Jun 12th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
Anyone interested in heading to Raleigh NC for the 2012 Maker Faire NC? My plans are to leave Friday late afternoon/early evening and return Saturday late night. Should be a fun time and good chance to meet other makers as well as sample the vision for Chattanooga’s sake.
Jun 12th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
Over the last few days I’ve been printing all sorts of stuff with the new Makerbot Replicator. My kids are throwing requests for printing all sorts of items at me such as rockets, pigs, and the occasional odd item. Their introduction of the concept of making your own things is completely natural to them. They are excited by watching the printing but casually tell their friends ‘that is our thing printer.’
I ran across this blog post that captures a wonderful glimpse of 3d printing in the context of an educational setting and how our kids have surpassed us on this front already. It happens so quickly. For my human overlords (parents) there were personal computers and now smart phones; for theirs there was the automobile. For geek-kind, these leaps in technology define our generations. And here is this new thing printer. I’m already thinking about how this could be made to print anything and print faster using technologies that with a little Googling are in place.
If you are my generation, y’all better hold on. This is going to be big and we won’t realize it until it has already happened.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing my parents in a few weeks and observing their reaction to this (they are in their mid-60s); not to mention my in-laws (in their 80s). My father-in-law is an engineer (Ga Tech) and my father a life long hands on tinkerer and restorer. I’m really wondering what they will want to design and prototype with this new thing in our toolbox.
Jun 9th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
Found this on my doorstep last evening. Up to about 2am setting it up and getting to the first test build. Now I’m very close to having it really dialed in. Currently creating some decent prints after the Y-Axis failed in the middle of a test print overnight. It seems the set screw on the Y-Axis NEMA motor shaft was not torqued and it was slipping, badly.
The kids are loving the fact that they can tell me to print just about anything and I actually can about 95% of the time thanks to thingiverse.com!
I’m more impressed than I thought I’d be with this newest Makerbot. Congrats to them on making something so cool and useful. Usually things are not this much of both.
Jun 7th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
Caleb from Hackaday visited us earlier this week. He took the time to stop in and check on our buildout progress. We’ve had a significant uptick in the number of requests over the past week and much is due to their coverage. The makerspace community is a well connected one and we are feeling more plugged in than ever.
Big thanks to Caleb and Hackaday for raising the flag for us!
May 27th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
I’ve been out for the past two weeks in San Francisco for our West Coast team building event and a week at the beach with the family. Wow. I feel really good. It has been a long time since I had some time to read 4 books and actually sleep in. I think I caught up on at least a year’s sleep deprivation.
While I was away it got a bit hot here in Chattanooga. That means air conditioning is priority #1 at the *space. Anybody have a large (15-20k BTU) window unit to donate?
Priority #2 is security and that means I’ve got to spend some time programming an Arduino UNO to use my NFC/RFID transceiver. Then it is a simple matter of finding the right hardware/electronic latch. Which will require…
Priority #3 (usually #1 for me) is…internet connectivity. We will be talking with EPB to see if they want to support the makerspace. If not, we’ll just need to bite the bullet. Flowing packets is going to be a really major milestone.
I’m beat from 10 hours in the car with the whole family! Good night and have a great Memorial Day holiday!
May 4th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
Wow I’ve been busy. My company is doing a launch party next Thursday from 5-8pm and I’ve been getting ready for months now. Building out an office is hard work. NOT as hard as building out a makerspace I suppose but close. Ya’ll stop by 100 Cherokee Blvd next Thursday after work and enjoy some good food and conversation.
Daniel and Debbie (sp?) stopped by to pitch in tonight with the painting and to check out the space. With the ever present Trevor aka HellBoy we had a crowd.
About 60% of the overall space is primed and looking pretty good. We need to access a sprayer to hit some stuff that will never get painted if we go brush and roller, so Aaron W. I’m looking to talk to you soon.
I’m actually looking to do the floors next. That means it is getting pretty close. Working on layout as well. I can smell a launch party in a matter of couple of months. Getting excited. And we have an intern from CalPoly who is going to help out this summer as well. I’m rambling. Good night.
Apr 20th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
The finished table and the first of many things to come.
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Apr 20th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
Fabbing a worktable: Tim Youngblood prepping a base for welding uprights and a top.
Apr 18th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
HOWEVER…we have a new roof on top of the metalshop and we are dry. Dry as a bone in the desert dry. Dry as in no rain where rain shouldn’t be.
Now for finish coat of paint and putting this buildout into hyperdrive.
Big thanks to T-Mac for putting the money down to get us dried up.
Apr 13th, 2012 by Tim Youngblood
We have a commitment and more importantly action from our property owner on fixing the roof. His stated plan is to try for a green roof, but we’ll see what happens with the contractors bid from yesterday.
This has allowed us to move forward with buildout at a higher confidence level than in prior weeks.
Phew. Lots of stuff going on. Next up:
Looking to source the following:
Getting closer! And the place no longer looks like the set for Saw II.
