I just got back from New York City where Eric Stackpole and I spent the weekend exhibiting and talking about OpenROV at the Open Hardware Summit and World Maker Faire. Although it wasn’t quite as big as Maker Faire Bay Area, it was an unbelievable gathering of makers and creators of all shapes and sizes. On a scale of 1 to Awesome, it was a perfect score.
In honor of Plastics month here on MAKE, I’m excited to chime in with some of my recent Zero to Maker exploits into the world of silicone. For the non-maker (or “pre-maker,” as I like to say), working with plastic can be revelatory. It opens your eyes to the wonders and possibilities of easily creating everyday objects and provides a new perspective on the way so much of our world is manufactured.
I wonder: what do you think the differences are between the “buy a grill” and “weld a grill” people, in general? I guess more broadly I mean the difference between people who “get” making and those who don’t, regardless of their actual ability to make things.
There’s something about the process of joining two pieces of metal together that captures people’s excitement and curiosity. Outside of a romantic idea of welding masks, torches, and flying sparks, I had no idea what I was getting into. Now that I’ve taken a few classes, I’ve learned enough to distinguish the different types of welds, their uses, and the fact that I have a lot of practice in store before my welds are worth anything.
“And that’s just the beginning, there are all types of materials that work with the laser cutter. In addition to cardboard and paper, you can etch glass, cut acrylic, and engrave leather. You can even laser etch onto a chocolate bar.” Said Zack, my TechShop Dream Coach who has been guiding me on my Zero to Maker journey. He was also today’s Laser Cutting SBU substitute teacher.
“So do you think it’s possible?,” I asked with a slightly concerned (but curiously hopeful) look on my face.
“Well, not really,” replied Zack, “But I do think we’re going to give it a good shot and we’re definitely going to learn a lot. Here’s how we can think about it…”
So began my conversation with Zack Johnson, my designated “Dream Coach” at TechShop.
I was about five pages in when I discovered a major obstacle: I didn’t have any of the tools the book required to do the suggested projects and experiments. I realized that despite my commitment to learning and my eagerness to get started, my goal of going from Zero to Maker would be impossible if I didn’t have the right tools.
