fabguru

specialism within the global Fablab network

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The first two days of my internship at Contact Amsterdam

By Jennifer Rombouts

Intro

Today, on thursday 11th of january 2018, I started the first day of my internship at Contact Amsterdam. It was only in october last year that I first visited the creative workspace to talk about the idea of creating a vertical indoor garden. The 2nd of december we finished the garden, which now grows well. The great atmosphere at Contact and the good connection with Alex Schaub, combined with my drive to create, brought me to do an internship.

A few years ago I used to design en build decor for festivals with friends that followed a creative study. Ive always been eager to draw, design and create but ive always used analog methodes. Until today I have not used digital fabrication methodes or 3d designing programmes. So I am eager to learn new methods to develop my way of thinking, ideas and creations.

 Goal

During my internship at Contact I will first focus on the basics of digital fabrication methods. After the basics I will switch on my own two research directions: eco-design and decor. With as main idea: to incorperate and enlarge biological structures (micro/macro level).

First assignment: Rhino and 3D-printing

The first simple assignment Alex gave me on Thursday morning was to design a 3d flowervase in Rhino. He quickly explained me some of the basic functions of the programme, showing me which steps to take and what options to use, while I took notes. One of the most important things to start with is that the 3D printers can only print in max. printing seize, which is 200mm x 200mm, so designs can’t be bigger than that. That’s why it is smart to always start designing in Rhino within a rectangle of max. or half of the printing seize (depends on what perspective you use).

I started with designing a crossection of the vase, by drawing a curve from reverence points within the rectangle. Then reflected the crossection to create a 2D image which could be converted into a 3D image with a few clicks (see notes). Options like structure (mesh), solid or hollow … could now be alterd. After checking the final design for flaws, I uploaded the Rhinofile tot the SD cart. No it was ready to print.

Sander showed me how the 3D printers work and which steps to take before printing or changing material/filament (see notes). He also pointed out that the different materials, PLA or PET, have different melting temperatures (210/250). During the first to tries with PET, I had to remove a lot of excess plastic and the prints where messy or came loose from the baseplate.

When I used PLA instead, the print became better but still had too much floating face. Adding a supportive structure around the base, that could be removed after printing, solved all problems. And on Friday, 15 hours later, my vase was done. Removing the supportive structure (and a lit that was accidently printed) was harder than I though and did leave some marks. After using sandpaper and some oil it did look a bit better but the marks did not totally dissapear and the sandpaper left traces as well.

Second assignment: Illustrator and lasercutting

The second assigment was to design and create a case for tablet that we want to hang on the pallet garden wall. The tablet contains the presentation about the wall, information about watering plantcare and a logbook.

For the standart design of a case with fingerjoints, we used the online programme: makerscase. With the exact (inside measurements) of the tablet and the right thickness of the material used: popular wood, we created basic caseplans that could be imported into illustrator. Because we want to display the tablet a bit sideways on the wall (more easy to read/type), the caseplans had to be alterd in Illustrator (see notes).

Altering the caseplans wasn’t easy for me in the beginning. Illustrator seemed more difficult than Rhino and there where many smartkeys and shortcuts that I didn’t know about yet. After a couple of tries I got slightly better. Visualizing the case in 3D while working in Illustrator helped me a lot. Alex gave me the advice to always export illustrator files with lasercutting plans to Rhino first. Because then you can build your model in 3D and check everything for flaws.

Now the design was ready for lasering and converted in ai.file format. Before starting, Alex gave me an extensive explantion about the lasercutter; function, process and saftey. I took notes again. Soon I will have to assist people with lasercutting as well so I will need to study these notes and lasercut or engrave a few more designs to be totally sure of myself and feel at ease with this fabrication technique.

 We checked suctions, turned on the lasercutter and optimized all settings. Cutting the material went really fast. Alex warned me to never leave the lasercutter while it is working. There is always a small chance that the material might catch fire.    

The case fitted pretty well but did need some extra glue. I finished the case by removing excess glue and brown lasercutting edges with the beltsander.              

Next week wensday I will focus on milling a frame of azobe wood. When this is done the case with the tablet is ready to be put up on our pallet garden wall.

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On the way towards a creative mindset @ Fablab  Willich

During an intership, I recently had the chance to work inside a FabLab located within a Saint-Gobain subsidiary in Willich. I met Alex Schaub, who explained to me the origin of the concept by sharing his experience as a Fablab expert. As long as you respect the ground rules by using security glasses and shoes, the atmosphere is relaxed. The people working on individual or group projects are also willing to help each other and share ideas or give advices based on personal experiences. I created  a few objects by using several machines. I did not know much about the kind of technology which are available in such an environment. Thus, I was curious to understand the funcionning as well as the various applications behind  the machines names.

I was advised to look at the website “thingiverse”, where I discovered predefined models that  I could use for my first 3D printing. Yet, adjustments of the downloaded file are almost always needed. At this stage, the help of someone knowlegeable might be required to ensure the success of the realisation phase.

It took two hours and fifty minutes to the 3D printer to realize the French bulldog that I selected from the suggested website. We printed it with the lowest quality available in a small format to shorten the printing time. However, I believe that the result looks nice and clean. As it was printed in three pieces, the last step in completing my creation was to use an efficient glue to make it one piece. 

My next idea was to realize a bottle opener with a personal gravure inside. It took around three hours and half to the machine to print the downloaded object with the chosen gravure. The program was not that easy to manipulate. For that reason, some help from engineers was welcomed to virtually add the personalized gravure into the object.  After what, the laser machine printed the letters on a yellow acrylic surface. Then, I wanted to insert these letters inside the gravure to finalize my product. That was not as easy as it seemed to be and a few tries were necessary to reach a proper letter size. The gravure also needed to be cleaned manually. 

Last but not least, I choose a family picture printed in black and white to keep a nice souvenir of my first visit inside a Fablab. We first scanned it and then it took only 25 minutes to the laser machine to grave an A4 format on the wood. The result is amazing; it is so clean and precise. I did not expect the wood to reflect the photograph in that way but I love it!

Nowadays, we hear a lot of things about 3D printing, its benefits as well as the disadvantages and what it could be replacing in the future. Hence, it was really interesting to learn more about that concept by using one type of machine and observing the process. The best part is definitely when the object is complete. At that point, you cannot only touch and manipulate it but also compare it to what the expected result provided through the computer program.

I also learned that many FabLab already exist at different places in the world. There are located inside companies or schools and collaborate with universities. However, we do not hear that often about this creative concept. It brings people together and I believe that the FalLab community could and should grow even more. Hence, I am really glad about being part of it for some time and I hope to come across this inspiring culture again in the future.

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Shopbot training @ Fablab Bristol

This week I went to Bristol to setup the Shopbot and to train the team of the Fablab. It’s the first time I have seen the new space and it is impressive. They built a fully sound proof room for the Shopbot, and they bought my favorite model. The Shopbot PRS Alpha 96x48 inch, a full size sturdy production NC router.

While we were fighting with a view nasty bugs, like we couldent turn on the spindle with the computer, as well as sorting out the safety bars, which have moved from the Gantry to the ends of the machines with proximity sensors, we were able to get it up and running in 2 days.

The new V-Carve pro software that comes with the machine is also slightly improved, but I could use it straight away and felt home.

Wednesday was a big day. It was the first time the entire company came together for the monthly meeting in the new space to update each other whats going on in the facory, losses, wins, future trends and figures. I was very pleased to see a completly transparent factory, where everyone knows whats going on, and is encouaged to change things.

After a great Lunch, I helped the Fablab Team to get all the employs from the factory an introduction to the Fablab, what it is, how it works and what you can do in it. This went on  in small groups, and we were able to get all 140 employes trough all disciplines.

Beside that, they have setup a little cardboard plane challenge and there was a clear winner. Ivan Kingman.

Thursday morning, I went through the most professional security and safety briefing ever on the Shopbot, and it has been certified. Then we rushed for the last bits, installed the dust collector, and after Lunch I did an introduction workshop on the shopbot for the Fablab Team, devided by 2 small groups of 4. I was introducing different kinds of milling bits, speeds and feets, machine homing and job setup, as well as 2d programmaing of profiling and pocketing. Then we milled out scrap boards and made a nice text sine.

On friday, we went to visit the Fablab in Cardiff. My friend Olivia Kotsifa showed us the lab as well as all departments of the Art & Design Department. It was impressive to see such a huge variety of crafts ateliers like wood turning, textile printing, ceramics, embroidery and sewing, among others, all which can be combined with the processes in the Fablab. They even have a Makers Curicullum.

I had the impression that they were happy with it and saw the potential of this great machine. I am sure with the dedication of this great Team, they will go on cracking right away.

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Developing the best creative team is the key to the success of a creative and innovative space.

For this internship my aim was to learn about the organisation of FabLab and machinery in order to set up a new rural FabLab in Japan.

For me, fab pro was one of the great experiences to encounter the development of a creative platform and the key learning was ‘good team work’. I supported the whole period of the workshop including the task of wrapping up at the end of the day. We had 10 people from 3 different places, and fab pro hardly had support from Willich for the first week. The team was frustrated because unexpectedly there was very little help given to learn new things.

After receiving the feedback, the Willich team and Alain, Alex and myself had to work on it. How could we make it better and what is the solution? We talked to trainees of Willich to ask their support for fab pro as well as discussing with the participants what we could improve. The situation was slow but it was clearly changed.   In the end, all of the participants were very satisfied. Even now after 3 months of fab pro, the team is in good shape and support each other.

At fab lab Willich for the last 3 months, I was encountering some changes, especially people’s contribution (not only from the fablab team and core members but others) to the space. Space design, (Table, chairs, hanging garden), a talent wall will be taken over by people from Willich, off road challenges and other small daily activities. The fab lab space turned into a meeting place for people within Saint Gobain as well as external people and companies.

From the experience, what I learnt was that in a big group, such as a company, institution or community, there are so many different kinds of people it’s not easy to put them in the same pot nor expect the same action from each of them. Instead of this, theres a bigger impact and can become a good bond if you take good attention about each persons talent and specialities. It takes time and needs effort to reach each person but for sure it will help.

When people go through a big experience together everybody has a role, the team will last long and become more strong for new challenges. I think that people in Willich have not yet reached this stage but I believe they will do so together with Alex and Alain.

Finally I would like to thank to  FabLab Team of willich, Btiistl, Wyene, Suwa, Alex (FabGuru) and Alain (Egg Brussel). I hope that this new teamwork will last long wherever everybody is!

FabGuru website

Egg Brussel

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Yes, you can!  DIY Stainless steel engraving by Laser- Cut

It usually Stainless steel engraving is required special spray (+-100e/1b) because it is shiny surface and it reflect back laser light to lens and it make damage. Its not easy..

But a challenger from Fabalab Willich, he managed with a craft spray and it worked!

The setting: 

Speed : 25%

Power :100%

choose Stuchi setting

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TV B Gone finished!

Great thanks to Zaerc from Amsterdam Fablab to help me to figure out the problem of electric connection and programming. FabTinyISP. It was a from Fab Pro in Nov 2015, I am very happy that it works now as TV B Gone!

The problem of electric connection were 2. The first one was tiny led touched to other ground which was not supposed to be. (It is often happen! It specially FabLab willich the tips of soldering machines are too big. It was not really ideal size for such a tiny detailed soldering. ) 

The second problem was that some soldering surface were not smooth enough. He add some soldering with extra heat (he said that he actually add more led from the soldering to let electric goes smoother)

Then it was programmed Bootloader in the FabTinyISP though the other USB board (programmer) (see the photograph).  After the FabTinyISP was connected to computer directly to program TV B gone. Its also important to disable it reset line.  

It was around 2 hours job. But in the end we could turn of/on TV! 

Note: TV B Gone site, you can buy them too! 

Fab TinyStar by Zaerc

Fab Academy tutorial link of DIY USB board

Share software site of TV b Gone

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Week 11-12 of internship @ fabguru Shopbot CNC tutorial

My final challenge of this internship was the CNC milling machine. Due to the complexity of the CNC milling machine at Willich fablab, I had a tutorial of Shopbot CNC by Guru at Fablab Amsterdam. The milling machine can do vector cutting or 3D engraving with diverse materials such as wood, plastic or Styrofoam. Its important to choose the right milling bit depending on the job and material. Advantages of CNC milling are cutting lines without burned colour, ability to use simple vector files and making big jobs (In the case of Shopbot in fablab amsterdam it is 2440 x1220)

Another important aspect of milling machines is that the inner corner of vector files has to be prepared with Dog bone to have a clean corner. Some information about dog-bone 

For this assignment, I thought it would be a good chance to cut my previous challenge, the floor plan of M.C. Escher from the first week of my internship. I prepared a dxf file and opened the file with Vcarve Pro (Shopbot software). It usually works to add dog bone in the software but this time it did not. Because some inner corners of the file angle were too sharp, I had to change lines in illustrator. (you can see the blue circle and red one)

Here some tutorial of Shopbot setting Here some tips of setting from Guru.

Note: For cutting material I choosed Ceiba multiplex (1220x1480x15mm) 36 euro from Houthandel Schmidt  district of Amsterdam. Its more than 150 years old!

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Week 8 - 10 of internship @fabguru

Hoberman Sphere -adjustment of pins:

My new challenge @ FabGuru is building the Architect construction Hoberman Sphere. After the experience of constructing a pentagon shape , I wanted to use a stronger material to build so I chose to use an acrylic plate (+-)3mm. I adjusted the file from Johan Wood (Here the original link)  and made some tests. Here the link of other detailed instruction.  I got the right file but there was one problem which was a difference in thickness of the acrylic plate. Even with materials manufactural in a factory, the difference could be 0.8mm. This caused a problem with the centre pins to make a good click and to hold the arms. This was a crucial part to make the construction and the kinetic part. I did not want to use glue either.

To solve the issue, Josias from the Lab came up with a great idea. As you can see in the image, we added  half round shapes inside the pins. After a few tests it worked great!

So I cut all the materials and started building them up!

I will update how it goes with building up the shape next time.

Besides this, the project of portraits are on going, however I won’t be able to complete 400 portraits before I finish this internship. Because of this I am working with a new team to teach the methods and programs so the new team can take over when I leave!

The last photo is “A Sundial displaying the time inside its shadow, with actual digits”  designed by Mojoptix. One visitor of Lab print it. The original link is here!

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Week 6 & 7 of internship @fabguru

Hello!  It’s almost the end of the year and I am very pleased to announce that my Polygon shape is completed! It all started with an egg shape and I had to figure out how to fix it into a football shape. In the end, I built too many polygon parts than it actually needed.  But YES , I am very happy to have done it.  I discovered that play wood was not strong enough for torn structure therefore I re-made a file for 3mm thick acrylic. Above you can see some pictures with my excitement and satisfaction! (Too many of them? Never mind :-) !!)

For a creative space, FabGuru did first a Room Design followed by a table design and a visual inventory of all tools usually hidden in stupid drawers.

- The idea within a fablab should be that any tool can easily be reached when you need them!”-  And the current situation is not an ideal!  So we pulled all of them out from the drawers to visualise what the Lab has. All very good (but very expensive!) tools and some of them are available 4 times. But a FabLab coordinator got crazy when he saw them all on the floor so we had to put all of them back to the drawers.

Guru is working on the table design for fablab Willich. We finally got material (40mm thickness) but it was not what he ordered! So he had to re-design a table before we cut all wood. Unfortunately we did not manage to see a table in the lab before the end of the year. But it’s like kicking off a new lab and that takes always time. Before you have your ideal lab, it’s a long way.

And yes, there is some news about a new customer for the FabLab.  Ingrid from reception came for a new design of their birthday cards given to the employees (350 people) from Saint-Gobain. What she brought was very very simple, traditional and even ugly.   We had a 3 hours session spread over two days. It has to be special but also it need to be affordable in production time as well as in design. In the end, we made two designs (man-woman) of key holders with the name of the employee.  It will start as of New Year. Let’s see if the people who received it, will notice that it’s coming from our FabLab.

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It’s not about laser cutting : it’s about Making something beautiful!

One day, Guru (Alex) told me there are two ways to approach a fablab :

1. achieve a quick result

2. slow development, high quality, last long

often you see quick and dirty finished projects in a fable. 

And guess what, of course Fab Guru’s idea is the second one. For this approach, you have to consider a specific appreciation towards materials and design you will use.

Hereunder, I like to share with you some good tips and inspiring products.

Laser-cutting Acrylic : when you finish an object or project, take care to finish surface by sandpaper (1500).  This little intervention will add so much quality to the final result!

Laser-cutting : Stand for Milling bits :unique approach developed by our expert Josias turning a 2D play wood plate into a 3D milling stand.  I like to have one!

Note: For picture engraving using a laser cutter, the settings are “Floyd Steinberg” with speed 65% and power 100%.  Result : deeper engrave! 

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Week 4 & 5 of internship @fabguru New assignment - Press fit construction kit- 

After a concentrated 2 weeks of Fabpro @ fabguru, I had a more flexible time to focus on making and designing. As part of my daily activities here, I continued with the project of 400 portraits of SG, as well as hosting & hunting fablab visitors. I also started a new assignment!   Press-fit construction is a way of building things without adhesives or fasteners; parts are designed to be held tightly together by friction, but not so tightly that they can’t be pulled apart with a stiff tug. (http://makezine.com/2010/01/14/letters-from-the-fab-academy-part-1/) 
Simple 2D shapes could be transformed into 2.5D (half three dimension) or 3D. If you read the previous post from Fabpro, you can see the technique used on an assignment to design a table. I started with 2 simple shapes to create a football form, a combination of a hexagon and pentagon. Before I started cutting the materials I had to think of several important points depending on which materials I used.

Your pieces must fit together without using glue, nails, screws or other fasteners.
You will need to adjust your joints to fit together in a precise way.
Please note that if you change your material type (or switch to a different supplier - for example: swapping one type of plywood for another type.) the thickness of your material will change and your joints may no longer fit snugly together. 
(http://fabacademy.org/archives/content/tutorials/04_Computer-Controlled_Cutting/Press-Fit_Construction_Tips.html)

1, From the original sag file  (illustrator file) I modified them to fit to material thickness. 2, I used cardboard to tryout because the structure needs torsion. 3, I checked about the cutting clearance from this laser cutting. This time it was about 0.1mm and I included the number in my files. 4, I got advice from Alex for a better fitting, to make some corners round. (see photo) 5, Cut design by laser cutter!

6, The result was good. As it was the first time, I was very excited to build them up, but the card board was not strong enough to hold the shape (its because of the materials torsion) also I did not manage to finish a perfect football shape because there was not enough pieces! 7, This time I switched the material to wood (6mm). I changed the file to 6mm. I made some cutting and fitting tests. 8, So its time for the big production! Before that, Alex gave a good and important tip for saving energy for laser cutting and materials. “A good nesting!” (See photograph)

I am working on good nested files now. I hope I can upload a picture of a finished one next time! In the meantime, I saw different and beautiful examples by Press fit construction kit. For instance Doberman shape, other architect models or architect structures. This practise is very useful to turn the shape from 2D into 3D. Next to the football shape, I am also working on a mobile bird which can fly beautifully hanging from the ceiling of your house. I would like to assemble some materials from Saint Gobain products using the birds motion .

Note: Cutting clearance The laser burns away a portion of material when it cuts through. This is known as the laser kerf and ranges from 0.08mm – 0.45mm depending on the material type and other conditional factors. Any areas in your design where cut lines come closer than 0.5mm together could burn away entirely.

Note: For settings of laser cutting of power & speed, in case if you don't know for new material to cut, its always best to start with 100% power and adjust speed.  

[fabgurublog]

For an inspiring Fablab space!

Fab guru believes that a creative space inspires peoples creative mind. And since Willich Fab lab is located in an industrial space, it is a very dry and unorganised space. For instance in the 270cm space, we don’t have have much room to work on materials. We have only 3 chairs to sit on. Day by day Alex and some of us suggest and try to convince some nice changes, such as a nice working table for the centre , new chairs, a hanging garden (hopefully), some wooden floor design or portraits on the wall. But there are 400 people working there, things don’t change so quick. Fab guru should not do this alone, it has to be done with Fablab Willichs core team and other users from the company. So what we can do is to drop some inspiring suggestions not only by word of mouth but through all means day and night! (Some time things have changed in the evening time when there are no people) Mariusz table design won the Fablab Willich table competition! And we connected to Fablab Bristol, Suwa and Wayne online (https://appear.in) again! I would like to share a great work of Josias from Fablab Willich! Its an amazing tool box!

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Laser cutter engraving wood: Working towards making 400 engraved portraits!!

Hello! Since the 2nd week of my internship @ fabguru, I am working on the challenging project of ’400 engraved portraits’. After having the chance to try out different settings (portrait on the right), we found a good setting for engraving wood. I note here.

Speed: 90 Power: 60 Brighten (important!)

Machine (Epilog 75W)

Note: Website for open icon source ⇨　https://thenounproject.com

Note: Photo above are from glass engraving by laser cutter. The other one is new name card idea from James @ Fab Pro Trainee.

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3D printer - Ultimaker Affordable machines!?

During Fab pro, one team built an Ultimaker by themselves. Ultimakers unique aspect is that it is designed for user friendly self building, using step by step instructions on the body itself and with online instructions. If some parts of the machine are missing or broken, people can print the parts easily with another 3D printer too. Now 3D printers have become affordable machines (like the home printer) and have become a common machine around even small scale makers and designers. The Machines cost is approximately 1200 euro(ex tax) with free software ( Cura). Working space is 210x 210x205mm, SD card input. If you are not used to designing 3D models in an app, you could get online open 3D design source  such as https://www.thingiverse.com/ Check it out!    https://ultimaker.com

Note about filament (material) for 3D printers

In Fablab Willich they use 3 types. The price is the same. PLA     hard PETG  flexible ABS problematic (new)

Next time I would like to write about milling bits! It is important to choose depending on the job the right bits.

(above picture from Fab Pro Willich)

Personally I would like to try laywood material!

Note:

PLA This is a hard, odorless bioplastic that has a low environmental impact. It is derived from renewable, starch-based resources. PLA has a very low shrinkage, which is ideal for 3D models and prototyping at home.

ABS This plastic is well-known for its strength and industrial purposes. ABS is impact resistant, very hard, whilst retaining good flexibility. Compared to PLA, ABS has a high shrinkage, which means that it’s harder to print with this material. https://ultimaker.com/en/support/view/11720-terminology 

[fabgurublog]

Fab Pro Trainee2

 Let me note here what happened in Fab Pro Trainee @ Willich (10 -19 Nov 2015).  

Week1: 2D and 2,5D (Trainee Alex Schaub) -Introduction of table design, open source design and illustrator -Design of a new conference table in illustrator -Building 1/6 maquette of table by laser cutter some links:   Open source font design http://www.1001fonts.com/       Open design source 50 digital wood joints http://www.flexiblestream.org/project/50-digital-wood-joints

Electronics (Trainee Zaerc Kok) - Build your own electric socket (see photograph) - Programming with help of Zaerc

Week2: 3D (Trainee Veit Penzenstadler, Alex Schaub) - Introduction and practice of Rhino 3D (Drew Frisbee) - Import and drawing their 2D table design into 3D by Rhino 3d.

Advanced practise (Trainee Lukas Plioska, Fablab Willich) - Build Ultimaker (Lucky people!) - Build DIY 3D scanner - Introduction of milling machine and cutting bird shape from 1st week. - Cut 3D mountain shape by milling machine (not finished yet) - Practice Vinyl cutter - Practice Laser cutter - Engraving on glass

Presentation of table and final wrapping up. -End of each day with 10 participants, I did the wrapping up of the day by their feedback and face drawing. It helps us to see what they miss from this trainee course and how to adjust the week schedule (see photograph) - Plan to share all files from Fab pro @ internal online site my.saint gobain.com - Several lectures given by Fablab Willich to introduce how they can benefit from Fablab.

(*1)2 points Fab Pro was improved on during the training - Give more theory and examples to understand new techniques - Gain more support from trainees of Willich Done!

I should not forget to add here that I was given a great tour of Saint Gobain Willich. They have a completely sustainable system for production starting from the engineering design, making each parts in production, material making (pdfe), production, until delivery to the client.  How could fablab fit within this engineering field?

[fabgurublog]

2nd & 3rd week of internship @ fabguru Fab Pro trainee, an intensive train the trainer programme for Saint-Gobain Bristol-Suwa-Wayne

Hello!  During the last 2 weeks, fabguru, yourownlab and Fablab Willich hosted Fab Pro training. FAB LAB PRO is a Train-the-Trainer program developed by Your Own Lab and Alex Schaub. It It is an intensive training which gives participants opportunities to learn the theory and practise of several techniques (2D, 2.5D, 3D, electronics) touching on all the modules of the regular Fab Lab Academy. In this time my task was to support the whole programme, wrapping up the end of each day, and portrait making by laser cutter.

There were 10 enthusiastic participants at the new fablab of Saint Gobain, from Bristol (5p), Wayne(4p) and Suwa(1p).  The course was given 4 times in 2-day sessions in 2 groups running parallel.  Wayne will open a fablab this spring, Bristol plans to open it this June and Suwa is preparing to open it next autumn. The participants' backgrounds were very mixed, some were from engineering, packaging, storage control, or production etc. It meant that many of them never used applications such as Illustrator, Rhino neither laser cutters or 3D printers so it was great challenge and an intensive time for all of us. Of course it was meant as a way of learning new techniques for all of them, but it was also very important to develop a good team-work within their own lab as well as a bridge between the 3 Fablabs including Fablab Willich in the Saint Gobain network. I must say they worked very hard and we succeeded to keep them all in a productive mode even if there was some critical/unhappy feedback from them during the period we managed to fix it (*1). For me it was an unforgettable experience as I could learn a lot of technical practise as well as that the participants taught me that a good lab could hardly exist without good teamwork in the Lab and how important it is to maintain it! They gained a great starting line to run Fablab. Questions remain for each lab (its not easy to answer, they say because Saint Gobain is a company it has to make profit from fablab as well. It makes the situation different than for a Fablab within a school or institution. ) about how much and whom each lab should be open to external participants. This is a good question to me as well, it is depending on where and what kind of digital lab space you want to have though in each case can be different.  

Let me note next blog what happened in Fab Pro Trainee @ Willich (10 -19 Nov 2015).  

[fabgurublog]

First week of internship @ fabguru:

Hello, this is Sayaka. As a beginner of using digital machines (even though I have used laser cutter some time ago),  it was a very intensive week for me as a kick off of my internship!

Fablab Whillich is a very different one from any other digital labs I had visited before. It is because it is located in a industrial manufacturing company, Saint Gobain in Germany. Therefore we work not only with people who come to Fablab but also we meet and invite everybody who works in the company (400 people work there!). For security reasons, I have to wear special security shoes and glasses. (Because of it, I look a bit like from the 70′s).  I am a new face in the company,  I went through a couple of procedures to set myself up in Fablab Willich which helped me to understand what is the position of Fablab.

Fabguru works together with a coordinator Alain Heureux from yourownlab as a team to establish Fablab in the company.

Besides many introductions, I received my first assignment to make a floor plan  with the pattern of escher for the lab. This assignment was a perfect way to learn vector drawing, engraving and cutting wood with laser cutter including the maintenance of the machine. Also I did my first 3D print with Ultimaker.

Next week, I start working on a project of 400 engraved portraits!

note1: laser for vector drawing make cutting line in red(0.002) and engraving line in black

cutting ; s50% p100%

engraving ; s15%p100%

note2: maintenance of laser cutter - Clean lens with ear cleaner and tissue with special cleaner. Also take small left over pieces out from inside of the machine. Clean with dry textile (with some water also ok) .It increases the machines life.

note3: Ultimaker

1 Pre heating

2 Clean plastic material and set up your choice of plastic

3 Get 3D sketch or make own (ex; http://www.thingiverse.com)

4 Put 3D file into SD card and transfer into Ultimaker

5 print!