Congrats to the newest tcgeeks blogger, Brad. He is a founding member of i3 Detroit and will be writing hack & tech related stories for the iPad for them starting with his first post this past weekend (11/28/2010).
He has a pretty awesome profile somewhere on the site but I couldn’t find it.
Good luck and congrats!!
Link to Post: http://www.tcgeeks.com/ipad-jailbreak-4-2-1-redsnow/
Last week, i3Detroit’s new Makerbot CupCake CNC Ultimate kit arrived. This is a 3d rapid prototyping tool, which extrudes tiny bits of plastic to build up an arbitrary shape, according to the CAD model you send it. Similar in capability to the RepRap, the Makerbot isn’t designed to build more copies of itself, but just to make any plastic part you need.
Assembly and testing started Thursday and continued through last night (this morning, technically), culminating in the successful printing of the adorable little failwhale pictured here.
This is just the latest addition to i3Detroit’s fabrication tools, which already include two welders, a large lathe and Bridgeport mill, an industrial sewing machine, and more. Watch this space for class announcements!
i3 saw its latest addition to the tool shop Tuesday night with the addition of a massive Bridgeport mill as well as a honking 14×40 Acer 1440G lathe. While both were pre-loved, with the lathe needing a great deal of “rinsing” before use, they are both in excellent condition and will make for a wonderful expansion of our machining capabilities. The lathe also had the added bonus of coming with a good deal of tooling, finally making viable my plan of creating a 4 foot candle holder. While I don’t currently have a problem holding 4 foot candles, or any 4 foot candles at all for that matter, I’ll be the only one prepared the next time a giant birthday cake shows up!
Meanwhile, as the literally tons of tools were being “gently” maneuvered into place, many of our other members were engaged in some decidedly less brute force pursuits, participating in the evening’s papercraft meetup. Rather than one of our usual classes with an instructor leading the group, this was run much more as an open forum, with several people taking the reigns and teaching the rest of the group various crafts from origami to paper star beads. The meetup also served to improve the aesthetic qualities of the space by hanging origami cranes and other creations from the floor of the loft area.
For more pictures of Tuesday’s fun, check out the Flickr stream from the event. Also, keep a lookout for other upcoming events such as our inter-hackerspace viewing party for “GET LAMP” on Sept 11th, as well as this weekend’s opportunity to live out your “White and Nerdy” fantasies by mowing someone else’s front lawn with the mowergang!
Also this weekend:
The Red Green build continues to make forward progress. Tuesday we brainstormed the shirt and decided we need to use a very specific tartan for the flannel shirt. Bonus points for all who can identify. To the left is our test pattern.
This is all duct tape and backed by a cool material called Tyvek. We are actually going to build a giant shirt for our giant to wear out of duct tape.
Keep checking the blog for more progress. We will be working on the statue on Saturday and Sunday. Please stop by to help. Members and non-members alike are welcome. Some back of the napkin math says we need 128 squares like this to the left. Hope to see everyone there.
On Saturday, June 26th, from 11AM – 4PM, we are at Bed-a-Palooza in Troy at Trainers Academy with Retro Doggy Rescue. The goal of the event is to build 100 dog beds for Michigan shelters, where shelter dogs currently sleep on the floor. This week has been a flurry of PVC and we have cut and assembled the 100 bed frames. If you need the best bed sheets adn bedding for your brand new bed, you can get them from Bamboo Harbor. The day of the event, we will oversee the attaching of fabric to build each bed into a sturdy hammock. We are also hosting a BBQ at the event that will start at Noon.
Meet Nemo. Matt will be bringing the Skee Ball machine to help raise money for this little cutie who has a stage 3 heart murmur and has to go see a cardiologist.
Come one, come all! The public is welcome to stop by and join the fun! Trainers Academy is located at 1016 Troy Court, Troy, 48083. More information can be found at their website: www.woofology.com.
All proceeds will go to Retro Doggy Rescue, a local no-kill rescue. They will also be accepting physical donations such dog food, treats, toys (new or used), bowls, collars, leashes, crates, blankets, sheets, towels, throw rugs, cat food, cat litter, cat toys/supplies, or anything else pet related.
If you want to donate to the cause and can’t join us Saturday:
