Sector67 | Madison, WI :: Hackerspace

MAKING THE IRON POUR VIDEO

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Daniel Wright

As an intern, I had the pleasure of attending, recording, and editing the February Iron Pour for Sector67. It was an exclusive backstage pass as a Social Media Manager into an event that had the feel of genuine American culture. Experiencing the energy of it was similar to attending a festival. The cultural atmosphere was great for capturing footage and images that was impressionable. There was chili, hot drinks, and beer (BYOB) as well as classic American Rock music playing. For mid February, the weather was a little mild and the sun shined right into the parking lot of Sector67, in which we were able to enjoy.

As I walked with my camera among the crowd of people seeing life through a lens of an idea, as a community resident-who had finally come out of the house to mingle with my neighbors, it gave me that eerie feeling-perhaps, I was just nervous. I was doing something I had never done. The pressure of wanting to give Sector67 the gift of a great video consumed my whole being at the time. So I was looking through a scope of a million views, 100,000 comments, and 100 customer feedbacks. Professionalism was on me, but the event itself brought out the child in me. Excited as the first time I rode the Eagle at Great America, I recorded video and snapped away with my phone camera. My intentions were to create a video that would be one of the most memorable. So, I stepped out of my comfort zone and asked workers and volunteers of the Iron Pour for interviews. Actually, you could hear my nervousness as I asked questions in the video. In fact, this is the first video I ever recorded and edited for real viewing purposes. There was hours upon hours of editing involved with making the Iron pour video. Funny thing is, it only runs for about twelve minutes. The interviews are the best parts of the Iron Pour for me personally because I was able to learn about the people who make it happen. They were all from different states and all knew each other through professional and personal networks. The interviews took me beyond the idea of an event, and more into the realms of service and lovingkindness of people. The February Pour N’ Yer Out Iron Pour with Felion Studios and Sector67 is honestly a life experience I will never forget.

Posted in Uncategorized

MARCH ’17 MONTHLY MEETING

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Daniel Wright

The March meeting held on 03/07/2017 was another interesting affair held at Sector67. Presenters and attendants alike seemed to enjoy it. As I took pictures, I noticed that they all were picturesque. Each image I captured singed a memory in my mind. Inspirational creativity. Reason to challenge myself more. The experience of Show and Tell gives me a deeper understanding of how people makes the world go round. The humility at the March Meeting was the highlight in my opinion. For instance, Shira presented a talking caliper for the blind and visually impaired. Pardon me, Shira presented a talking caliper (which is a project she is working on) for the blind and visually impaired. Yes, that is very selfless and fascinating. But enough for my opinions, Lon brought his metal sculpture named “Fireworks” that he worked on during the winter. Kate and Brian presented their plaque that was the trophy for Isthmus Beer and Cheese Event. It’s all here for you to read more about and much more.

The night was eloquently started with Shira presenting a talking caliper for the blind and visually impaired. The caliper comes equipped with a SD card, speaker and audio jack.

Shira explained that the caliper she is working on will be able to improve on the price of talking calipers in the market and will be open source and available to anyone who would like to make one.

Shira is a Electrical Engineer as well as a member of Sector67 who has also created MOARbots, which we featured in 2015. The modest engineer spoke passionately about being able to do something beneficial for others.

Attendees of March’s Show and Tell surround Shira as she answers questions about her talking caliper for the blind and visually impaired.

Lon’s sculpture kept the momentum going. It is a winter art project he affectionately called; “Fireworks”. The sleek and unique design is really difficult to photograph. Fireworks are always better seen live. However, I was able to capture Lon detailing some of the detailed work he had to put into it.

Kate and Brian presented the trophy they made for the winners at the 8th annual Isthmus Beers and Cheese event. Trophies went to the best beer, booth and cheese. The design of the plaque actually comes from artwork from a previous Isthmus Newspaper Beer and Cheese event. As you can see in the plaque’s design, the artwork consisted of the shape of Wisconsin in all things cultural to Madison.

Trophy designed by Katie and Brian using art in vector-based format.

Joe showed up to talk about a cool gadget called a “Tourbillon” that makes the ticking sound in clocks and watches.

Joe showing the design of the Tourbillon he made on a 3D printer at Sector67 during Show and Tell.

Scott ended the night with the introduction of Sector67’s adult metalworking class and the youth metalworking class. This quarter’s class for adults will be 04/17/2017 and youth class will begin on 04/22/2017. If you are interested in the class you can reach Scott using the contact us button at the top right.

Another informative meeting at Sector67. The show and Tell Monthly Meeting takes place the first Tuesday of every month and is open to the community. In fact, if you would like to come in and present something feel free to get in touch using the link at the top right.

Posted in Meetings Tagged with: 3D printed, 3D Printed Clock, art metal, Classes, Hands On Metalworking, Isthmus Beer and Cheese, Monthly Meeting, Talking Calipers

Hands on Metalworking Class reflects American Values

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Daniel Wright

Sector67 is also an American community who have a committment of preparing children for everday life. I have the honor of seeing this firsthand. For instance, Scott and Quincy’s Metalworking class isn’t just about metalworking. “It is about teaching children a life long skill,” says Scott who instruct the class with Quincy. During a sit down with the guys, I learned that teaching a particular skill aides in the development of a community on a broader scale. Quincy, who also taught education in Chicago, Illinois and Houston, Texas said,”this is a great opportunity to offer the next generation of mechanics and children who want to get their hands dirty some early experience on using tools.”

After going over some safety precautions, brief history of metal working, and description of the tools of the trade, Quincy and Scott began demonstrating the usage of the tools. Soon after, the students began handling the tools by themselves. They also got a lecture and example of shop etiquette.

As the class went on, I found myself drawn to the significance of the class. A father attended the class with his son, some parents wanted their daughter to learn something different, and the children as a whole seemed genuinely into the course. Watching them gain confidence in handling the tools compelled me to another level of understanding. Perhaps one of these children will become an innovator in the field someday? Maybe even own their own shop as an adult? Exposing the youth to something new and giving them such experience as metalworking can change ones perspective.

The Metalworking class is a quarterly program here at Sector67. Coming next month in April, we will be starting an adult Metalworking class. Click on the link for more details.

Posted in Classes Tagged with: class, community, Kids, metal, metalworking, programs, quincy, Scott, Sector67, shop, tools, youth

February Meeting ’17

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Daniel Wright

Sector67’s February Show and Tell was a night of genuine professionalism and raw talent. The night was as social as it was informative as members and affiliates took turns showing their interests and creations. This month’s Show and Tell covered Sector67’s and East High school’s collaborative effort of creating a robot to compete in FIRST’s Techology Challenge, there was a very important live feed from Portland (from another hackerspace) and much more. Don’t worry, we got it all for you right here.

Liam, a junior from East High School, demonstrated the robot that Sean and Shira from Sector67 coached him and some of his schoolmates to build, program and operate for FIRST’s Tech robot challenge this past january. Liam and Shira showed off some of the robot’s capabilities to kick off February’s Show and Tell.

Here is Liam’s robot in action as Liam describes how it shoots balls up the pictured ramp and down the side.

Joe comically, yet thoroughly told us about an early model of the Unitek Miyachi laser cutter that is able to cut thin metals. As he was giving his presentation, he passed around a couple of pieces he cut to show how it works. Below is the logo of Sector67. The Unitek Miyachi also has spot-welding capability.

Joe holds hackerspace’s attention as he naturally entertains and describe how to program functions into the laser cutter using the joystick and camera.

Evan presented his Solid State Tesla Coil he made for his capstone project while attending MSOE. The coil actually transforms power through a couple coils before it shoot out some plasma arcs at the top of it. Here is an image of a Solid State Tesla Coil that I uploaded from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/OneTeslaTS_DRSSTC_Tesla_Coil_closeup.jpg.

This model is nearly identical to the one Evan presented. Since Evan didn’t bring a live model I used this one to give you an idea of what he did present.

Here is Evan explaining how he decided to keep the stored energy low in case a child ran up to the table and touched his Solid State Tesla Coil during his exhibition at MSOE University. The rating of it ran at about 20 volts.

Kelly and Alisa presented the process of pouring iron.

During their presentation, Alisa explained that a sand mold is essentially a “negative” of what the iron will be once it is poured into the sand mold.

If you are ever interested in volunteering for future iron pours, you can contact Alisa Toninato at FeLion Studios and express your interests.

Jesse presented a gorgeous slab he made to custom fit a Green Egg Grill. The cost of a table would have cost Jesse a $1,000. So he decided to take $200 bucks and brought the slab. He told us how he sanded it down and finished it. The hole seen at the center of the lab was jig-sawed to hold the 300lb. grill.

Jesse took A quick moment to give us a visual of what a Green Egg grill looks like.

Next up Quincy informed us about the All Hands on Metal Working Class instructed by him and Scott Hasse. The goal of the class is to teach young kids between the grades of 7th though 12th how to use tools that is used in metal working, as well as how to be good stewards in a shared space. Quincy announced that the class would now run once a quarter. Announcements will be made soon for registration for the next session. Here is some cool shots of Quincy teaching students of the class about drillbits, where to find them, and the need for shop safety. The bottom picture shows the students assessing some of their learned work.

Davie came to talk about some magnets he made for his daughter. He started making the magnets using sketch art them moved on to CAD (computer aided design). Davie also used non-toxic paint to color the parts once they were cut. Besides, toy planes, trucks and cars, he also designed some cupcakes.

A close of a dump tuck magnet Davie passed around.

A wedding scene magnet shown here. Nice detail.

Jenina came and talked to us about the Madison Soup event. The event is a great way to network, get out of the house, give back, and share your talent with the rest of the community. Tickets go for about $10 and need to be purchased in advance. Madison Soup has been around since 2011 and partnered with Sector67 to host 18 events in which $7,000 have been raised to put back into the community.

Mike and Dana came and introduced us to Sam, from portland who presented Eco-recycling to us via a livefeed. During their presentation, they spoke to us about finding better solutions to preserving our environment. They are currently working on a project that is an experiment at Standing Rock to create a recycling program. Sam told us about an initiative that they took on to remove trash at Standing Rock. In fact, Sam is a member at a hackerspace in Portland. There at their hackerspace, he assembled a stainless steel recycle bin. His concern was to remove an excessive amount of card board taking up space there. In addition to removing the trash from Standing Rock, they began a project to recycle trash and use it as fuel instead of fossil fuels.

Mike and Dana cueing up Sam’s presentation via a live feed.

A livefeed of Sam. In the background you can see some of the materials he is using to build recycling bins.

The Show and Tell is a montly meeting that Sector67’s membership enjoy. At the meeting, presenters share some of the projects they are working on, or either just share some really useful information. I encourage everyone to come out and check it out for yourself. The monthly meeting is held the first Tuesday of every month. Starting at 7pm. Next meeting is on March 7th.

Posted in Uncategorized

Caught a Minute of Jim’s Time…..

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Daniel Wright

I sat down with Jim to complete an old interview that Margie, a past Sector67 social media intern, had started but didn’t quite finish. I found out Jim is a member of Sector67 since 2011 and has invented multiple products here. He is an Electrical Engineer by training and has artfully drafted his way into the character of our community.

Starting with some notes from Margie:

Margie: “What toys or tools did you play with as a kid?”

Jim: “Erector Sets. I loved building with them but often found they did not have enough pieces. Having to make do with what was available, I found myself creating additional parts/pieces I needed from other kits, materials, or toys.”

Margie: “What kinds of projects have you done?”

Jim: “Mostly projects to learn to be a designer. I started with 3-D printing. Mechanical designs were quick and easy.”

Margie: “What are your current projects, products, or prototypes?

Jim: “Enclosures for Lutzbot 3D printers”

Margie: What should an inventor avoid?

Jim: Don’t get to attached to your idea because it will blind you to the reality of the situation.

Margie: What are your current projects, products, or prototypes?

JIm: I’m working on some enclosures, containers, and some furniture.

Margie: What have you learned in terms of marketing your product and getting it into stores? Who is your target market?

Jim: I haven’t tried stores. Amazon is king online with eBay coming second. And it is a challenge to get people to visit your website. I am focusing on a niche market style of advertising because broader style advertising would be ineffective in targeting potential customers.

Margie: Can you remember the first time you used a tool?

Jim: Yes. A hammer smashing things with a hammer (laughs) I guess.

Jim launched a company called TabSynth Design Works from Sector67 and has made a wide array of objects found around the shop. He has a pending patent on his tab and slot construction system seen on the parts below.

A planter made by Jim for the Open Seed Project in 2016. See Tesla being the best model.

The enclosure for the Lulzbot 3D printer in use featured below. The enclosure stabilizes the temperature inside the printer to improve the quality of printing.

A chest of drawers designed by Jim and cut with the laser cutter.

An observation dome made by Jim using the laser-cutter. The dome is placed in an upper door panel that serves as a place for Tesla to overlook the makerspace. Here Tesla looks at Jim as he takes a picture of her.

Jim also designed the safety glass rack where members and visitors can store their safety glasses.

His best selling product is the Lulzbot Mini enclosure which has sold hundreds primarily though his Amazon and eBay stores but can also be purchased directly from his storefront.

Posted in Businesses at Sector67, Laser Cutter, News Tagged with: 3D printing, design, Inventor, Jim Rasmussen, laser cutting, Lulzbot, patent, Sector67, Sector67 Business, TabSynth

Isaac Powers Troop 173 Eagle Project

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Chris Meyer

My name is Isaac Powers and I’m a Boy Scout from Troop 173 in Sauk City. A few months ago, I started work on my Eagle Scout project. My project was making and installing signs for Moely Prairie in Prairie du Sac. This involved getting lumber, designing 4 signs, and installing them with the Scouts and members of The Prairie Enthusiasts. Through a small amount of research, we decided it would be best to use a CNC router to cut the words into the wood. I worked with Chris to learn about how to design, make, and paint the signs. They were installed at the beginning of November, 2016.

Posted in Hardware, News, Projects Tagged with: Eagle Project, High School Member, Moely Prairie, Prairie du Sac, Service Project

THE FIRST SHOW AND TELL OF 2017…..

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Daniel Wright

The Sector67 membership enjoyed the first monthly meeting of 2017 with some of their fellow craftsmen/women presenting current projects, completed ideas, and tidbits about upcoming events and gadjets. John showed us his subchaser model, Bob gave us an informative presentation on the C.H.I.P, Tim and Sara showed appreciation of our Director Chris Meyer for repairing a laser cutter for their school, Luke showed us how to make metal flowers, Adrian shared some of his designs for work he did for a client, and Scott and Quincy capped the night off with some information on classes for younger makers, hackers, designers, et cetera.

Members attentively listened as the presenters showed & told us what they are currently working on, have recently finished, or as the shared a tidbit.

Here is John immersing us all in his presentation of a 110ft WW2 subchaser boat. The table size model captured many marvelers as he told us how he designed the deck with wood, used a 3D printer for the people, and created brass deck rails. You can see more of John’s work here.

John pointing out the measurements of a tugboat he is working on. The original boat itself was built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

This is a close up on the subchaser. The detail on the pants of the commanders are very artistic. Notice the bolts in the weapons and the trunk off to the left.

Here in the aerial view, you can see more ammo in the trunk, the full range of the weapon, a third sailor holding another clip of ammunition, as well as, the search light at the right side of the model.

Bob was our second presenter of the night who mangled my brain informing us on the C.H.I.P (a small computer with 4GB capacity, and its ability to be substituted for the Raspberry Pi Zero if you don’t need HDMI and a bunch of other stuff. Thanks, Bob, for showing me that hardware is more than my cellphone.

Bob shared his pleasure of exploring the small computer and told us that the C.H.I.P actually has 512mb of ram, a 1ghz processor, and 4 gigs of storage space. According to Bob, the C.H.I.P is cheaper than a Raspberry Pi depending on your use case. Bob also mentioned that you could get one of these for about $9.

Next in line was Tim and Sarah who gave thanks to Chris Meyer for repairing their laser cutter. Their affection for Chris and Sector67 genuinely infected the crowd as they demonstrated how the cutter lacked precision due to some initial calibration issues. Tim, Sarah, and I spoke afterwards and I learned that Tim works at the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Sarah has been a student at Sector67 where she learned to solder and use the 3D printer.

Tim and Sarah takes time to pose for me following the monthly meeting

Tim showing us one of his students WSBVI holding her cross that was cut using the Full Spectrum laser cutter that Chris fixed.

Sarah describing the path of the laser and alignment challenges.

Here you see Tim showing us the hero who usually works behind the scenes.

Luke’s fascinating metal roses are a wonder. The rugged artistic expression of such a delicate lifeform is great. Take a look at the detail in the petals and the near perfect accuracy of the cuts and bends that Luke actually did by hand. I am looking forward to Luke’s next project!

Take a look at the detail in the petals. Amazing!

Luke shown here telling us how he started his project.

I captured some images of some rough cuts while Luke was speaking.

Sideview of a completed metal rose. Slightly bent copper tubing makes up the stem. Copper cuts makes up the leaves and petals on this one.

Here is Adrian unveiling some new signs for Alt Brewery, a gluten free brewery, on the near north side. Adrian told me that he likes working many tools at Sector67 for his projects.
Adrian is an industrial designer that recently completed some “bottle caps signs” for a client of his. He brought us some pictures and discussed some of the challenges he met while designing them. While speaking to me, Adrian told me that he likes Sector67 for all of the tools and the great networking. In fact, Adrian found out about Sector67 from a friend.

Adrian explaining how the the lighting in this model illuminates the whitespace inside and around the logo.

Lastly, Scott and Quincy shared some of their success in running a youth class around metalworking with hand tools the in the past month. They’re hosting another class coming up soon if you’re between 6th grade and high school and interested – learn more and sign up here.

Posted in Businesses at Sector67, Meetings Tagged with: Adrian, Alt Brew, CHIP, hands on, Hardware, John, lasers, Monthly Meeting, Raspberry Pi, roses, Scott, Subchaser

Sector67 Permanent Home

Posted on November 26, 2016 by Chris Meyer

Sector67 is working hard to move to a permanent location on the near east side. Please visit our donation page for more details and how you can help to move the project forward.

Posted in Uncategorized

2017 Iron Pour – FeLion Studios

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Chris Meyer

FeLion Studios and Sector67 are proud to announce our 7th annual partnership on a community iron pour, taking place on February 11th at Sector67 – you can RSVP on Facebook here

You can purchase heart moulds online now and pick them up; or pay cash or check when you pick them up – we have two hearts for $30 which can be customized to your liking and forever cast into iron:

Creating your own heart is easy, you can modify any aspect of the mould:

Just remember a few rules:

Mould modification is messy, so lay the mould on a cardboard box or plastic bag to dispose of the excess sand.
Remember to draw everything backwards, it’s a mould, not a finished product, so everything will be reversed when it’s poured!
Sharpie your design first and carve following your lines
Use any pointy implement you’d like but we’d advise against using any power tools as they can create dust that you don’t want to inhale (AKA: wear a mask with power tool work)
Return your moulds a few days before the pour up until EARLY the morning of the pour (late turn ins will be turned away this year – SORRY!)

Even if you aren’t interested in making your own cast iron artwork, please join us for music, great company, and a fun spectacle while the iron is poured:

Here’s some cool videos/pictures from prior years as well:

2012 video and image summary

2013 video and image summary

Posted in Projects

7th Annual Build Madison – 2016

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Chris Meyer

Build Madison had a great turnout and a wide variety of ideas pitched at the start this year:

Brian – Kegerator dispensing system

Greg – Prosthetic 3d scanning (handheld scanner for ear/other body parts)
Kate – Combination lock laser cut puzzle

Joe – Using recycled skateboards to make artwork, looking to make a block of skateboard deck

Xavier – Building a virtual reality system to simulate being taller (camera on top of your head)

Alex – Making some advent star decorations for their church

Antonio and Lola – Learn 3d printing, build a homeless shelter – portable shelter/rolling cart for homeless

Elizabeth – Building cribbage boards out of reclaimed wood

Jamie – Responsive email templates using Foundation and Sass for Nerd Nite

Jeff – Lego Rubik’s cube solver, light up bat signal, embroidered patches

Olivia – Create an augmented reality treasure hunt app/game

Shira – Real world (physical version) of “Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes“, teamwork and communication game

Rob – Make a Halloween skull respond to noise/microphone and move the jaw automatically

Jim – Create a peristaltic pump with no output oscillations/spurts of liquid

Andrew – Software developer with no projects but happy to help others
Jesse – Terrarium project, some kind of bicycle project

Joe – YAG laser project to make it run and burn holes in metal

Don – Telegraph operator looking for a telegraph playback machine/digital version to run like a player piano

Brad – Cat door with lock to keep the cats from eating each others food

Mark – Hopper for a wood stove to keep it feeding pellets overnight

Bree – Cookies with B&E’s aged maple syrup

Elizabeth and Family – Building Lego robots with retrofitted motors

Finish

At the end of the event we had a lot of great presentations (2 hours worth!), here’s a summary of “completed” ideas. We had a great turnout for the finale:

Olivia and team were up first to demonstrate their augmented reality game that you can find here:

They spent their 24 hours building a working app using GPS gates/targets to only allow players to advance when they were in the right area. They had some trouble with the GPS accuracy but were working through it. They were able to demonstrate a working website with a storyline and rewards at the end of the game!

Next up was Joe and Ethan to demonstrate their progress with the YAG laser:

They were able to get a 100W Unitek Miyachi LW100 YAG laser and a Newport LaserWeld Series 4000 cabinet up and running in 24 hours. The next step is to mount the laser head to an old CNC machine we have so we have a metal cutting CNC laser.

After the laser team, Bob, Brian and Casey talked about setting up a kegerator dispensing system using a Raspberry Pi and a simple LED indicator:

They were able to 3D print a custom top of the existing tower, program the RPI, and create the electronics needed to interrupt flow to the tap on demand.

Next up was Jeff, never one to be too ambitious:

Jeff worked through a custom made bat signal (LED flashlight projector), a LEGO Rubiks Cube solver, and a custom patch. He didn’t quite get started on his caged robot prop, maybe next year!

Joe took the floor next to show off his glued up skateboard deck artwork:

He used the CNC wood router to “plane” down the edge-glued panel of deck sections and the hydraulic press to make an easier-to-work-with larger block of skateboard decks.

Jesse and his friend showed up with an ambitious goal of building a bluetooth phone-app controlled greenhouse system:

They delivered with a nice looking application (visible on the projector in the background) and a humidity/temperature/air/light controlled environment – next step is to install some plants and see how it works!

Rob and his son delivered a jaw dropping performance:

with their Arduino controlled, sound reactive, skull. They used a Sparkfun sound module wired to an Arduino to gather in ambient sound level. They then mapped the sound input to a servo that was connected to the jaw, so every time the controller heard a loud sound the jaw would react. Their next step is to tune the jaw response and experiement with a variety of microphone set ups.

Xavier decided that vertically challenged folks should be able to see if the top of your refrigerator is clean or not:

While a relatively simple build – total build time was tightening 3 zip ties to an Oculus, a stereo webcam, and a stick, the software took a little longer to iron out. He used the Oculus as an external monitor and just full-screened a Chrome browser window to update the images on the browser, but it turned out a browser wasn’t designed for the abuse to piping the images in was a bit of a challenge. Having personally tested it, I think it may double as a nausea tester 😉

Xavier and his friends also doubled down on a second project – Don came in with an early 1900’s telegraph key and sounder – these would have been state of the art communications devices about 100 years ago. Don came into service as his town’s telegraph operator at the onset of WW2 and spent the next 17 years as a full time operator. Needless to say, he’s more than a little attached to his hobby! He wanted to create a telegraph sounder that could play back a recording or a pre-determined message:

They succeeded in building a model with a case to contain a 6V battery, an Arduino, and a relay to allow the sounder to play messages or use the telegraph key to key-in input for playback. Don’s enthusiam is contageous and everybody had a lot of fun helping out with the project.

Elizabeth and her family spent most of the weekend alternating between the LEGOs and the hot glue guns. With some help from Shira, their vision of an Arduino controlled RC car built from LEGOs came together over course of the event:

Ultimately they were able to build out a chassis, mount some gearmotors to it and set up an Arduino and a battery pack to make it stand-alone. Now that it’s running they’re looking to add steering, remote control, and sensors to it as a great project to learn Arduino development from.

Antonio and his daughter set out to create something on the 3D printer this weekend:

They looked around on Thingiverse and found a cool branching tree with snap-lock segments and printed off about 10 sections. They realized they didn’t have a base to hold it up, so they recruited Jeff to mashup a few things and made a trumpet-like base with the correct joint to hold it to the branch sections.

Continuing on our LEGO theme, Brett and his son spent some time putting together a lot of bricks:

Lovingly coined “The Poking Machine” it featured a reciprocating bar powered by a small DC motor and plug in power supply. Planned improvements hopefully feature a Saw-Z-All blade and a pitch to LEGO’s sales department.

Nate and Antonio partnered late on Saturday night to prove out a portable shelter concept:

Working from a cardboard prototype and starting at 3AM they managed a conduit prototype as a proof of principle. They’re going to continue to work on it and see if they can get it out to help someone through the winter.

Shira wanted to build an interactive game based on “Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes”:

She spent a few hours digging through the junk bin to find the parts and several hours with the hot glue gun to build out a functional game. The cardboard box certainly adds to the “this isn’t a bomb, maybe. . .” factor.

Serial Build Madison alumni Brad (of cat exercise wheel fame) needed to construct a door to his porch to prevent one cat from eating the other cats food. Originally headed in the direction of a facial recognition system and a lot of electronics, it turned out a more elegant solution was in order:

He ended up using the sewing machine (for the first time) and some balsa wood to make a simple cat door. One balsa wood rod can control flow (to allow or lock out access from the porch) and ultimately keep the cat off the porch during feeding time.

Aaron was in need of a mannekin to hold his latest Halloween costume:

cxuttefusaeekwi

So he was wrapped up in saran wrap and then duct tape was applied liberally. Once the form was cut off, he stuffed it with paper and inserted PVC pipes to hold the form. Now he’s got a stand in to support his Halloween creations in the off season.

Elizabeth’s goal was to repurpose some wood significant to her friends’ weddings into cribbage boards. Starting from having little experience in woodworking and vector graphics she was able to make some quick progress this weekend:

Ultimately she used Adobe Illustrator and VCarve to create the patterns for the laser cutter and CNC wood router to follow. She varied from the CNC wood router and table router to laser marked and hand drilled depending on the appearance of the wood and surface quality.

Laser extraordinare Kate whipped up a laser cut cryptex puzzle with the help of an Instructables project:

As is typical, the “looks easy” project turned out to be lacking details in all of the assembly steps, and the instructions were way out of date compared to the design interations resulting in a substantially harder build than expected. It didn’t help that each ring had every character individually glued on. Some say they can still hear the glue bottle wheezing and the quiet swearing as the glue lands in the wrong place. . .

Our second to last presenter was Jamie, he spent the weekend in the exact same pose:

He had to be prodded occasionally but he was indeed alive, he’s just that focused! He spent a lot of type pulling together a responsive e-mail template for Nerd Nite and ultimately was successful. E-mails resize automatically depending on screen size and the message drops features based on compatibility so phone readability is just as good as a desktop environment.

Lastly, Mark moved from concept to reality on a pellet stove hopper:

He used Solidworks to create a template for a folded version of the box, but ultimately decided that plywood would be a lot simpler and worth prototyping with first. He used a sheet of 3/4″ plywood on the CNC router to cut out a pattern and then mitered it on the table saw. The box went together afterwards and is ready to be stacked on top of the existing feeder to add another bag of capacity. This means going away on the weekend won’t result frozen pipes.

Thanks to Capital Entrepreneurs for the event sponsorship and great pizza that was throughly enjoyed!

Overall everyone had a great time! Build Madison is intentionally a low structure event, meaning participants are free to explore their projects and help one-another through out the 24 hours. We hope to see you next year and hope you enjoyed the projects people were able to make in a short period of time.

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Build Madison, hackathon

Build Madison – November 19th-20th

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Chris Meyer

Build Madison is back!

The 24-hour community “create-a-thon” returns to Sector67 on November 19 starting at 11am. Project presentations begin at 11am on Sunday, November 20.

We’re excited to announce the 7th annual Build Madison event coordinated by Capital Entrepreneurs and hosted at Sector67. Build Madison is a 24 hour hackathon that gives you the opportunity to set aside some time over the weekend to finally get to that project you’ve been thinking about for a long time!

The weekend starts out on Saturday, November 19th, at 11am, when we’ll host 30 second idea pitches. After that you can join a team or build a team if you need one to work on your project. Then when 11AM on Sunday swings around we’ll have a short project presentations and/or sharing of lessons learned (aka: why my project didn’t quite get done in time!) from everyone who participated.

That’s as simple as it is – take the 24 hour period as seriously or as inquisitively as you’d like. In the past, projects have varied from very sophisticated to very basic, software to hardware, art to engineering – so don’t feel like your concept isn’t going to fit in – it will. There’s no requirement to stay up all night, many people work late into the evening and stop back in the morning for presentations.

For more information, please register at the Build Madison website: http://buildmadison.org/

Who: Anyone interested

What: 24 hr hackathon

Where: Sector67 – 2100 Winnebago St, Madison, WI – short ride on your bicycle, hop on the bus, or take advantage of parking in front of the building for your car

When: November 19th at 11AM through the 20th, with project presentations starting at 11AM on the 20th that are open to anyone (not just participants)

Why: A great excuse to focus on a project for a weekend and meet with other interesting folks too

This is a FREE event. Check out the prior project summaries at: http://buildmadison.org

We hope to see you on the 19th!

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with: Build Madison, FUN, hackathon, Open Event

Madison SOUP – Sunday 4-6PM – Purchase Tickets Today!

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Chris Meyer

The September Madison SOUP event is THIS Sunday! This is the LAST SOUP event for this year!

We are reaching out to our networks today to ask you to PLEASE purchase a ticket to our Sunday event. We know that our community is interested in supporting local projects which make Madison such a wonderful city to live in. Take this chance to vote with your feet and be part co creating our vibrant community! Walk-ins ARE NOT POSSIBLE – you must purchase a ticket AHEAD of time.

We have 3 fantastic nonprofit projects lined up for you all to hear this upcoming Sunday:

Meadowood Neighborhood Center Recording Studio. Joe Schlesing, the director of the Meadowood Neighborhood Center, will present a proposal for converting the center’s current game room into a recording studio. The center serves low-income kids of color in the Meadowood community and many of the participants have a keen interest in producing their own recordings. The Center is making progress in teaching participants the fundamentals of recording and music production. Now, a dedicated space, more serious equipment, and a skilled instructor to help the kids fully realize their potential in terms of performing and recording music.

Quiet Santa. Julie Sheldon will present a proposal for funds to expand their offering of Santa visits for children with various special needs. Quiet Santa has hosted events since 2012. The events were first aimed at giving kids with autism the experience of a visit with Santa. The project’s outreach efforts now welcomes children with various forms of special needs looking to have a magical experience with Santa that may not otherwise get. The project began with no budget, but a group of dedicated planners, and now seeks funds to expand their program.

Call For Peace. Dawn & Art Shegonee will present a proposal for seed funding for “A Traveling Cultural Exhibition An Educational, Interactive, Multi-Media Experience! Call For Peace Drum & Dance Company….A Timeless Journey,… Celebrating the Diversity of Humanity!” Now, more than ever in history, time is of the essence for the re-emergence of the Call For Peace, providing people with a Vision of Hope which embraces diversity, unity, peace, and justice in the Madison Community. The Exhibition is an effort, to encourage collaboration in the community to embrace, the concept of the International Network of Peace Museums to create “Cities as Living Museums for Peace.”

Soup and bread will be provided by Underground Butcher & Batch Bakehouse!

Thanks to our sponsors Sector 67, Underground Butcher & Batch Bakehouse!

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Jenina & Heather

Posted in Uncategorized

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Build Madison – November 19th-20th

Build Madison is back!

The 24-hour community “create-a-thon” returns to Sector67 on November 19 starting at 11am. Project presentations begin at 11am on Sunday, November 20.

Madison SOUP – Sunday 4-6PM – Purchase Tickets Today!

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