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Alabama now allows gay marriage. There will be a big event next week, February 9-13th, at the court house square here in Huntsville to celebrate this. The organizers of this event are asking for people to donate their services, i.e. catering, photography, music, and so on.

Several members of the shop will be using the usual knitting session time this Saturday to make flowers for this event. We will be starting around 2pm at the shop. Some materials that can be used are origami, paper, clay, laser cut, knit, crochet, fabric, etc. If you can make it or want to lend a hand or just drop off materials, please come to Makers Local 256 starting at 2 pm this Saturday, February 7th.

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Tomorrow (Saturday, January 31, 2015), Brian Pappas and Tyler Crumpton will be teaching a class on how to build an RC quadcopter from off-the-shelf components. A few sets of parts have been purchased by some individuals, and we’ll be assembling those while going over how the machines work and operate.

The quadcopters can carry small action cameras like the GoPro for recording some pretty amazing aerial footage! The class starts at 1PM and there is no cost to attend. For more information on the class or the parts used in the builds, check out the wiki page for the event.

Here’s a teaser video of the quadcopter we’ll be building (slight differences):

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The hutch in its final resting place.
The hutch in its final resting place.

A while back, I discovered I needed more shelving and counter top space in my kitchen, so I decided to build what you see to the right. The hutch is made of “natural”-stained red oak sanded to 600 grit with 4-5 layers of polyurethane depending on the piece. The counter top is made of manufactured granite which is really just polished concrete. The wood structure is held together with dowels and wood glue.
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A while back, I decided I’d had enough of the 3+ USB-attached hard drives I had connected to my primary desktop at home and that it was time I consolidated my digital storage capabilities into one, easily accessible location. It was time for a dedicated network attached storage (NAS) box. Naturally, I figured I’d use mostly parts I already had available and throw one together myself. I’m pretty utilitarian, so this ended up being the epitome of “beige box”. The only things I ended up purchasing for this project are the drives, drive cage, handles, clasps, and some #6-32×3/4″ screws to hold the drive cage and power supply in place. Everything else was something I already had, a donation from someone who wasn’t using an item and never planned to, or scrap material.

Here’s a shot of the NAS as ready to be used:

NAS-closed-thumb

Here’s another shot of it opened up and ready for swapping things around:

NAS-open-thumb

As you can see above, one side of it is still completely empty. In the unused side, there is space for at least two more four-drive cages just like the one I already have installed. Filling out those two spots would give me space for 12 drives total which would require a SATA or RAID card since the board itself can only handle five internal drives.

This ended up taking far longer than it really should have and I swear I will never attempt to make 45 degree edge cuts on MDF ever again without the proper tools being setup the correct way and only when absolutely necessary.

Case Materials:

  • Scrap 1/2″ MDF
  • 4 brass door hinges
  • 10 angle brackets
  • 2 handles
  • Plenty of Titebond wood glue
  • 2 chest latches
  • 6 #6-32×3/4″ screws (drive cage/power supply)
  • 8 #8 bolts/nuts/washers (handles)
  • 16 M6 bolts/nuts/washers (hinge mounting)
  • 20 M5 bolts/nuts/washers (panel-panel attachment)
  • 12 zip ties (motherboard)

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Inspired by Crashcart‘s use of Adafruit badges on the Makers Local 256 project wiki, Omegix rises to the challenge of sewing some of the Adafruit patches represented on his wiki page onto his Makers Local Hoodie.

The goal was to have the hoodie be like a boy scout’s merit sash, something wearable around the shop to proudly display hobbies, and help be a conversation starter with new members looking expand their skillsets.

Not sure if I’ve really earned a sewing patch yet, but after some lessons from Enabrintain, Gregabyte, and SqueakyKittie, I can now make the sharp thing go up and down on the electric thread contraption.  At least enough to attach a patch 🙂

For effortless attainment of a Makers Local Hoodie, you can purchase one here: http://makerslocal.spreadshirt.com/

Alternatively, Makers Local 256 will soon be getting a hot press, and you can have an opportunity to make one of your own design 🙂

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