Category Archives: Uncategorized

Celebrate First Contact Day with Milwaukee Makerspace!

Posted on by Carl Stevens

Did you know that April 5th is First Contact Day? It’s a fictional date from the Star Trek universe that commemorates the first meeting between humans and Vulcans in the year 2063. While we may not have made contact with extraterrestrial life yet, we can still celebrate the spirit of discovery and exploration that First Contact Day represents.

One way to celebrate is to watch the movie Star Trek: First Contact, which tells the story of how humans achieved warp drive and made first contact with the Vulcans. If you don’t have a copy of the movie, don’t worry – it’s available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services.

Another way to celebrate is to create a 3D printed model of “The Phoenix”, the spacecraft that made the historic first warp drive flight. You can find the model on Thingiverse at this link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2147368. Print it out and proudly display it in your home or office as a reminder of the ingenuity and curiosity that led to the historic first contact.

Of course, there are many other ways to celebrate First Contact Day. You could attend a Star Trek convention, practice your Vulcan greeting, or share your own first contact stories with friends and family.

So on April 5th, let’s celebrate First Contact Day and all the possibilities that the future holds for us as we continue to explore the final frontier. Live long and prosper!

 
 

 

Plywood Chair

Posted on by Carl Stevens


Last month I was in Phoenix for work and our day off I made a trip to Taliesin West.  On our tour one of the items that stood out most was a set of plywood chairs.  At the time plywood was a relatively new material.  The chair designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was made from a single sheet of plywood.  Obviously I designed my own version the minute I got back to the hotel that night. 

It was a fun exercise and I highly recommend.  On my list of constraints was all the parts would need to fit on a single sheet of plywood and it would need to be assembled with out glue or screws.  So far I just have a 1/6 scale model made to test the concept but the finished size is designed to be 48 inches tall.  If you want to see the rest of my photos from the tour for your own inspiration there is a gallery at the link below. 

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XSHxen5H8rgrx5jAA

10 Very Short Years

Posted on by Carl Stevens

A couple weeks ago the makerspace breezed right by a big milestone.  It has been 10 years since our first open meeting at our Lenox location.  10 years ago the doors to the Lenox building were opened to the public for the first time.  Our Makerspace started in a founding members Tom’s garage then moved to the first location on Chase avenue.  At the time we were moving into the Lenox building we had just 40 members.  Over the course of that first year membership tripled to 150.  For me it was a super exciting time to see the Maker community take shape. 

A group of the members shortly after moving to the Lenox location

Our mission for the past decade as set forth in out by laws is to:

A. Build and maintain spaces suitable for technical and social collaboration  

B. Collaboration on all forms of technology, culture, and craft if new and interesting ways. 

C. Freely share its research and discoveries, using what is learned to teach others.

D. Recruit and develop talented members dedicated to these purposes.

I am so grateful to be a member of our community of curiosity and look forward to the next decade.   I would encourage you all to scroll back in time using this blog and take a look at some of the amazing projects make at our makerspace.  Below is a link to the fist blog post from the then new building.

We’re Back!

Tigerlillies

Posted on by Janviere, Jennifer

This past November, members of Milwaukee Makerspace launched Steel Tigerlilies, an introductory metal art workshop by and for women. Our goal was to get participants trained on equipment ranging from cutting and grinding tools to welding machines and get them comfortable working in the metal shop environment. Some came with prior experience while others had never picked up these tools before. The group practiced their new skills by building a tree from scrap metal, currently in progress at the Norwich Makers Village.

We also hope to gain more female trainers in the long term at the Makerspace metal shop. We’ll be adding details to the members’ message board for future build dates, so stay tuned! 

If you’re a member interested in participating in a future workshop, please contact Hapto or Jen Janviere.