FabVille Somerville re-opens this week!

[Katie Gradowski]

FabVille Somerville is open for business!  

Parts and Crafts is excited to announce that starting in October, we'll be taking over evening management of FabVille Somerville, the Somerville High School Fab Lab!   This is a huge opportunity and an incredible toolset that we're excited to be able to share with YOU and everyone in our wider community.

Intro to the Fab Lab

3 Tuesdays in October

FREE:  6-8 pm 

Come by, see the space,  learn how to use the tools!   We're running a series of FREE drop-in workshops to introduce people to FabVille, run tours, and introduce people to the resources of the Fab Lab.  Particularly useful if you plan to use FabVille during open shop hours for independent projects. 

FabVille:  Open four days a week!

Open Shop Monday - Thursday 

The Fab Lab is open to the public Monday through Thursday.  It is FREE and anyone is allowed to come!   You do not have to be a Somerville Public School student or even live in Somerville.  Open shop hours are as follows:

• Monday: 3-5:30  (no evening hours)
  
• Tuesday:  3-5:30, followed by evening classes
  
• Wednesday:  3-8 pm, no classes
  
• Thursday:  3-8 pm plus evening classes

We'll be hosting an open-to-the public Project Night on the last Thursday of every month (with pizza!) which is a great chance to meet people, share ideas, talk about what you're up to, as well as a regular line-up of evening classes.

Register for FabVille Classes

Tuesday / Thursday, 6-8 pm 

Intro to 3D Printing:  Make Your Own Earrings!

Thursday October 12, 6-8 pm

REGISTER HERE  

Be a fashion rockstar and design your own jewelry!   Using Tinkercad, a free CAD program, we’ll print earrings, bracelets, and buttons and print them right on the spot.  Design, build, and take it home with you!   No experience required.  Tools:  Tinkercad, Flashforge Creator Pro 3D Printer    Skills:  3D printing, CAD

Intro to Laser Cutting: DIY Nightlight

Thursday October 19, 6-8 pm

REGISTER HERE

Have a cool design you’d like to put on your bedside table?   Using InkScape, an open source graphics editor, we’ll create a design to engrave on the laser cutter then build a simple edge-lit LED night light to illuminate it.  No experience required.  Tools:  InkScape, soldering irons, Epilog mini laser cutter    Skills:  Soldering, lasercutting, layout and design

FabVille Project Night!

Thursday October 26-, 6-8 pm

RSVP  (link coming)

Open shop, lightning talks, open build time.  Meet other makers, network, get help and feedback, and share your cool projects with friends!   Monthly meetup at FabVille.  Pizza provided.

Intro to Arduino

Tuesday October 31, 6-8 pm

REGISTER HERE

Explore how microcontrollers work using the Arduino platform, an open source framework for contolling LEDs, motors, and sensors.  We'll explore the Arduino IDE and look at some basic code examples.  This class as a prerequisite for the Arduino Robotics course, starting in November.  No experience required.  Tools:  Arduino  Skills:  Programming

All the Facts!

Where are you located?   FabVille is located on the far east side of the Somerville High school campus  (library side).  To get to the Fab Lab, enter near the gym and go down the stairs to your right, turn left and head to the end of the hallway.  We're at the very end of the Voc Ed department, last door on the right.

Who can come?  Anyone is welcome, but the Fab Lab is really geared toward late middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults.  It's a professional toolset, and there's less of the "pull something out and build it!" that we have at Parts and Crafts.  Kids 13 and under should plan to come with a grown-up.  

Does it cost anything?  No.  Right now everything we are offering -- literally everything -- is free.  This includes advanced classes like Arduino robotics, lasercutting and 3D printing, and materials for small-scale manufacturing.  It's a  pretty amazing resource, and the city is providing it free of charge. 

Please share widely!

Tell your friends!  If you're connected to networks -- school networks, homeschooling meetup groups, PTA, maker clubs, and other organizations that might want to use the Fab lab -- please share this email!   It's pretty unprecedented to have professional grade resources available for free to the community, and we're excited to get people in to use them!

Schedule a time to visit.  If you'd like to set up a field trip or visit for your school or maker club,  email con...@partsandcrafts.org.  We are there Monday through Thursday and can easily set up a visiting day during afterschool or evening hours.  

Check out other programming we're offering this fall!  Lastly, if you'd like to check out our regular programs -- camp, afterschool, and fall classes at Parts and Crafts proper -- head on over to www.partsandcrafts.org to see what else we have lined up for Fall 2017.  

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www.partsandcrafts.org