Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Titre : Kwartzlab Makerspace
In issues #62 and #64 I wrote about Tweet Screen, a twitter picture frame I created using an aging Celeron-based notebook and a picture frame. The frame was inspired by a smaller Twitter screen I saw at a Kitchener, Ontario, Canada makerspace, Kwartzlab.
Kwartzlab membership for anytime access is $50/month, but the group holds an open night to the public every Tuesday night and often holds other open events on Saturdays (such as an Ubuntu release party or global bug jam).
Kwartzlab is over 3000 square feet of maker goodness. In the main meeting space/wifi lounge, the group has several workstations, soldering benches, an array of screwdrivers and smaller tools, as well as a number of measurement instruments.
Off to the left of the space, barely visible in the photo below left is a computer running RepRap Mendel software on Ubuntu Linux, which controls a 3D printer. The yellow spool feeding the printer is polylactide (PLA), a kind of polyester made from renewable resources. Kwartzlab members have used the printer to fabricate parts for other projects and models.
Visible next to the 3D printer are several examples of laser etched pictures (plus a small Tardis) etched/cut on the space’s large laser cutter. Designs are inputted into a notebook, then sent to the cutter. The etching cutting process can take a long time depending on what’s being created so time is typically booked on the laser cutter.
Member Mark Pitcher was the first to show me some of the projects he’s been working on.
Mark has owned several midi-sequencers in the past, but wanted something more portable, so he started putting together a couple of ideas for mini-midi sequencers, one of which is arduino driven. He also showed me an older electronic drum kit he’s been in the process of restoring and an arduino-driven tripod mount that rotates at programmable intervals for panoramic photography.
Kwartzlab has an artist in residence every month. This month Tracy Fewster was exhibiting her acrylic work and took the time to talk with me about how she became an artist, and to give advice for aspiring artists. Tracy’s journey into the art world began and almost ended with a teacher telling her that her artwork was substandard. Determination and love of what she was doing drove Tracy to continue developing her passion. Tracy suggests reading about art, continuously investigating different techniques, and searching the Internet to clarify anything that isn’t clear, is a good way to improve. Shortly after talking with Tracy, the room got called to order for a presentation by Eva Bodahelyi, a visitor from a Guelph, Ontario, makerspace called Diyode, on Laser etching. Kwartzlab members have cut and etched a fair amount of art (including a 3D model of a Tardis), but Eva has refined the etching technique using PhotoShop and GIMP so more detailed pictures can be printed.
On open nights Kwartzlab encourages people to bring projects they want to work on. Besides the laser cutter, 3D printer, and various measurement tools, Kwartzlab has a whole back room full of other machining equipment. Among the equipment is a CNC router which member Don Liebold hacked together using a controller, dremel, and a man-sized old tape storage unit. Also among the available equipment are welding systems, a centrifuge, 2 band saws, a table saw, 2 drill presses, a belt sander, routing table, and a radial saw. This tool list covers only the basics. Kwartlab is always adding equipment and improving the space. Subsequent to my visit at Kwartzlab, I met member Darcy Casselman at an Ubuntu Hour event. Darcy brought me up to speed on the Kwartzlab Twitter screen, actually a Chumby device running the Chumby Twitter plug-in.
Thanks to all the Kwartzlab members for talking with me and for being so generous by allowing Full Circle Magazine to display them and their maker projects and works of art.
More details about Kwartzlab can be found on their web site at: http://www.kwartzlab.ca/ The Diyode maker space also maintains a web presence: http://www.diyode.com/