Tag Archives: makerspaces

Coming soon: Lasercar

Posted on October 19, 2019 by paulwallich

It takes a 21st century laser to return motorized widgets to the medieval era. I’m redesigning my basic robot car for the Glowforge — partly for convenience, partly just because I can. The laser cutter is way faster than a … Continue reading →

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The short happy life of a Popup Makerspace

Posted on February 20, 2019 by paulwallich

We’re out of empty offices at Local 64, so it’s time to pack up the laser cutter, the 3D printer and all the other toys. if you build it, it turns out most people are too busy to come. Six … Continue reading →

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The gift that never ends

Posted on March 22, 2016 by paulwallich

This winter I had the idea of donating my old Cupcake CNC to the local library. Get it out of the basement, I thought. Put it where other people can use it. Find a home for all that extra 3mm … Continue reading →

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Montpelier Maker meetings

Posted on April 10, 2015 by paulwallich

A bunch of us got together in the library basement as usual. The kids made a bunch of eggbot eggs and a blinking arduino; the grownups talked about projects ranging from fan-based lissajous figures and photonic communication demos to mobile … Continue reading →

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Makers at the Statehouse

Posted on March 19, 2015 by paulwallich

I’d never been on the floor of a legislature before. Heck, I’d never even been inside the Vermont statehouse.  But my friend Lars, who happens to be executive director of Generator in Burlington, and one of his friends from the … Continue reading →

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Meetings go so much faster when fewer people attend

Posted on February 20, 2015 by paulwallich

Well, also when you have a basic consensus on what you want to do and most of what you need is fill in the implementation details. The Montpelier Makerspace meeting at the library this afternoon was like that. (Yeah, we’ll … Continue reading →

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Soldering under a microscope is weird

Posted on January 20, 2015 by paulwallich

But I think I could get used to it if I had to. I was at Generator this afternoon, and I forgot to bring my 4X magnifier clip-ons, so I had to use the binocular scopes at their soldering stations … Continue reading →

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Like kids in a candy store

Posted on December 18, 2014 by paulwallich

This morning I had a short meeting with the Cardboard Teck Instantute (aka Ben Matchstick and Pete Talbot), who have a residency at Generator next month.  These guys are so good at building toys, games, vehicles, whatever entirely out of … Continue reading →

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It never rains but it pours

Posted on October 7, 2014 by paulwallich

So now there seem to be three separate makerspace initiatives in town, all serving more or less disparate potential communities — youth/educational/entry-level, light hacker/maker, heavy-equipment expert maker. In some ways those are useful divisions, because you don’t necessarily want to … Continue reading →

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A Makerspace is a Business

Posted on September 25, 2014 by paulwallich

Last night I went to the Generator member meeting. I talked with some cool people about projects, but the main agenda was listening to the staff and board telling us how things were going and where they might go next. … Continue reading →

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