Saturday at 10Bit

[Don Smeller]

We had 14 people (plus the Time Warner cable guy) come through 10Bit on Saturday Aug 20th.

Peggy wants to thank Chris for two technological advances: 1. He got her set up so that she can now print stuff wirelessly from her iPad.  2. He showed her how to use the laminator.  Peggy eats gluten free.  So when she goes to What-a-Burger, she orders a “lettuce wrap” chicken sandwich.  The rookie at the cash register inevitably goes all deer-in-the-headlights when she explains her special order.  But now cagey maker Peggy has prepared a laminated card with her instructions.  Saturday was the maiden voyage of the card, the test run.  No words were spoken; neither by customer nor cashier.  The card came out of the purse.  It was handed over.  A tense few minutes followed. The order went into the POS point-of-sale computer.  The crew in back read their monitors. Chicken got slung onto the grill. Mayo got sloshed into a cup. Lettuce got stripped off the head. Drum roll.  Dismount.  They stuck the landing!  Yay Peggy.  Yay What-a-Burger. 

Our wifi has been woefully slow of late.  We pay for 200 megabits per second.  We’ve been getting . . . like 17 mbs.   The Time Warner cable guy came out and put his instruments to work and decided the problem was outside where a fiber optic cable comes down the pole and into the building.  He replaced the cable and . . . tada  . . . the speed is now up to 143 mbs.  Much improved.

Question:  What is this in the attached picture?

Answer;  An electron microscope is looking upward at a transparent living zebrafish embryo. The field of vision would fit inside a letter “o” on your screen.  To hold the wiggly specimen requires a custom-built special slide made of clear acrylic, designed and laser-cut at 10BitWorks by new member George Eisenhoffer.   The green spots are the nuclei of living cells.  The red spots are stem cells caught in the act of dividing.  This is cancer research.  And we get to contribute.   

If I might blow the 10Bit horn a bit:  George is just some guy who walked into 10Bit with an idea. His son is a cancer researcher.  He was thinking of using 3D printing to make a something-or-other.  He ended up laser cutting and solvent bonding a very different something-else. We brain-stormed and sketched and erased and tried and failed and tried again.  And again.  We’ve got some really smart people at 10Bit, and we know people who know people.  George had to learn to use new CAD software, OnShape. We taught him how.  He had to master the laser cutter.  OK, no problem.  We put him in touch with a company here in San Antonio that uses a proprietary industrial bonding process.  They did his job gratis.  There are now 5 slide assemblies divvied out among 5 giddy post-docs at M.D. Anderson. Kids with new toys.

If you’ve got an idea, a project, a problem that needs a solution, let’s kick it around.  You don’t have to be a member.  Just come on down. You’ll hang out with a motley crew of engineers, scientists, artists (makers all) for a few hours.  No charge. (Although we do accept What-a-Burger.) Why do we do this? Because making stuff is fun.  It’s what we do.  Tues, Wed, Thurs evening, Sat all day.  

BTW,  two graphs (attached) show metrics of 10Bit’s health.   A total of 64 people have come and gone in the time shown.  We are growing, doing OK, could be better, but we’re paying the rent, keeping the wifi on. 

James gave away several tilapia fish to an aquaponics aficionado, a gal named Jackie.

Jacob, a 10th grader at Highland Heights, and Don worked a deal where J is learning stuff at 10Bit in return for sweeping.

Ray played with the DynaMill.

Micheal chop-sawed steel bars.

Joshua and wife Sam smashed pennies.

Kevin gave tours.

Ken and Don learned how to run the little laser.  Small but mighty.

Ken measured the power of the big laser.  Diagnosis: sick, limping at 1/4 power.  It’s time to replace the tube.   

Stevanie now sports bright red hair on half her head.  She starts 12th grade next week.

Don Smeller

[Joshua Perdue]

Don,

 I would like to thank you for you Hospitality and the tour Of 10Bitworks Yesterday. Me and my wife havent been able to stop talking about it since.

We didnt just smash pennies, Don showed Sam how to operate the laser, with the help of Jacob we got a crash course on 3d printing. My son was amazed by the fish mentioned and he was welcomed with open arms,literately Hugs being exchanged between him and Peggy before we left. 

I cannot wait to get back in there and MAKE STUFF!!! 

 I would really like to Link up with any body who is there weekends or odd Hours.  All together we had a great time and really look forward to getting to know everybody that makes this possible and help support and help where needed. Again Thank You Don And we will being seeing you soon!!!

[Peggy Guillory]

Don,  it is amazing all your work on new inventions at 10Bit and at work.  How much all benefit from it all! Peggy

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[Craig]

On Sunday, August 21, 2016 at 5:13:21 AM UTC-5, Don Smeller wrote:

...

Question:  What is this in the attached picture?

Answer;  An electron microscope is looking upward at a transparent living zebrafish embryo. The field of vision would fit inside a letter “o” on your screen.  To hold the wiggly specimen requires a custom-built special slide made of clear acrylic, designed and laser-cut at 10BitWorks by new member George Eisenhoffer.   The green spots are the nuclei of living cells.  The red spots are stem cells caught in the act of dividing.  This is cancer research.  And we get to contribute.   

If I might blow the 10Bit horn a bit:  George is just some guy who walked into 10Bit with an idea. His son is a cancer researcher.  He was thinking of using 3D printing to make a something-or-other.  He ended up laser cutting and solvent bonding a very different something-else. We brain-stormed and sketched and erased and tried and failed and tried again.  And again.  We’ve got some really smart people at 10Bit, and we know people who know people.  George had to learn to use new CAD software, OnShape. We taught him how.  He had to master the laser cutter.  OK, no problem.  We put him in touch with a company here in San Antonio that uses a proprietary industrial bonding process.  They did his job gratis.  There are now 5 slide assemblies divvied out among 5 giddy post-docs at M.D. Anderson. Kids with new toys.

If you’ve got an idea, a project, a problem that needs a solution, let’s kick it around.  You don’t have to be a member.  Just come on down. You’ll hang out with a motley crew of engineers, scientists, artists (makers all) for a few hours.  No charge. (Although we do accept What-a-Burger.) Why do we do this? Because making stuff is fun.  It’s what we do.  Tues, Wed, Thurs evening, Sat all day.  

Don,
Just a thought.
Is anyone putting things like this on the 10bitworks wiki and/or a direct link to a "Things 10bitworks made possible" wiki page?
At the very least, it'd be something to point out when someone asks "What goes on at a makerspace?"

Craig
 

[Randy Ohman]

Here is a promotion of similar activity that got good coverage:

https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/student-uses-3d-printing-prevent-spread-malaria-zika-infectious-disease-94461/

[Don Smeller]

24 folks broke the plane of the maker space on Saturday. 

Art-in-the -AM is our paint group that meets on Saturday mornings:

Don, Peggy, Militza participated.

Peggy wants to present an educational video to the paint class she teaches at the nursing home.  These are little old ladies (85-95). The video is on YouTube. but it won’t play on the equipment available at the home: DVD player and TV.  What to do?  On cue, in walks a new guy, Shawn McGrew, a programmer by trade.  He’s got a Mac with a DVD burner and the software to run it. “Shawn, meet Peggy. She’s got a problem.”   Peggy puts her best sad-puppy, damsel-in-distress moves on Shawn.  The next thing you know, he’s ripped the file and made a video with a classy intro and a click-to-start button.  And the next thing after that, Shawn is back from Wal-Mart with a stack of DVD’s.  8 minutes of burn time and Peggy’s got her DVD. And a new best friend forever. 

Shawn donated the extra DVD’s to the space. Then he set out to Gramps-Print holders for a pair of LCD screens to go inside a pumpkin.  The idea is to show spooky moving eyeballs on the screens.  What are YOU going to do for Halloween?

Eddy is another new guy.  He wants to learn 3D Printing but he’s only got an hour.  OK, no problem.   One-on-one, we do a crash course* in OnShape, Slic3r, OctoPrint and Gramps.  From scratch, we design a calibration brick: 25x20x15mm w/8mm hole  We slice it and upload it and go through the heat-up cycle for Gramps and get it launched.  He can’t stay to see it finish, but Eddie goes home with the block made by a previous crash course student. 

The previous student, btw, was Joshua.  Joshua is already designing things on his own in OnShape. Really! And he has signed up as a dues-paying member, gotten his key. He brought his 3 daughters, Miranda, Mariah, and Skyler Saturday.  The latter is in Randy Ohman’s middle school STEM class.  The 3D printers were busy so we got the girls interested in a 2D projects.  Their dog Oden is now laser etched in clear acrylic.  

You know how 3D printers make a musical sound when they run? Ray Good mounted 3 stepper motors onto an overturned 5 gallon bucket a.k.a. sounding board.  He whipped out some VB .Net code in Excel to tell an Arduino to send commands to the motors to turn at the right frequencies. So now he’s playing the Star Wars “Death March” on the “electric bucket".  There’s no market for this product but it rates a Very High coolness factor!

James, first timer last week, brought his mom and dad, Frances and Joe for the tour this week.  We are an entertainment destination.  Better than a theme park.  Better than a museum.

Beth and Brian, also first timers, helped me make a photo cube.  It’s me and my white haired siblings. 4 more cubes to manufacture. 

Mikel and Amanda are making a clock.  It involves a doily mounted on a 12” embroidery hoop.  They laser cut a circle of wood for the middle to hold the battery powered clock mechanism.  It still needs wood-stain and a lot of hook-work.  Stay tuned.

James’ can boast a cotton plant (qty 1) blooming in the fish-poop powered Aquaponics bed.  

Brian Quinones is taking training in the International Baccalaureate program with the intention of installing the program at Burbank High School.  He was there mentoring Gabriel on a project.

Rounding out the 24 plane breakers were Greg, Ken, Sacha and Stevanie. I didn’t catch what they were up to. 

Don

________

*You can take my one-on-one crash course in 3D Printing.  Show up any Thursday night. BYO laptop.

[Peggy Guillory]

Thank you Don for your always "entertaining reviews".  I say this with my very best happy face.  Yes, I am always so grateful for all the help everyone so generously gives to me in my varying projects.  10Bit has the kindest guys!

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