By:
On:

Interested in game development? Makers Local 256 is organizing a real-world gathering and team for participating in this weekend’s Ludum Dare competition! If you’re not a programmer or game designer, don’t worry; teams need artists, musicians, writers, testers, bloggers, social media, fresh ideas, gamer know-how, and probably other things, too! The 72-hour team competition runs from 8pm CST Friday, April 25th, until 8pm CST Monday, April 28th. The 48-hour solo competition runs from 8pm CST Friday, April 25th, until 8pm CST Sunday, April 27th.

Visit the website to find out more about Ludum Dare and to vote for the theme, which will be announced at the opening of the competition tonight!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/

We suggest being at the shop at 7pm if possible to begin organization and prepare before then. We’ll be live-blogging the event on the Ludum Dare 29 wiki page. We’ll have a webcam up for streaming on Charlaxy’s Twitch stream, in addition to the shop cameras.

Hope to see you there with your game-making faces on.

By:
On:

trees2

 

Happy seasons makers!

Birds are collecting all the pollen and bees are singing songs, spring has sprung!

We would like to announce that now is a great time to sign up for the makers local garden club. (sheet is on the front white board at the shop)

In the past the club has been organized by Ethan and Alli. This season the garden club would like to expand on the project  as well as rejuvenate our small plot of land outside in the over grown garden area. Some of the supplies we currently have are rakes, shovels, and trowels. A few 50 gallon barrels, as well as assorted 5 gallon buckets. We have access to a 7’x7′ garden plot, as well as space in the server rack indoor garden. We do have limited space but there is room for some expansion.

Some projects currently underway and talked about are, algae growing, sustainable garden technology, potato farm, aquaponics, hydroponics, animal and insect raising, vermiculture, and much more!

Garden club signups have been up for a little while now, and earth day at the shop was an unofficial first meeting of the makers local garden club. Progress was made in clearing out dead and dry plants from the garden on Tuesday, as well as discussion of the next best time to work on the garden.

Saturday April 26th Is the next planned time to get together at the shop to actively work on the garden as a group. Discussion will continue on the mailing list.

Garden Club – Makers Local 256

 

By:
On:

wpid-wp-1397009259036.jpeg

All sorts of neat projects were worked on this Tuesday Open Night! In the photo above David is working on some pottery on the pottery wheel, to be later fired in the kiln! Keep reading for more photos.

Read More →

By:
On:

Last week, we got a new heat press set up in the crafting area of the shop.  It’s a Hix Hobby Lite 9″ x 12″. Wolfenhex and I decided to inaugurate it by making a Makers Local 256 shirt.

The shirt we selected was a Gildan 100% cotton, and we used Thermoflex Plus white t-shirt vinyl. The design was cut from a vector graphic using the shops vinyl cutter.

Applying vinyl to t-shirt

After the vinyl cutter did it’s thing, we weeded the design with the help of some sharp tweezers, and then positioned it on the shirt.  The vinyl’s backing is sticky and will help hold it in place.  It’s a good idea to press the shirt with the hot press for about four seconds prior to placing the vinyl, to flatten out the surface and remove moisture.

Using heatpress on t-shirt

Once the vinyl is correctly positioned (we put it below the shirt’s neckline to avoid any wrinkles from that), set a timer and lock the press down.  Temperature, pressure, and duration will vary by vinyl type, so look up the manufacturer’s recommendation.  This vinyl said to press it at medium pressure (there’s a valve for adjusting this on the heat press) and 330F for 17-20 seconds.  We found that it did better at 20 seconds.

Peeling backing off vinyl

Once it’s finished, peel off the backing while holding the shirt flat (if you can — this is the hardest part because of how hot the shirt and press will be).  Whether you peel it off hot or cold will vary by vinyl type, and peeling off at the wrong time could result in wrinkled vinyl or it not sticking.

This hot-peel vinyl did a fantastic job of bonding to the fabric almost seamlessly.

Finished ML256 t-shirt

Here’s the finished product!  We only did one side this time.  If you want to add vinyl to both sides of the shirt, it’s a good idea to put down some parchment paper on the press so that the existing vinyl doesn’t try to stick to it.

Feel free to make your own shirts like this with the vinyl cutter and heat press.  The shop may also have other uses for it, such as working on PCBs.

There’s also a wiki page for the heat press.

Who wants some shop-made shirts like this at the next event?  We can make it happen now!