In this article we’ll discuss using your character turnaround to create a base mesh. While I won’t be explaining in detail how to use Blender – that’s beyond the scope of my experience – I will be introducing important terms and concepts that you can then use to find more knowledgable sources of information. So let’s get started.
The Quest Academy in Palatine is opening an “Innovation Center” next year that will include a 3D printer for the kids to use. Vinnie Vrotny, director of academic technology, asked Workshop88 to bring a couple 3D printers to a benefit event last evening. Proceeds of the event will help fund the center.
I brought the MakerBot Cupcake up to Hoffman Estates. I’d pictured a junior high gym as a venue – in fact the benefit was at a pretty upscale banquet hall. Initially I thought that jeans and hiking boots might not be suitable among the tuxedos and gowns, but I think our demo was very successful. Lots of people stopped for lengthy conversations, and were quite interested in the tech. It didn’t hurt that the printers were right next to the open bar.
We should keep some open contacts with the school, as some of our aims match well with theirs.
Welcome back! So you’re interested in making you’re own custom Halloween costume. If you weren’t able to find some Pepakura models already created, you’re going to need to design and model it yourself. Unless you’re an amazing sculpter who can imagine a great 3d object in empty space, you’re going to want some type of 2d references to work from. Doing some prep work up front can save you a lot of time down the road.
Hey, we’re featured on hackaday today!
If you’re a hackaday reader just learning about Workshop 88, please feel free to connect with us online:
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Hi there! I’m relatively new to W88 and was asked to blog a little bit about some things I have going. I have an Arduino sensor project I’ll be writing about later as it gets a little further along, but seeing as Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I’d start with designing and creating your own Halloween costume.
The design I’m going to be shooting for will be made out of EVA foam and should be relatively inexpensive, pretty durable, easy to work with, and not require a whole lot of tools. However, I’ve never done this before so these posts may just be a documentary of my crashing and burning.
This is another breadboard setup to test a component – in this case an LCD display.
Image credit: Jim Williams
This was another submission by Workshop 88 member Jim Williams to the What’s on Your Breadboard series. (Seems like Jim has an awful lot of breadboards.)
Thanks, Jim!
Salvador is a close friend of Workshop 88 and an active member of Chibots.
Image credit: Salvador Garcia
He posted this photo of his breadboard and told us:
“This is a simple light sensor that I put together for a Cub Scout presentation that we did last year.”
Thanks, Salvador!
Image credit: Jim Williams
Workshop 88 was gifted a large set of these LEDs in a green plastic dome. Jim posted a photo of a breadboard he set up to get the LEDs to go around in a circular pattern. Thanks, Jim!
As a maker space, we always love sharing knowledge! Recently a member of Workshop 88 started helping out a local group called the Hacker Scouts. The Hacker Scouts are a group of young kids who meet every two weeks to learn something new about science and technology. They reached out to Workshop 88 members to help teach. I wanted to share this article with you to help you get an idea of the amazing things they do. They are a great group of people with a great mission, and I encourage you to get involved! Simply send email the main organizer: Elaine Luther at elaineluther@chicagogiftedcommunity.org!
Last Thursday I read on Dangerous Prototypes forum about doing making PCBs by printing on vinyl and heat transferring to PC board, then etching. Vinyl was reported to transfer 100% of the toner easily, better than the sheets designed for the purpose. Since I was in need of a board, Andrew had recently gotten some vinyl at the space, and there’s a laminating machine there, it seemed worth a try.
The process is simple: laser print the circuit on some vinyl sheet that’s glued to a piece of paper, then run both the printed piece and a blank board through the laminator to transfer the toner to the copper. Paul Reich just finished a circuit board design that looked pretty challenging to etch, so that seemed a good test.
Initially I worried that putting the vinyl through the laser printer might be a little risky. Running a few small patches through didn’t show any obvious issues. The vinyl for the vinyl cutter isn’t ideal: it could be a little thinner and it’s nearly opaque so it’s hard to see whether the image is on the board.
The first quick test was quite encouraging.
Although far from perfect, in the areas that transferred the detail was quite good. Since the board hadn’t been cleaned and the board was only run through the laminator once, results were better than expected.
Saturday back at the space, I thought to try some other materials instead of borrowing the supplies for the vinyl cutter, and try some ways of cleaning the copper. Browsing the hardware turned up some Con-Tact low-tack shelf paper that seemed to be vinyl, as well as steel wool and polishing compound to clean the copper.
The shelf paper didn’t work out, as it didn’t stick to paper enough to go through the printer. Steel wool and polishing compound both appeared to clean the copper pretty well.
After some further experiments, Paul and were able to make a couple of double sided boards that were good enough to use for some of the tests we were hoping for.