 As promised, here’s a tasting menu featuring some of my favorite metallurgical content from our archives, arranged as usual, in mysteriously-appealing (and entirely arbitrary) top-ten format. Narrowing it down to just ten involved some hard choices; this subject is rich, and we’ve covered it a lot. A second round-up, perhaps at the close of the month, may be in order. In the meantime, I’ve got a lot of cool stuff on my to-blog list, and it’s growing fast as your suggestions roll in. Thanks to everyone who’s already chimed in, and please do keep ‘em coming. Metals month, though abbreviated, is shaping up to be a good one.
#10 
Solid Copper Rescue Tool
#9 
Showing Off Aluminum’s Natural Reactivity with Gallium Alloy
#8  Mercury “Beating Heart” Works With Gallium, Too
#7  Gallium Spoon Makes for Fun Teatime Prank
#6 
New Alloy Becomes Magnetic on Heating
#5 
Argentium Silver
#4 
Single Crystal Superalloys
#3  How-To: Work with Shape-Memory Alloy
#2 
9 Volt Battery and Coca-Cola Titanium Anodizer
#1 
Metals That Can Be Molded Like Plastics Filed under: Chemistry, Earth Science, Metalworking         
 
The times they are a-changin’. Companies selling electronics to makers, hobbyists, and professionals will also need to teach and inspire. Selling the bits just isn’t enough. This week’s Soapbox is all about the growing trend of hardware makers becoming online educational destinations in addition to simply supplying product. Good information is a form of advertising, and good information is what modern-day hardware companies will need to provide to compete for attention and sales. If you’re a maker or company considering launching a product, you’ll need to create great documentation. And if you’re a customer, you’ll make your purchase decision on who has the best tutorials and support — costs always counts too : ). Here’s a look at hardware companies that have learning resources right now as part of their offerings, and what’s ahead.
Below are just some of the many hardware makers with their own educational resources. Some are further along their way to being an educational resource, others are strictly product documentation. In alphabetical order: 
Adafruit has a tutorial section, and they’re currently in beta for learn.adafruit.com. (Disclosure: I work at Adafruit.)
Arduino’s tutorial page has dozens and dozens of tutorials for core functions. Arduino also has a great foundations page as well as a hacking page.
Digi XBee’s examples.digi.com: Ever since Rob Faludi joined Digi they’ve released a Tumblr and a learning site, along with Matt Richardson of MAKE, who’s also creating examples. It’s a great resource.
DIY Drones, ArduCopter, and ArduPlane at code.google.com.
Evil Mad Scientist (EMSL) has some of the best documentation online for their kits. They’ve even created comic-book style instructions. Check out theirwiki and example.
iFixit: Besides the zero-day teardown photos, iFixit provides complete guides on fixing tons of Apple products (and anything else). And of course, they sell the tools you need to take apart, repair, and replace many things. They also created a documentation system called Dozuki that powers Make: Projects.
littleBits has a community site with lessons, classes, and projects.
SparkFun has a tutorials section and a new learn.sparkfun.com site with upcoming tutorials.
Sparkle Labs’ learn.sparklelabs.com is a resource from one of my favorite maker companies. The site has Arduino lessons and more.
Make: Projects is the place where you can get MAKE’s documentation for many kits in the Maker Shed as well as access tons of projects from issues of MAKE and from the wider MAKE community. Built on iFixit’s Dozuki platform. (Disclosure: I work for MAKE.)
MakerBot’s gigantic wiki hosts instruction manuals and docs. Their documentation site is here.
Parallax’s learn.parllax.com is what I consider the gold standard for documentation. I think anyone who makes hardware for the hobbyist market has to admire the skill and care that go into the Parallax documentation. (Check it out — it’s massive).
Wayne and Layne is a new-ish company on the maker scene, and they came out swinging. I really like their kits, and the documentation Wayne and Layne provide (Blinky!).
An interesting trend worth noting is the word “learn” in the URLs of some of the companies: learn.adafruit.com, learn.sparkfun.com, learn.sparklelabs.com, learn.parallax.com. In the future, we may all instinctively look for the “learn” in front of the company URL. Google has “code,” so maybe learn is the next one we’ll see lots of. Not listed above but worth mentioning: Bildr and Instructables. I wanted to include both of these – they do not sell hardware to customers (yet), but they’re excellent resources. Many companies have used Instructables for their how-tos. Just for makers? S/He with the best tutorials wins. This isn’t anything new — we’ve partially lost our repair culture, but not the desire to learn. New technology is coming along so fast that the companies that can teach, train, and empower their customers are the ones that are going to thrive. Sell crummy stuff that breaks, have a customer once — teach them, spend time with them, empower them — keep that customer for life. If you’re a camera maker or a phone maker and can teach someone all of your features, they’re less likely to purchase a different brand later. It’s a huge ordeal to completely learn a new OS or hundreds of settings on a device. The cheap and fast sale is always easy, but how can you help the users and allow them to maximize all the features you put in your product and share their knowledge and recommendations with other? Tutorials, videos, great documentation, public forums, GitHub repos with code you’ve developed for customers. While you’re at it, blog about how you make things, and create videos on a regular basis to share your expertise. This isn’t just the maker ecosystem. Over 10 years ago when I worked at a creative firm that helped companies with their business problems in the retail/tech arena, we pitched to both Sony and Nikon the idea of having the best camera site online for learning how to use a camera (related, one of them said “no one will ever share their photos online!”). Both camera makers had (and still have) the same problem: most customers do not know most of the features, the instructional manuals are awful, churn is high. This is a problem for anyone selling hardware. RadioShack had a company slogan — “You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers” — it was a good start. I’d like to see them bring that back, but Apple has the Genius Bar that’s packed each day from open to close. It’s a tough race. As Google and Microsoft become hardware makers on their own (besides working with partners), they’ll need to figure all this out too. The maker movement, in my opinion, is always more nimble and ahead of big companies, so that’s why I think we’re seeing the smart companies doing a lot of documentation and training as part of their offerings. In fact, since many of us do open source hardware, the best documentation will matter the most. The physical bits, not as much, as some of it becomes a commodity (think $20 Arduino-compatibles, etc). One of the biggest companies in the world, Ikea, is built on providing instructions. I wanted this article to serve as a snapshot we’ll look back at later and see what’s changed, what new players have arrived, and which ones have retired. So there you go: I think we’ll see companies doing more documentation, more videos, and more teaching — not only to help their customers, but to stay competitive. Now it’s your turn — post up your comments about the companies and sites you use to learn! Feel free to include ones I’ve mentioned too! (Adafruit, Arduino, Digi’s XBee, Evil Mad Scientist, iFixit, Instructables, littleBits, SparkFun, Sparkle Labs, Make: Projects, MakerBot, Parallax, Wayne and Layne). Filed under: Education         
 
My obsession with CNC machines began a few years ago with my first Arduino shield – The Adafruit Motor Shield. After assembling the kit, my first real soldering project, I was amazed by the ease and precision with which stepper motors could be controlled. With a bit of free time on my hands, I spent a week or so searching out disparate parts to cobble together a haphazard single axis motor and control system. Watching my crude platform creep back and forth along a wobbly threaded rod was absurdly satisfying and I knew building a full CNC machine was in my future.
Free time quickly succumbed to work and left my CNC aspirations simmering on the back burner. During late night browsing I would scour Instructables and MAKE for CNC projects, filing away bits of information. My original intent was to build a machine of my own design from scratch, but I quickly realized the complexities were beyond my abilities at the time. I began to research CNC kits and was inspired by Edward Ford's Shapeoko Kickstarter project. Despite being reluctant to invest in the initial wooden version, I was very excited to see Shapeoko evolve into a substantial machine of metal and aluminum with the help of Makerslide, another Kickstarter project. Sometime after I came across Shapeoko and immediately placed an order for a Mechanical Kit, the barebones machine without electronics. I spent the next month sourcing various components, some of which I already had, and reading the extensive Shapeoko build wiki and user forum in advance of receiving my kit. Upon arrival, my first impression was of the professional packaging and meticulously labeled bags of parts. Enclosed was a Thank You letter from Edward and a well organized bill of materials. I was very pleased to find the pieces were of high quality, especially considering the low price. A few days later, armed with the Shapeoko build wiki on my laptop and only seven tools, I started the build. The comprehensive instructions, photos, videos and user forum made the process surprisingly easy. The pieces went together very smoothly—the most complex steps were using a rotary tool to grind away paint in holes on the metal end plates and tapping the Makerslide. I have to say, I was a bit leery of tapping the pieces by hand, but the instructional video on the wiki inspired confidence and my 14 tapped holes turned out perfectly. 
There were a few sections in the instructions which were a bit unclear, mainly the description of the X and Y belt attachment. However the active Shapeoko forum offered a variety of solutions, from zip ties to custom "L" brackets. I opted to create a mounting solution of my own, admittedly, not as elegant as the "L" brackets, but definitely very functional. 
For my initial electronics build, I decided to go simple and temporarily mount the components on a scrap piece of wood. I used recycled Ham Radio cables and coupled them with quick release connectors to the stepper motors. My goal was to get things functional and eventually use the Shakeoko to build a proper enclosure to house the electronics. The Shapeoko is controlled via Grbl, an open source CNC milling controller that runs on an Arduino. After downloading it's very easy to upload the Grbl hex file via the Arduino IDE. Once flashed, your Arduino is now a Grbl controller ready to interpret GCode and drive your machine. The 3 axes grblShield from Synthetos simplifies connecting the stepper motors and 24 volt power supply. New grblShields are available with a special Z Axis Mod specifically for the Shapeoko – Grbl and the grblShield provide parameters for setting a feed rate for the X, Y and Z motors, but are designed for machines with constant settings across all axes. Shapeoko uses a combination of belts for the X and Y axes and threaded rod for the Z axis. The modification requires cutting a trace on the grblShield and soldering a jumper to the ground to enable a different rate for the Z axis. The documentation makes the 10 minute process quite easy for those who already have the board, such as myself. 
With the electronics and Grbl controller together, I sourced the recommended software for communicating with the controller. Originally starting on the Mac, I opted to use a PC laptop running Illustrator, CamBam and Universal-G-Code-Sender. The combination of software allows me to export vector artwork as DXF files, convert to GCode via CamBam, and send GCode to Grbl from Universal-G-Code-Sender. Universal-G-Code-Sender also allows you to manually send GCode to your machine. The excitement of my original single axis build was easily multiplied by three as I performed a series of tests to understand how GCode works and to calibrate my Shapeoko. Upon seeing the smooth movements of each axis I knew I had come a long way from where I started. The user forum made the process easy with the vast amount of information, including a calculator to help perfect the Grbl settings. 
Once everything seemed to function properly, I proudly ran the provided "Hello World" GCode to print the Shapeoko logo on paper with a marker. My first attempt ran well, but printed the logo in reverse. After some quick Y axis tweaks, thanks to the settings calculator, I printed off a picture perfect Shapeoko logo! 
Impressed by the quality and precision of the output, I quickly created a DXF file in Illustrator with my newborn son's name, converted it with CamBam and output it with the Shapeoko. There was excitement throughout the house when his name, drawn via CNC, was hung on the fridge. One of the great things about Shapeoko, and use of Makerslide, is compatibility with parts found at the average hardware store. Picking up a variety of extra metal plates, M5 hex bolts, nuts and washers definitely helped as I built a simple pen holder to advance my pen and paper tests. With paper tests complete I swapped my pen holder with an inexpensive rotary tool. My initial cuts were a bit sloppy, but after some adjustments to the Shapeoko and rotary tool, cutting precision increased tremendously. It took some time to noodle with and adjust the feed rates and depth settings in CamBam, but I'm proud that within a few days of my build I am cutting clean pieces from quarter inch plywood with 1/64" accuracy. 
While I've yet to build my electronics enclosure, I purchased additional Makerslide to expand the machine's cutting area and have been researching sturdier spindle options. I believe with the right combination of spindle and endmills the Shapeoko will have the ability to etch copper clad boards to create functional PCBs. With an Open Source Universal 3D Printer Extruder on the way from another Kickstarter project and an upgrade to the Synthetos TinyG 6 axes controller, I foresee modifying my Shapeoko for a variety of uses. The ability to modify the open hardware design and extendable platform is what excited me most about Shapeoko. I could have certainly purchased an off-the-shelf CNC machine, or even a complete kit, but I wanted to experience the learning process of working with the electronics and—with the support of an active user forum—tweaking and customizing the machine. I must say Edward Ford has done a tremendous job creating Shapeoko and driving a very active community around it. I believe the machine is an ideal platform for anyone interested in CNC who is eager to learn first-hand through build and experimentation. I've learned a tremendous amount in a very short time and having a well designed stable platform from which to build has made the process accessible and with great reward. I look forward to continue learning and creating many projects with my Shapeoko. Filed under: CNC, Toolbox         
 
Yesterday HTINK opened the doors to a brand new pop-up makerspace for kids: The NYC Makery. As a group of makers and educators who are passionate about spreading the joy of making, we have been itching to open a makerspace for kids for the past few years. Finding an affordable space in New York City has proven to be our biggest hurdle. So a few months ago we decided to start with a pop-up model as a way to begin sooner, build a community, and figure out what works, and what doesn’t, in a makerspace for kids. Our hope is that through setting up a series of temporary makerspaces and holding making workshops in different communities all around New York City, we will learn through an iterative process and discover the best practices for setting up a makerspace geared especially towards young people. Eventually we want to find a permanent home for The Makery, but until we do, look for us to pop-up in various spaces all around New York City. The Makery is open: August 13 – 27, 2012
The Invisible Dog Art Center
51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY We will have a free evening Open House on Thursday Aug 16th, 4-8PM. Learn more or register at http://www.nycmakery.com\ Photo credit: John Des Roches Filed under: Classes, Kids         
 
Around the world there is a network of hackerspaces that explore, hack and create new ways of expressing themselves with technology. Hackerspaces that by some are seen as a threat to our digital society. What is it that drives these people? What are their purpose and their reasons for what they do? How do they live their lives? These are some of the questions we will seek to answer with this movie as we meet hackers and visit their hackerspaces. We need your help to realize the production of this full-featured documentary film about the hacker culture. When technology is taking over our lives the battle over free digital communication will be one of the defining struggles of our time. This film will explore this conflict by talking to the people that are in it.
If you want to help out, the creators are starting an indiegogo campaign to help pay for visits to hackerspaces on five continents. Filed under: Crowdfunding, Hackerspaces, Video Making         
 
As you can tell by the title, I’m a little over a month late in writing this one-year retrospective, so I guess I’d better get started. Back in June of 2011, I was fortunate enough to be put in contact with Dale Dougherty through a friend of a friend. I sent him a brief letter applying for an internship at MAKE magazine, and on June 15, I came in for an interview. I should explain that I’d never applied for a job of any kind before, and I was a little nervous, so my normally silver tongue let me down quite badly during the actual interview. But when I first walked into the lab, all was well. I was asked by one of the interns, Tyler Moskowite, to help troubleshoot a project that was bothering him: the Yellow Drum Machine (MAKE Volume 27.) I was able to figure out that two of the wires were switched, and with that corrected, the little robot worked. And that was that. I started on July 5. But I was by no means in the clear; I’d previously been strictly a software guy, so I had a lot to learn. My first major assignment was the testing of the Giant Bubble Machine (MAKE Volume 28). This was my introduction to Arduino, circuit boards, and MAKE’s editorial process, all in one. I accidentally ordered surface-mount components instead of through-hole ones. Due to my poor planning, several steps needed to be undone for photo shoots. I struggled to get the circuit right, and then I struggled some more with the actual machine. The project was very nearly a disaster, but thanks to the support and patience of Zvika Markfeld, the author, I got everything running smoothly a couple of days before we went to press. To this day, the Bubble Machine is my favorite project. It’s been dismantled now, but the circuit board is still intact, and the sawhorse I used as the frame is still painted red. Since then, I’ve helped test more than seventeen major projects across five issues of the magazine. Almost none of them have worked right the first time. This does not reflect badly on our authors; a second builder is absolutely necessary in order to insure that the project can be built using nothing but the article as a guide. Only one of these projects has had to be outright canceled, and that was after I’d already gotten it working. Over the last 1.093 years, my horizons have truly been broadened beyond the world of bits and bytes and into the world of atoms. I’ve gotten pretty good with a soldering iron. I can use a table saw without hurting myself. But most importantly, as I troubleshoot a project– usually without a working example handy– I’ve had to start employing my own creativity to fill in gaps in the design. I’ve learned to be not just a technician, but an inventor as well. That’s a lot to learn in 1.093 years, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I think the biggest lesson here is that the truly interesting jobs are the ones you aren’t qualified for at first. As long as you can pick up new skills quickly, you can qualify yourself for almost any job in the world. Filed under: Intern's Corner         
 
The fourth annual RI Mini Maker Faire happened this past Saturday: a great mix of makers (robots, crafts, music, art, design, electronics, beer), a great space, and a great day came together to give us the best RI Mini Maker Faire yet. Here are the ingredients that made it work: Big thanks to AS220 for inviting us to be a part of their annual block party. We appreciate all the support, including the periodic shout-outs from the music stage and the listing of our makers in the event program (we were adding makers up to the last minute, so you’ll need to go online for the complete list). Thanks goes out to Neal Walsh for coordinating everything on the AS220 end. AS220 brought thousands of people out that day, giving us a huge crowd. The fact that it was hot outside and we had AC meant we had a lot of people come through! Thanks also to Trinity Rep for their use of the excellent Pell Chafee Performance Center, and all their support with getting the space set up, understanding what we could do in the space, and letting us do all kinds of stuff. Thanks goes out to Meg O’Neil, Trinity’s Production Manager who worked with us all day to keep the event safe and fun. The Pell Chafee Performance Center is a great wide open space, and it was a real treat to work in it. Smoothest setup and load out we’ve ever had at a RI Mini Maker Faire. And we never blew a circuit breaker! (Most important, we never set off their laser-based smoke detection system that lurks right above the lighting grid). Of course, putting on an event costs money, and thanks goes out to our sponsors and Kickstarter backers. This is the third time we’ve done a Kickstarter for the RI Mini Maker Faire, and it’s the third time it’s provided the major funding for the event. This also allowed us to not add an extra charge to attend (RI Mini Maker Faire was included in the ticket for the block party). And we wouldn’t be anywhere without the volunteers and makers who made this event come to life—thank you all! We haven’t yet set a date for next year, but we have some pictures for you from Saturday’s 2012 faire: If you have any photos or videos, please share them in the comments! Filed under: Maker Faire         
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