We are all makers
This article appeared in Make: Vol. 40.
Photography by Riley Wilkinson
Home of the three-time Power Racing Series champions, Sector67 is a well-organized hackerspace near the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. The nonprofit was bootstrapped by Chris Meyer, the sole founder and benevolent dictator who launched it after taking a $7,000 second prize in a business plan competition. That’s not a lot of money for tools, so Meyer and Sector67’s members began rebuilding and refurbishing well-used (and sometimes broken) equipment, from CNC mills and routers to injection equipment and sewing machines. The nine shots here show just a bit of what’s inside their 8,500-square-foot space.
Cast iron, like this Valentine’s Day pour and Minecraft pickaxe, is a big facet of Sector67.
Unsorted hardware is just junk in a box. These drawers hold lots of old-school electronics stock.
A well-used third hand, handmade from a block of wood, screw, washer, steel wire, and alligator clips.
Sector67’s Chris Meyer works their manual milling machine.
Another cast-iron creation, this metal head was made from a 3D Kinect scan, sliced up into a lasercutter file in 123D Make.
A 1980s Melco embroidery machine that has been converted to USB using an Arduino to emulate the output of the original paper tape reader.
Milled injection molds for Sector67 poker chips.
Cleverly crafted shelves use dowels rather than a solid platform to hold only plastic shoeboxes, helping keep Sector67’s materials organized.
Meyer in the wood shop, where Sector67 keeps a Jet 12″ planer/joiner, a Grizzly drum/flap sander, a Stinger CNC router, and racks of lumber, boards and other build materials.