Last Week(s) in Pics Because it Happened
Holy how time flies! The past weeks have been filled with awesome; check this out, get inspired, come down during our normal M-F 7p-10p hours and make stuff!
- Arthur came in off the street, and designed and printed a maze using 3dTin and also printed a dragon coin. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- Tanner leads an event teaching Girl Scouts breadboarding. Photo by Joey Hudy
- Nate teaching Girl Scouts about electronics. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- Jacob measuring the switching characteristics of the MOSFET on his light-watch prototype. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- Jim presents at our Hot Topics night about his experience with Electric Vehicles. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- A cracked-open Intel processor under a microscope in the lab. Photo by Will Bradley
- Austin teaches Tanner, Hunter, Joey and Schuyler welding safety and technique. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- Harry grinds and welds parts for his self-made tandem recumbent bicycle. Photo by HeatSync Labs
Thursday (Jan 19): HeatSync Labs Goes Up in Spaaaaace!
Patrick's Talon heads for the sky on an Aerotech K695R motor. Photo by Chris Anderson
(Thurs Jan 19) 7:00 pm|az @ HeatSync Labs - Kipp Hall
This Thursday, January 19th, we'll be hosting a talk on model rocketry by Geoffrey from the Superstition Spacemodeling Society. We will be going over the effects that modern technology has had on rocketry as a sport and a tool for teaching the next generations of engineers and scientists. Geoffrey has seven years of rocketry experience and has achieved the High Power Rocketry Level 3 rating, the highest NAR rating achievable and has competed nationally with the local club, who has been number one for six years straight.
After Geoffrey's talk, Ryan will be going in to where the lab fits in to all of this. We have all of the tools in the space to make these model rockets from scratch, whether it's 3D printed, or machined, so why not put them to use? It's the perfect hobby for people of all ages and interests, what is cooler than making highly explosive things fly up in to the air?
All HeatSync Labs meetings are open to the public for free; Cover charges are for Scottsdale night clubs! If you really want to give us money though, t-shirts, membership and sponsorship subscriptions will be available and hustled aggressively by our volunteers.
HeatSync Labs is located east of Robson on Main Street at:
140 W Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85201
(Friday) Hot Topics!
Beware of Sharks! Photo by Betsy Weber
This Friday, HeatSync Labs will be hosting the latest in our series of unfortunately titled lightning talk nights, Hot Topics! Much like Ignite, TED and Noisebridge's Five Minutes of Fame, these talks give the community the chance to show off all of the awesome things they are working on. We've an exciting lineup this time around:
- Ryan Rix - Introductions to Hot Topics
- Jasper Nance - Easy Peasy Anodeezy
- Prescott Ogden - Five Most Important Skeinforge Settings
- Jim St. Leger - Driving Electric: First hand impressions of living with an electric car
- Hunter and Tanner Schineller - Introduction to Glass Fusion
- Ryan Rix - Hackerspace Management
- Will Bradley - RFID Interlocks
- Michael Christianson - Rebelhold
Hot Topics will be this Friday starting at 7:00 PM sharp. Bring a friend, and bring something awesome to work on afterwards!
All HeatSync Labs meetings are open to the public and free. If you really want to give us money, though, we will be accepting donations and selling tee shirts, Arduinos and more!
HeatSync Labs is located east of Robson on Main Street at:
140 W Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85201
(Thursday) Board Meeting and Hack Your Hackerspace
It's not this dull looking, we promise! Photo by Northeast Indiana
This Thursday is our quarterly board meeting. The board will be discussing a number of topics outlined on this scheduled agenda. All members in good standing are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice opinions on the topics that matter. We will be starting promptly at 7:00 PM in the common area downstairs.
Afterwards, we'll be holding our bi-monthly hackerspace hacking session! We'll have a list of tasks to accomplish for Great Justice, as well as a chance for the membership to steer the direction our space is headed.
This Week in Pics Because it Happened
HeatSync Labs operates at regular hours, with events and activities happening on a near-daily basis! Pics because it happened:
- Jasper anodized an adapter that she made for her microscope. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- Will did a reflow on a RROD'd XBox 360. Photo by HeatSync Labs
- Heather and Stephanie take apart some electronics at this week's Tear Apart night. Photo by Ryan Rix
- Jacob added caffeinated air to the HeatSync vending machine. Photo by Jacob Rosenthal.
(Jan 7) Crash Course Welding!
This could be YOU! Photo by Dawn Nakaya.
Both sessions are now sold out! Watch here soon within a couple weeks for more classes
Austin Kipp will be teaching this Crash Course on Welding which will also certify you for use of our welding equipment. Each class will accommodate 3-5 people and last as long as 4 hours! The class will focus on MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding but will include grinding and related metal work to be successful in welding.
Learning to weld correctly involves a combination of instruction and practice. For each hour of instruction, the student needs to put in MANY hours of practice, the combination which is sometimes difficult to accommodate in our busy schedules. So, in an attempt to meet the needs of more people and make it more affordable and flexible, Austin will give the instruction and then you will do the necessary practicing on your own.
What you bring:
Non-synthetic clothing with long sleeves and long pants (jeans and a cotton long sleeve shirt work fine) plus sturdy, closed toe shoes.
What you leave with:
Box or frame (TBD) you welded!
If you are interested in this class you must register and prepay at http://guestlis
Austin Kipp is the facilities management volunteer for HeatSync Labs and has been fabricating in metal for many years. Further, he designed and implemented our welding station. He is trained in Mig, Tig, Gas welding and more.
Last Week in Pics Because it Happened
HeatSync Labs operates at regular hours, with events and activities happening on a near-daily basis! Pics because it happened:
- Moheeb finished up some awesome Steampunk goggles. Photo by Moheeb Zara.
- We received a box of stickers from some folks on the Hackerspace.org mailing lists! Photo by Ryan Rix.
- Jasper Nance sealed and anodized aluminum! Photo by Jasper Nance.
- Ryan (@blhack) laser etched the Voyager plaque over some aluminum donated by K-zell metals! Photo by HeatSync Labs.
- Jacob made a remote control hamster ball! Photo by Jasper Nance
- Jacob judged at the State championships for FIRST LEGO League earlier this month! Photo by Jacob Rosenthal.
- Will has been working on RFID controlled relay interlocks for our big tools. Photo by Will Bradley.
- Will etched his own boards for the RFID interlocks. Photo by Will Bradley.
(Jan 4) Arduino Hacknight!
It's a Sparkfun-induced holiday at HeatSync Labs! Photo by Ryan Rix
Hey, HeatSync, what awesome toys did you get for the Holidays? This Wednesday we'll be hosting our monthly Arduino hacknight so you can come by and show off the cool toys you got and build something awesome!
As an added bonus we also got a ton of awesome new sensors and boards to play with!
- XBee modules
- Touch Shield
- VoiceBox Shield
- Compass Module
- Humidity and Temperature Sensor
- IR Receiver
- Vibration Sensor
- Gas sensors
- ... and more!
All HeatSync Labs meetings are open to the public for free; Cover charges are for Scottsdale night clubs! If you really want to give us money though, t-shirts, membership and sponsorship subscriptions will be available and hustled aggressively by our volunteers.
HeatSync Labs is located east of Robson on Main Street at:
140 W Main St.
Mesa, AZ 85201
SEM Build Blog Updates
Jasper is back in action on the SEM project! She's recently posted two updates on the SEM buildblog:
Compression Fitting Assembled with BA Gauge
Compression Fitting Assembled with BA Gauge by Jasper Nance
The BA gauge which I want to use to measure the ultimate vacuum level is a glass tube type and lacks a flange. The solution is either to torch a metal fitting out of kovar (expensive) or to use a simple viton O-ring compression fitting. Since the latter isn’t destructive and I don’t yet trust my glassblowing skills, I went with the compression fitting.
Instead of buying a compression fitting from a vacuum supplier, I decided to go ahead and turn one on the lathe for practice. The combination of threading, tight tolerances, dissimilar materials and knurling made this the most advanced lathe project I have yet taken on.
Turbomolecular Porn by Jasper Nance
The turbomolecular pump has been attached! The largest flange on the chamber is a KF-50 for various reasons including cost of fitting hardware. Above this size, ISO fittings must be used and these are much more expensive than the KF style.
Head on over to the HSL SEM buildblog and check it out!
Top 10 Makerbot/Rep Rap Upgrades and Tips
HeatSync Labs' resident 3D printing guru, Jacob Rosenthal has spent hundreds of hours on our Fakerbot Cupcake, and is probably the most knowledgeable person with regard to Makerbot technologies in the valley. Now he's chairing our new 3d printing group blog at fab.heatsynclabs.org! Here is his top 10 3D printing tips for those of you getting printers this Christmas:
10) Get into the community! All these tips came from watching the 3D printing blogs and forums. No matter which 3D printer you have, make sure to check the Thingiverse, Makerbot and Rep Rap blogs often. Also follow the Makerbot Google Groups and the Rep Rap Forums for great advice from DIY 3D printing pros.
Go check it out! PLUS don't miss 3d printing night this and every 3rd wednesday. Thingomatics, Rep Raps, the Fakerbot and the brightest 3d printing minds in the valley.
[ed: My New Years Resolution is to have more project spotlight posts like this, so keep an eye out for them!]
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