Mid prototype build for a fan controller.

Atrain showing us his VFD.

Happy April 1st. Hope you enjoyed April Fools day. Here at the lab we had a how to make a tinfoil hat workshop.

Lathe in action

Click more to see more pictures of the lathe in action, and the first mystery project

Testing the lathe out.

Testing the trueness of the lathe, just after assembling it.

Testing out the new callipers.

Drilling the pilot hole, to begin boring.

About to start the boring process.

Drilling the pilot hole.

A lathe some times can be kinda boring. Yuk, Yuk, Yuk

Laser cutter fun.

During one snowy Hacklab open house there was some creative

Proud owner of a Cthulhu laser cut neckless.

Making the Cthulhu neckless

Sizing up a case for a fan.

Guest getting a tour.

Cthulhu pendent fresh off the laser.

Book Scanning Machine

Over the past couple of months, Hacklab has been having conversations with the Toronto Public Library, especially people at the Toronto Reference Library and the Digital Design Studio. A lot of us LOVE the TPL, it’s one of the largest public library systems in North America, and I personally get a lot of use from it – probably a new book every 2 weeks or so, through their hold system, which wonderfully moves the book from whichever of the 98 branches it’s current at to your branch :-).

A few weeks ago, about a dozen employees of the library visited hacklab for a tour of our space. You can read their wonderful hacklab blog post where they talk about the visit. They peppered us with questions about our 3D printer, the workshops that we run, the philosophy and operation of the space, etc. A good time was had by all!

Sherlock Holmes Chess Set

More recently, they invited us to tour the Toronto Reference Library, one of the largest branches of the Toronto Public Library. You can see a few of the shots I took here: Toronto Reference Library Flickr Set. Sadly of course I don’t have any photos of the awesome view from the transparent elevators! We got to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes places in the library, including the printing room, the preservation and digitization area, and an archival area. We also saw some of their computer classroom areas, the really nifty TD Gallery, currently showing a Sherlock Holmes exhibit (including very cool Sherlock Holmes chess set!), and the all-glass study pods.

They are interested in having some kind of “makerspace” area in at least one of the branches, and so they are touring lots of related things in and around Toronto. Hacklab was pleased to help them out, and if you think this is something the Toronto Public Library should do, I’m sure they’d love to hear your support!

Typical Tuesday.

Thai Red Curry, Conconut Rice, and Regular Rice (Feb 12, 2013)

There’s a bunch of complimentary goals. I want to improve my cooking and enjoy doing it. I think it makes hacklab friendlier. I don’t think that people should need to go out for dinner (and pay money) in order to visit hacklab’s open house. And I kind of like the gender role subversion me being in the kitchen cooking during Hacklab’s open houses creates.

(Secret other reason: I really care about lots of the people at hacklab, and I like doing nice things for people I care about, and “gifts” come with weird social obligations. But community services they enjoy, on the other hand…)

I’m now about to leave the country for an extended period of time, and need volunteers in order for these dinners to keep running. Email me if you’re interested! (chris@colah.ca)

Also, drop by one of our open houses and enjoy some delicious, free, vegan food!

Soldering blinkies

It was super awesome. They:

• designed 3D objects in class, which we 3D printed for them in advance
• soldered simple blinkies
• saw 3D printers in action
• saw hacklab’s different tools
• learned how to pick locks (some)
• used hacklab’s laser cutter (some)

Afterwards, some of the students described us as the best field trip they’ve ever gone on. More pictures follow!

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing with power tools!