Member Badge Contest – Voting Open!

 

As announced in January, we had a Badge Contest that ran through April 21.  We had some great entries this year from our members.

Badge Contest Members

We had nine members show off their awesome badges at the meeting: Karen, Bill**2, Keith, Tom K., Kathy, Jon, Tom G., Brant & Carl

Now it’s the opportunity for everyone to vote and determine which badges they like the best!  Please view the badges and descriptions below, then click on the “VOTE HERE” link and select your favorite.

Several of the members submitted descriptions – please see them below.


Bill**2

Bill2 Badge

 

Badges? Badges! How I made my stinking badges.

Badges 1 & 2 were started by a visit to the Metal Hack Rack™ which yielded a fine scrap of brushed stainless steel large enough and thick enough for my needs. Three blanks were cut out, with two being milled to size and slotted on the Gorton mill. The corners of the twin blanks were then belt sanded round and then all edges were deburred by hand filing.

Badge 1 (code name: “Ooh Shiny”) was then polished to a medium shine using several of the buffing wheels. Badge 2 (code named “It’s a Blast”) was sand blasted to a matte finish. Positive and negative designs were created and files were prepared by someone with talent (Thank you Shane). After taking Lexie’s class on Silhouette Studio and the vinyl cutter (Thank you Lexie), I was able to make the vinyl stencils I needed.

Badge 1 received what I call the positive image where everything but the image was covered; likewise Badge 2 received the negative image. The badges were (separately) etched in a hot salt water bath, the badges were anodes and the third badge blank was a non-sacrificial cathode. 5-6 amps were applied for about 1.5 hours with a couple of salt water changes during the etch.

Both badges were cleaned and the edges sanded smooth. Badge 1 was set aside as done, Badge 2 was heated with a torch to add darker temper colors for contrast and the main smooth surface brushed with a brass brush for additional contrast.

As an afterthought, the letters from one of the vinyl stencils were applied to a green anodized dog tag and the one side of the tag sandblasted to create a Thumb drive badge in case I leave the drive anywhere in the space.

Bill**Badges


 

Brant H.

BrantH Badge


Carl

Carl Badge

 


Jon H.

JonH

Behold all the might and glory brought to bear from the year 1989 in all it’s 8-bit splender!
My name badge is crafted from an original Nintendo Gameboy sporting one of the very first consumer digital cameras to become available, The Nintendo Gameboy Camera, first available in 1998. I utilized the 256×224 (down scaled to half resolution on the unit with anti-aliasing), black & white digital image using the 4-color palette of the Game Boy system to craft the image showing my name and the Milwaukee Makerspace Logo. I also laser cut a new Gameboy screen bezel of clear acrylic over black acrylic now showing the words, “MILWAUKEE” and “MAKERSPACE” etched between the layers of the bezel with the original LED still shining through. To aid in my proper identification in the case of my badge being lost or stolen, I have incorporated my photo printed from an original Gameboy printer and afixed to the case front. A leather strap was locally sourced and then carefully cut with the type of scissors you should not run with to allow the badge clips attachement. It is most fortunate that the badge clip is resilient enough to support the weight of the Gameboy unit, though I am required to wear a shirt of stout enough fabric to prevent tearing or personal injury while wearing it.

 

 

 

JonH Badge


 

Karen P.

KarenP Badge


Kathy H.

KathyH

I started out with a plain fluorescent pink tag. I used acrylic paint, decorative papers and trim, glitter, ribbon, a hole punch and a printer to decorate the tag. All of these items can be found in the craft lab except for the hole punch. By covering the original hole and punching two new holes I was able to attach the ribbon for hanging from the badge holder. The technique I used for adding my name was to run the back sheet from a sheet of printable labels through the printer and printing on the slick side where the labels once were. Using clear packing tape I lifted off the ink for my name and laid it over my badge, pressing it down to be sure it adhered firmly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KathyH Badge20150420_212828[1]KathrynHBadge1


Keith M.

KeithM

This badge is solid copper, with a design chemical etch. The copper board was polished to remove oxidation, then spray-painted with primer as a chemical etch resist. The badge design was created in InkScape, and imported into Corel Draw to drive the 50 watt CNC laser cutter. The laser was used to remove the spray paint from the copper board. Two passes at 40%/40% speed were used to remove all traces of the primer in areas to be etched, each pass took 21 minutes.

After the board was prepared, it was submersed in a solution of two parts hydrogen peroxide, one part muriatic acid for approximately 10 minutes, with agitation. Mineral spirits where then applied to remove the remaining etch resist, and the entire board painted with black enamel paint. A gentle second application of mineral sprits removed the black paint from the surface of the board, leaving it in the etched areas.

 

 

 

 

 

KeithM Badge


Tom G.

TomG Badge


Tom K.

TomKhead

This is my badge I’m entering for the competition :-)
it is a combination of Swiss Army pocketknife, USB thumb drive, lockpicks.
Contents:
1-USB thumb drive,LED light shows through maker space logo on other side.
2-can opener
3-bottle opener ,Straight edge screwdriver
4-Scissors
5-tension bar
6-two double ended lockpicks rakes
7-File
8-Phillips screwdriver
9-Corkscrew
10-Attachment ring

 

TomKTomK2


VOTE HERE!