Raspberry-Pi meetup draws Columbus tech crowd

Posted on Saturday, Nov 17 2012 by casey

If you haven’t heard of the Raspberry Pi: it’s a credit-card sized single-board computer. But its simplicity and price-tag are what’s made the tech world fall in love with it: at $35 it is the go-to solution for hardware hacking, opening up countless possibilities for innovation. Plug it into your TV and you’ve got a designated media center. Connect it to your network and you can serve up web-enabled applications. Or just use it as a no frills desktop computer.

We met up with Raspberry Pi enthusiasts on Saturday for a five hour, hardware-hacking software-sharing meetup dubbed the “Raspberry Jam.” Events like it are happening around the world as news of this new technology spreads. Read on for more project ideas and to see the video from our event!
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Columbus rocks global 3D-printing meetup!

Posted on Friday, Nov 16 2012 by casey

MAKE International 3D Printing Meetup

A week ago we sprang into action when we heard that MAKE Magazine was planning an international 3D printing meetup day. Over the past 48 hours we raced to gather RSVPs, competing with makerspaces around the world for MAKE’s $200 prize for the top-3 events. With 71 RSVPs, we were the #1 attended event worldwide (closely followed by New York and Austin). And we put the money to good use, paying for plenty of food and drinks!

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us! We were thrilled with the turn out! Continue reading →

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Worldwide 3D-printing meetup, this Thursday!

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 14 2012 by casey

Join CIF, CORMUG, and MAKE Magazine
for an international 3D printing meetup!

Thursday, November 15, 8-10pm, at the Columbus Idea Foundry,

It’s official! As of 9pm EST we are the #1 worldwide maker-meetup, with 67 RSVPs! Read about the event here!

Make Magazine recently put out a call for coordinated, global meetups to take place on the subject of 3D printing. We’ve decided to answer that call. And for good reason! For the past three years the Columbus Idea Foundry has been home to a monthly 3D Printing Meetup, organized by the members of CORMUG (the Central Ohio Reprap and Makerbot Operators User Group). This month we’ll be double-dipping, holding our regular meetup on Wednesday, in addition to celebrating on Thursday — along with over a hundred different makerspaces and hackerspaces around the world.

At the time of writing this, the Columbus Idea Foundry has 48 RSVPs for this event, putting us neck-and-neck with New York for first place! That also means we’re well within grasp of MAKE’s prize for the top-3 events! The competition ends tonight at 9pm EST. You can find more details, and RSVP below.



Way to go Columbus!

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Local business kickstarts metal combs

Posted on Thursday, Nov 8 2012 by dylancif

Columbus Idea Foundry members Dylan Paul and Levi Crumley of ReFab Studio partnered with Kenji Prince from The Old Familiar Barbershop on a recent Kickstarter project to bring their product, a stainless steel comb bottle opener, to the masses. Continue reading →

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November Newsletter

Posted on Monday, Nov 5 2012 by casey

 

A look back at an amazing month!

The Columbus Idea Foundry was a flurry of activity in October: We organized the first ever Columbus Mini Maker Faire, and faced off at the 4th annual Tool Race Championship with racing-machines cobbled together from circular saws and grinders. We partnered with COSI in hosting the kick-off party for this year’s conference of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, with over 120 professionals from science museums all over the country joining us for live music and hands-on demonstration of our classes and tools. The fine folks of ReFab studio kickstarted their new venture, the Old Familiar Comb Company, raising $22,000 for their manly metal bottle-opener combs. Todd Perkins fired up his electric powered motorcycle for its first test joy ride. We launched a sleek new website. And to finish off the month we celebrated Halloween in hilarious style.

Now we’re gearing up for November, expanding our class selection, and bringing on new teachers. We hope you’re as excited as we are about our upcoming classes and events! Continue reading →

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Meet Your Maker: Kate Morgan

Posted on Thursday, Nov 1 2012 by casey

Congratulations to Columbus Idea Foundry artist Kate Morgan for receiving the Greater Columbus Art Council’s (GCAC) Emerging Artist Award. Kate was featured in Columbus Alive during the 2012 Columbus Arts Festival. She most recently attended the Independent’s Day festival in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Want to learn more about Kate and her artwork? Read on for a brief Q&A with this promising, up-and-coming artist.
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Laser Etching VIN Badges

Posted on Sunday, May 20 2012 by casey


Man Made Ohio is a business operating within the Columbus Idea Foundry.  They made custom furniture and other style items for guys.

Below is a video and some photos of the process of creating some custom VIN badges for our car hood coffee tables.  A small piece of sheet metal is sprayed with black spray paint and then the black paint is etched away to create the image you see.  The laser is capable of etching any image file. I had to invert my original art (shown below) to get the correct effect I was looking for, since the laser will etch the black parts and I wanted those ares to show the metal from below the paint. The Idea Foundry’s Laser is an Epilog mini 24.  The settings I used were 100% speed and 50% power.  After its time with the laser, I sprayed the badge with a light coat of clear enamel to preserve the look and keep rust at bay.
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Introduction to Black & White Darkroom Printing-B & W Printing

Posted on Friday, Apr 20 2012 by debbie

Saturday March 9, 2013 – Saturday March 9, 2013

1158 Corrugated Way

View MapMap and Directions | Register

Description:

Instructors: Richard Kenneth Merrick II and Wesley James Yoder

Description:  Attendees will learn the historical context and value of Black & White silver gelatin printing; view examples of B&W prints; gain firsthand experience in the technical aspects of making B&W prints; take home at least one print. Tongs will be provided so there is no need to have skin contact with any chemistry. Participants will provide their own 35mm, Black & White negative.  For participants who do not already have B&W negatives, the instructors will develop  Kodak TRI-X 400 film (Midwest Part # KOD1005 $4.00) and/or Kodak Plus-X 125 (Midwest Part # KOD1056 $4.99) at the lab located at CIF for $4.50 per roll. Results may vary with other brands/types of film at this time. Please contact Wes Yoder at wes@wesyoder.com or Richard Kenneth Merrick II at merrickphotography@gmail.com to submit your film. Participants using this option must have their film for development at the lab at least 1 week in advance of the class! The ability to obtain a good exposure with film; an open mind; an interest in the medium; and the ability to bake brownies are the goals for the class. Members may use the darkroom during open lab hours to continue exploring, learning and creating skills to add to the other mediums available at CIF.

To view additional examples and explore this topic, please follow these links:

www.wesyoder.com

www.rickmerrick.com

www.facebook.com/TheDarkroomBus

 

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Meet Your Maker: Allison Meade

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 18 2012 by casey


Meet Allison Meade, Columbus Idea Foundry scrap-metal artist, welding teacher, and owner of the Old Soul Studio. We asked her a few questions about herself and her work. Here’s Alli in her own words:
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Columbus Alive: The Big Idea – Columbus Idea Foundry

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 18 2012 by casey

In this day and age, if you can think it, you can make it. That’s the guiding principle at Columbus Idea Foundry.

“Communication or information isn’t the bottleneck,” said Alex Bandar, who founded the Foundry. “Really, the bottleneck in implementing your ideas is access to tools and the know-how to use them. That’s what we do here.”
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