The third meetup of the Toronto RepRap User Group was a massive success!

We had about 20 people show up, with about 5 RepRaps. Socrates from the Singularity Weblog (who previously did a post on Hacklab) kindly filmed our talks and took pictures!

We had a few short talks by Lance, Adam, Chris, Matt, and Andre which you can watch online (part 1, part 2, part 3). The speakers and topics were:

• Lance: Using and sourcing glass build platforms for your RepRap
• Adam: Building a giant RepRap, his new extruder design, coatings for the build platform.
• Chris: Follow up on producing lenses with 3D printers.
• Matt: Questions for the community.
• Andre: Printing his parents house (watch it print! And another one!).
• Chris: A new programmatic CAD tool, ImplicitCAD (including some never before publicly seen features!)

Thanks again to hacklab for hosting us! Our next meetup will be on March 26th, again the last Monday of the month (can we make this a consistent thing? Maybe!). Since things were starting to get a bit cramped at hacklab, between all of us and the printers, Site 3 will generously be hosting the next meetup.

Finally, I wanted to remind everyone that you too can be a speaker at the next meeting of the Toronto RepRap User Group! It’s nothing formal: just get up and talk for five-ish minutes. No need to contact me in advance, just turn up and tell me before we start the talks! I will be very grateful for more speakers!

(Also, there is now a mailing list for organizing our meetings and discussing Toronto-RepRaping issues.)

There’s going to be a Toronto Haskell Users Meetup at hacklab on March 7th starting at 7pm. Come by and meet your fellow Haskellers!

This will be the first one. I’m really looking forward to meeting other Haskellers in person!

Haskell Users of Toronto, unite!

You may optionally sign up for this meetup on eventbrite.

Mark your calendars: Monday the 27th will be Toronto’s third RepRap User Group Meetup! We’ll be meeting at hacklab (location info) at 7pm! Bring your RepRap/Makerbot/3D printing awesomeness!

Meet your fellow RepRap enthusiasts! Share knowledge, learn about the awesome things people are doing, and have a great time!

Everyone interested in 3D Printing is welcome. People who are being driven insane by their obsession with the awesomeness of 3D printing are strongly encouraged so that they can benefit from contact with the similarly afflicted.

I’m super excited to have this happen and am really looking forward to seeing you there!

You can read a post about the second TRUG meetup on digital crusader. You can optionally sign up at eventbrite (this will make it easier for people to get in touch with you after the event).

Hacklab will once again be hosting Gamfternoon tomorrow, Sunday January 21st, from 2pm onward (sessions typically wrap up by 6pm). We’ll be playing board games like Dominion, Settlers of Catan, Laser Chess, Go, etc. Come and play games with us! Members of the public are welcome to come and play – you do not have to be a member to get in.

This event repeats every two weeks, so we’ll also be playing on Feb 5th, Feb 19th, March 4th, etc. Check our calendar to confirm dates beyond that.

Ever wanted to copy a three dimensional shape? Molding and casting allows you to copy nearly anything – from hands and fingers to toys and sculptures. This beginners workshop (led by relative novices too), will provide you with hands-on exposure to simple molding and casting.

As this workshop, you will:
– be provided with materials for both molding and casting
– make a mold of your thumb or finger
– mix your casting material, and then use your mold to create a solid copy- take it home!

Here’s some sample casts I took a few weeks ago with the materials that we’ll be using:

This workshop will be hosted by hacklab.to, at 170a Baldwin St., Toronto (which is upstairs, above Graffiti’s Bar & Grill) on the evening of January 9th 7pm-8:15pm. Workshop participants will be charged $10 to cover the costs of materials.

Event registration is required. Tickets (12 only) are available at:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2640745541

Monday January 16th, 23rd and 30th: three weeks of basic electronics classes, 7pm-9pm.

The Basic Electronics Class is designed to help Arduino hackers and beginner electronics enthusiasts learn some of the important theory and terminology that everyone needs to know. The first set of three classes will attempt to cover as many fundamentals as possible. If you’re confused by ohms law, how to choose and use basic components, or even what basic electronic components are used for, this is the class for you!

Bring general electronics questions, or project ideas as the second half of each class will be an open discussion about electronics topics.

The class will be taught by Andrew Kilpatrick. Andrew has designed all kinds of electronics including his own line of musical equipment: www.kilpatrickaudio.com Andrew has been involved with Hacklab Toronto since 2008.

Update: Due to overwhelming demand, we’re now requiring RSVP/tickets: Hacklab Electronics Class at Eventbrite. Get yours while they last!

Monday October 31st: Halloween, no workshop. Make your own costume and get out there and impress :-)

Monday November 7th 7-9pm: Arduino Projects Workshop
Got an Arduino-based project or idea for project that you’d like some help with? Come to our Arduino Projects Workshop! All levels welcome, from complete beginner to seasoned Arduino user, there is always more to learn. We’ll help each other out! If enough beginners show there may also be a guided lesson similar to the last workshop for total beginners. If only a few, Eric will individually help those people get started and work through a few basic examples. Bring your own laptop, Arduino (any kind will do) and USB cable. Instruction is free and open to the public, no RSVP is required.

Monday November 14th 7-9pm: Learn how to Solder
For total beginners, or those with some experience. Learn how to solder. Soldering is a method of assembling an electronic circuit using a hot iron and solder, a metal which liquefies at a fairly low temperature. Instruction by Eric is free, and we’ll have a variety of interesting kits on hand for you to purchase as learning templates. You’ll take your kit home at the end of the night, working, guaranteed! Instruction is free and open to the public, RSVP here (limit 10 people):
http://hacklabto-soldering.eventbrite.com/

Also, reminder that Monday October 24th (next week) is the T-shirt hacking workshop, bring your old T-shirts and make them fresh!

(updated: added the fact that both workshops are 7-9pm)

Come visit hacklab Sunday October 16th, 3pm onwards as we revive the “gamfternoon” gaming sessions of hacklab lore. There will be a copy of Settlers of Catan and Dominion (with Seaside expansion) on hand, or bring your games to share with others for the afternoon. The more the merrier, invite all your friends! Non-members totally welcome, the door will be unlocked. We’ll be repeating these gaming sessions every other week, so: Oct 16th, Oct 30th, Nov 13th, etc.

Free and open to the public.

Hacklab will be having a t-shirt hacking workshop on Monday October 24th, 7-9pm. We’ll be working with t-shirts and doing things like:

– laser cutting them, ala Diana Eng
– boxy to foxy, like this: Boxy to Foxy
– stylishly cut up your t-shirt, like this:
Cut up the Back of your T-shirt
Revamp an old t-shirt.

Or any other t-shirt hack, if you’re keen and you find some instructions, let’s try it out! Bring your old t-shirts and let’s make them fresh again!

Come one, come all, to the 3rd Train Overlord Hackathon. Saturday August 6th, 1pm onwards.

The plan for the Hackathon is to put up way more track. With super awesome acrylic base. But if you’ve got passion to hack on the engine, the software, or whatever, come and hack! The more the merrier.

What is Train Overlord? It’s hacklab’s robotic denizen, our friendly robot overlord, who rules with an iron rail. (well, actually, the rails are aluminum, but the overlord doesn’t let that stop him). The Train Overlord is controlled wirelessly, there is a web interface, and you can download an app on your smart phone to control him directly from your phone. Our goal for the Train Overlord is to have him able to ferry empty cans from the desk to the recycle bins, on command. To that end, the Train Overlord is equipped with a winch mechanism. He also sports a laser, because what self-respecting robot doesn’t have a laser?!?

Anyway, come join us and hack on robots, no experience necessary! Saturday August 6th, 1pm onward.