A 'teardrop' shaped piece of mixed burr wood and resin. You can see sparkling whorls withing the resin.
The result of a bit more turning and polishing. Stuart is experimenting with the mix in the resin and this has mica powder in to make it swirly and sparkling. There's a little too much as it's reduced visibility too far so he's going to change the mix and try another piece.
Stuart turning the "egg" on the lathe. He is wearing an impressive positive pressure face mask.
The "egg" partway through turning.
Member Stuart is experimenting with turning wood/resin "eggs" on the lathe today. This has wood placed in a 3D printed mould of roughly the right shape, filled with resin then turned down removing the mould. This apparently saves a lot of resin, which is much more expensive than 3D printer filament.
A view of the Hackspace on a sunny day.
Spring appears to be springing in Hawkwell and tonight it's also the Hackspace AGM from 20:00.
Note this means there won't be time for the usual member general inductions.
The Macbook with replaced screen booting for the first time. The protective film and stickers are still on the screen.
This worked out good in the end after a bunch of struggling with tiny ribbon cables.
A circular piece of glass art showing tall blades of grass with a stylised dragonfly and butterflies above. Nestled in the grass is a ladybird.
A circular piece of glass art showing a tall daisy-like flower with tiny bees buzzing around it.
Member Sunel has been busy creating this beautiful fused glass art at the Hackspace.
The glass pieces were cut on our Wazer waterjet into intricate shapes that would be incredibly difficult by hand. They were then arranged and kiln fused to create these vibrant designs full of colour and light.
Two people balancing a MacBook so they can undo fasteners and remove tiny ribbon cables.
One thing that is going in is a couple of members are replacing the smashed screen of a MacBook. It's a fiddly process and may take them a while.
A view of the Hackspace on an afternoon where the first signs of the coming spring abound. The field is very muddy.
It's Tuesday and that can only mean one thing: Social Night at the Hackspace from 19:30. I've been away a couple of weeks so don't know what anybody's plans and projects for today are but pop down to see what we down if you fancy it.
The storefront of the Raspberry Pi store which is minimalistic white & wood a bit like an Apple store.
A large display model Pi with camera.
Trustee Nick visited the @raspberrypi.com store today and picked up a couple of Pico 2W to use in the Hacky Racer motor controller. We had a Pico W but felt like updating and having a spare.
A view of the Hackspace on a sunny day.
This coming Tuesday 17th February we're running another Social/Induction evening at the Hackspace. We also plan to fire up the pancake machine so there will be automated pancakes available as well as the usual tea/coffee and biscuits.
A tall clothes rail with garment bags hanging.
The metal poles that make up the clothes rail.
Sometimes we get people asking if we can fix/make/modify things. It's not a 'service' we can guarantee but luckily last night member Matt had time to help somebody with a clothes rail which wasn't tall enough for long dresses. They'd bought longer poles that didn't fit and Matt was able to oblige.
A spot washing machine sat on a bench.
The two motors side by side.
One of the items at Repair Café was a spot cleaner where the pump had stopped working. If we can't repair it on the spot we often have to order a part. Unfortunately VAX had changed things and it wouldn't fit. Some lengthy skilled work got the old pump working and this one sent back.
A view of the edge connector on an HP server power supply. There is a resistor and wire soldered to the smaller contacts and a pair of crocodile clips are connected to the large power pads, driving a 12V light bulb.
Meanwhile, Trustee Nick who is also waiting for his BC250 board, is messing around with a recycled HP server power supply to power it. This will mean designing a custom case and a bit more work or simply letting it all hang out with some Kapton tape to protect those high current 12V connections.
A BC250 case in 'galaxy black' 3D printer filament with fire red laser cut acrylic side panels in a hex pattern.
Trustee Matt is doing another BC250 make. It's the same case design in different colours, which look absolutely great, but he's still waiting for the board to arrive.
Join us for a session with guest speaker Patrick 4D - the digital chef 🔪
Tomorrow - February 11th, 5pm CET / 11pm EST / 8am PST
RSVP! forms.gle/NUM7v2bErQGA...
Check out Patrick's work: instagram.com/patrick_4d/
If you are interested in finding out a bit more about #HitchinHackspace and are free this evening why not come along to our Monthly Social evening at The Victoria pub....
Live in Ballarat and interested in learning about 3D Printing or Laser Cutting (wood/acrylic)? We run regular introductory workshops on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month. All skill levels welcome, tickets essential. More info:
ballarathackerspace.tidyhq.com/public/sched...
A piece of plastic film stuck to the side of a pint glass.
A toothpaste-looking paste applied to the stencil. Probably best not to use this as toothpaste.
The end result showing the Southend United football club logo.
The end result showing the Southend United football club logo.
Sometimes you can augment old techniques with new equipment.
Member Dan wanted to engrave a pint glass so used the Cricut at the Hackspace to cut out some stencils from some stencil film, then applied glass etching cream.
🏆 Volunteer Group of the Year 🏆
This recognition belongs to our amazing volunteers, members, and wider community. Every repair, every workshop, every hour given freely is what makes this place special.
Thank you for believing in what we do and for helping build something truly community-led 💙
An etched glass block style awards trophy with the crest of Rochford District Council and showing the Hackspace as "Volunteer group of the year".
A certificate from Rochford District Council showing the Hackspace as "Volunteer group of the year".
We're proud to say that last night the Hackspace won "Volunteer Group of the Year" in Rochford District Council's citizen awards. Thank you everyone who nominated us and thanks to RDC for the support!
At the weekend we had a rocket launch that very much fell into the “excellent learning opportunity” category.
Made by one of our members using our laser cutter and based on a Pringles tube it has four small motors instead of one large one. Clever idea, tricky execution.
youtube.com/clip/Ugkx5YZ...
A view of the twin rear disks and gearboxes for the Hacky Racer
Meanwhile another member has been working on the gearbox and brake setup. As our chassis is more evolved than designed things have got messy but he's identified how he thinks best to do this now. The gearbox enclosure is currently 3D printed in 100% infill nylon but will likely eventually be cast.
Progress on our Hacky Racer is slow but yesterday things got done. We've got a MakerBase ODrive v3.6-56V to run our dual motor setup. This is going to need some mixing of the two based off throttle and steering and also the brake switches to cut drive when braking. So we've connected a Pi Pico.
A view of the Hackspace on a full day. The field is very muddy.
It's Tuesday today so that means it's Social Night at the Hackspace tonight from 19:30. Pop in and see what we're up to.
A welding bench that stands on casters tucked underneath another bench. The welding bench carries a large Parweld welded.
A welding bench with a blue kiln on top to the left and a mounted gas torch to the right. Underneath is a large machine, which is an oxygen concentrator. Various pipes are coiled on the lower shelf.
Yesterday, after Repair Café, two members did a bit of a rearrange in the metalshop. One workbench got modified so our new and improved welding table could be stored underneath. The old Welding bench is being repurposed for glasswork with the kiln and oxygen concentrator on it.
At the weekend we ran a Repair Café at East Essex Hackspace.
People brought along broken household items, electronics, bikes, and battery-powered kit. Together we diagnosed faults, repaired what we could, and explained what was going on so people could learn in the process.
It's our busiest repair day ever, by some margin, will follow up with some photos later.
A view of the outside of the Hackspace
Repair Cafe at the Hackspace this morning!
There are also designs for a 3D printed adaptor that takes larger tyres. Like this one.
www.thingiverse.com/thing:6657711
Mostly a 4.10/3.50-5 tyre, punch a valve sized hole in the sidewall, put valve through. Undo screws and separate the motor from the shaft by hand, then use a hammer to remove hub from old tyre with hammer. Then push them together, screw up, inflate to 20psi.
Also beware not all hoverboard motors are the same, even though lots are, so do some measuring before ordering tyres.
