Maker Faire 2015

We were just one of dozens of wheeled objects at the faire, but we were the only ice cream cone.

Well, the only wheeled ice cream cone.

Two Weeks Ago...

...we were here:

adding texture strips

using this adhesive to...

...glue stacks of foam rings

 Doug used his custom sawzall blade to sculpt the top:

Emilio worked his paint magic once again, and we had another test run:

This evening, there were minor adjustments, including the addition of this printed emergency button housing:

And then it was finished, the mobile cupcake ice cream cone:

We'll be at the 10th Annual Bay Area Maker Faire this weekend. Hope to see you there, too.

Busy Meeting

Meetings can feel busy when everyone splits off to work on different aspects of a project.

Doug received quite a bit of admiration for his modification of a reciprocating saw blade. Grinding off the teeth and sharpening the edge made it into a fast and accurate foam cutter.

Another team cut holes for the support wheels...

While a third group wired the batteries in sequence to power the controller.

Everything worked.

And of course, this led to all kinds of playing around.

Now that the car works, how shall we dress it up?

Wheels and Wiring

Soldering wire connections and measuring for wheel mountings:

photo by Sabrina Granados

photo by Sabrina Granados

photo by Sabrina Granados

Catching up

Documentation has slipped a bit, but here's what has happened over the last two months:

photo by Sabrina Granados

photo by Sabrina Granados 

photo by Sabrina Granados

photo by Sabrina Granados

photo by Sabrina Granados

The project has been changed from a cupcake to another edible. More on that to come—

Younger Makers + Older Makers = ??

I keep thinking we need a name change. Although we still have one or two members who are ostensibly part of the Young Makers, it feels like we have become much more than that. The Young Makers program is, or at least initially was, intended for teens working under adult guidance and mentorship. Somehow over the years our adults have come to outnumber the teens and a couple of them have started to bring in their younger children. The only format we follow is that we always eat pizza and talk about our various side projects. Here are some of the things people are working on:

• stripping and rebuilding a train table found free on craigslist
• knitting a sweater
• working on sections in Minecraft
• writing a song
• looking into building an R/C car
• making a leather belt & watch strap
• refinishing an outdoor patio table found free on craigslist 
• building a fence
• setting up a new computer
• getting certified in the maintenance of AWOS weather stations
• helping a friend find and fabricate steel to bind a giant drum
• taking apart a non-working keyboard from...wait for it...craigslist with the aim of creating a playable instrument again
• building a custom LED light strip for a workbench
• 3D printing parts for an RC car
• designing and building a 3D DLP printer

Our youngest have as much to share as our most experienced. Perhaps the best part of the group now is being in the company of people who love to make and repair things. But what would one call that?

After all the discussion about side projects, we did get the sides of the cupcake measured and cut. 

Cupcake Car Base

Sometimes things just work out. We ran out of table space, for example, but found a way to serve the pizza.

Or this: by chance, Jim had found and repaired a broken large format printer, so it was possible to print out full-sized plans for cutting the cupcake base. (Of course it wasn't strictly necessary, but what a treat to be able to just glue the plans over the plywood and cut on the lines.)

Or this: after eyeing the plan, Emilio went back to his truck and pulled out a circular piece of plywood that he'd found a year and a half ago and been carting around since. It was just 6" wider than the diameter we needed.

Everyone got a chance to help make the base. Cutting with a jigsaw:

Starting pilot holes with a drill: 

Young makers guiding younger makers:

Wheels, casters, and motors were mounted. It may be that the ring cut from around the base will be able to serve as part of the structure, like so: 

We'll have to see how it all works out.

Starting the Cupcake Car

Last meeting the boys wired up new batteries to the wheelchair motor controllers and motors to confirm that the system would run as intended. They also learned to write up a wiring diagram for same.

batteries, motors, controllers and wheels

Over the weekend, the tubes and tires were changed out and cleaned.

prying old cracked tires off with screwdrivers

Jim explains the use of grease to help get the new tire seated

inflating the new tire

The bonus of having skilled mentors: when Sebastian wondered aloud how knurling was done, Jim was able to take him to the metal lathe and show him.

the knurling tools next to the metal blank

metal shards from the lathe

We now have a solid basis for some kind of motorized car. The next step will be designing the base and body.