What are you making this weekend? Here at Woodshop Cowboy, we are making cutting boards and slab tables at Nova Labs, of Reston, Virginia. Nova Labs is offering two premier woodworking classes at the premier makerspace in the DMV area. … Continue reading Learn #Woodworking this weekend! Two Spots Left!
What are you making this summer? Here at Woodshop Cowboy, we are making cutting boards and slab tables at Nova Labs, of Reston, Virginia. Nova Labs is offering two premier woodworking classes at the premier makerspace in the DMV area. … Continue reading Learn to Make Slab Tables & Cutting Boards
This week in my home shop I finished up a new bench project I developed for class at Nova Labs in Reston, VA. While simple in design and execution, it does involve the full suite of woodworking tools and a custom jig to complete. This great intermediate project uses the Fab Five of a powered woodshop: table saw, band saw, miter saw, jointer and planer.
I built the entirety of this project at Nova Labs, Inc using their woodworking tools.
Nova Labs is a membership-driven all-volunteer makerspace based in Reston, Virginia that was founded in 2011 with the purpose of empowering everyone to Rediscover the Joy of Making Things!
The current 10,500 sq. ft. facility located at 1916 Isaac Newton Sq West houses classrooms, workspace, incubator offices and a shop that includes both common tools and advanced fabrication equipment. Members enjoy 24-7 access and help co-manage our space by teaching classes, maintaining equipment, and promoting making in the community.
I cannot say enough good things about the membership and openness of the culture they have built up. It’s rare to find a makerspace that has such a grassroots structure and active volunteer culture.
If you are interested in learning woodworking, you can join me in class in 2017.
Nova Labs members support a wide range of open source development projects that benefit both the local community and the world! Consider joining today to learn how and meet the people behind these projects!
Continue reading “This Week in the Shop: The Split-Top Bench with Plans”
This week, I built a 8 box set of stackable makerspace boxes. This design can be accomplished using three power tools (router, miter saw and jigsaw) and the design can be adjusted to fit your space and needs.
The dimensions given work for boxes made with 3/4″ plywood. If you use thicker or thinner plywood for the sides, your dimensions will change. Double check your measurements before cutting.
The KID Museum of Bethesda, MD offers a range of Maker activities through outreach, studio time, open play/build and structured classes. It’s open for drop-in visits on weekends and reserved for workshops, school trips and scheduled events during weekdays. … Continue reading #Makerspace Tour: KID Museum in Bethesda, MD
In this project, young makers use a vinyl cutter to cut and score geometric nets, connecting 2D shapes to 3D prisms, polyhedrons, etc. They learn to recognize the difference between two and three-dimensions, while also seeing a relationship between the two. Lastly, this is a great opportunity for fine motor skill practice. The plastic requires superglue to connect, but paper nets can be assembled with hot glue or glue sticks.
Continue reading “Home #Makerspace: Making Geometric Nets with Vinyl Cutter”
Northern Virginia hosts a handful of makerspaces, with all different working models. I’m spending the next several months visiting as many makerspaces as possible. You can catch my Manhattan tour here!
Northern VA hosts a number of makerspaces. I’m going to focus on the two non-profit makerspaces, Nova Labs & Makersmiths.
Continue reading “Community Watch: Nova Labs & Makersmiths #makerspace Tour”
The last five years have seen an explosion in Maker Edu-themed products geared for the younger set. Young kids make enthusiastic makers. They love challenging puzzles, approachable crafts and as long as you put flames on it, they think everything you do is amazing! What’s not to love about teaching the pre-K through 3rd grade set?
Little makers also need encouragement, support and developmentally-appropriate materials to be successful. Many of us think Makers means 3D printers, microcontrollers and fancy toys. Young makers will feel left out (though amazed) at all those cool gizmos and flashy parts because the concepts, skills and tools are all too complex. Instead, we can broaden our definition of making (to include art, crafts, woodworking, cooking and more) while developing technology tools that teach at their level. Technology tools can empower our children through exploration and discovery.
Robot Turtles and the BeeBot/BlueBot are two MakerEd platforms you can use to promote foundational computer science concepts and coding skills to the very young learners.
Continue reading “Home #Makerspace: Two Tools to Teach #CompSci & #Coding to #MakerEd Youngsters”
I took a recent trip to The Big Apple for professional development. Along the way, I took a little tour of Manhattan.
Did I go to all the big tourist attractions? Of course I did. I went to the two Manattan-based makerspaces, Fat Cat Fab Labs & HackManhattan!
Continue reading “Community Watch: FatCatFabLabs & HackManhattan #makerspace Tour”
Update: On Dec. 16th, Autodesk announced they would be shutting down the 123D App family in “early 2017”. Most apps will become incorporated into their 3 powerhouse apps: Tinkercad, Fusion 360, and ReMake. This week I took some time to … Continue reading The Home Makerspace: The Autodesk 123D Suite
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