rover ready for field trials. |
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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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FDM 3D Printing Basic (Bambu) Red Tool 10/06/2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm
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BN2-20 Advanced Red Tool - Additional Media 10/13/2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm
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FDM 3D Printing Basic (Bambu) Red Tool 10/16/2025 1:00pm - 3:00pm
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CO2 Laser Red Tool 10/18/2025 1:00pm - 4:00pm
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Sublimation Printer Red Tool 10/20/2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm
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FDM 3D Printing Basic (Bambu) Red Tool 10/21/2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm
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Vinyl Stickers Red Tool 10/27/2025 6:00pm - 9:00pm
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FDM 3D Printing Basic (Bambu) Red Tool 10/29/2025 10:00am - 12:00pm
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MS-P
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Woodworking Basics Red Tool 10/09/2025 6:30pm - 9:00pm
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Metalworking Basics Red Tool 10/15/2025 6:00pm - 8:30pm
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Woodworking Advanced Red Tool 10/12/2025 1:00pm - 3:30pm
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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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Board Name/Officer | Position | Term |
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Brad Hess | Board Member | 2022 - 2025 |
Bo Wernick | Board Member| 2024 - 2027 |
Scott Silvers | Board Member | 2023 - 2026 |
Evin Grano | Board Member/Chairperson | 2023 - 2026 |
Jennifer Chu | Board Member | 2024 - 2027 |
Diane Bollinger | President | 2025 - 2026 |
Mary Waldron | Treasurer | 2025 - 2026 |
Jim Waldron | Board Member/Secretary | 2025 - 2026 |
Mike Brady | Webmaster | 2025 |
Rob Donahue | IT Steward | 2025 |
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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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