There is no doubt that 2020 was a garbage fire of disappointment, and I confess to not having update this page throughout, well, most of it. But that doesn’t mean I was idle — far from it. This year saw some great projects and some big changes that, I hope, will mean more fun community making in the new year. So here, in no particular order, are the best projects of 2020.
Continue reading The Best Projects of 2020
COVID-19: Make Solutions
Update 2020-04-03: We were featured on the Etobicoke Lakeshore Press podcast. Click here to listen to the episode on YouTube (also available on Apple Podcasts).
The COVID-19 virus started to affect us directly on the evening of Wednesday, March 11th as I was heading to bed. I realized that I should probably stock up with enough food and supplies for at least a week. By the end of the next day we had started self-isolation as encouraged by the City of Toronto. Over the next few days I started to see notices on social media about how makers could respond to the health care crisis. Then the notices became requests for help. So I signed up New Toronto Makeshore to a couple of lists. There were a few emails in response to an international list, but the list that made the next step more viable was with Community Make, a variant of the Toronto Maker Festival. Once connected with them I had a group to coordinate with and a place to drop off whatever I could make.
Continue reading COVID-19: Make Solutions
Future of Making Unconference — De-Camp and Decompression
The Future of Making Unconference (https://www.futureofmaking.com/) in Toronto, Canada ran on February 1 and 2, 2020 attracted over 200 attendees from Toronto and southern Ontario, with one participant coming all the way from Montreal to share the love! Hosted by the gracious and welcoming Ontario Science Center and organized by the good folks at Maker Festival Toronto (http://makerfestival.ca/) , the two days generated discussion, reflection, and anticipation for all things Making-related in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and surrounding cities.
Continue reading Future of Making Unconference — De-Camp and Decompression
We Got A Glowforge
After about a year of trial and error, it’s time to post about our most recent tool, the Glowforge laser printer.
The wait to get one was long – years. The record-setting 2015 crowdsourced fundraising was a smashing success, and I jumped on with a pledge for a Glowforge plus. Months of waiting became years of waiting. Delay followed delay.
I eventually gave up hope that I would actually see my order. It seemed that despite Canada being a major trading partner with the United States, shipping here was a stretch too far.
And then one day while I just happened to be working at home, a knock came upon the door. At long, long last the Glowforge had arrived.
Big Little Free Library
This post is coming a bit late, but it’s still worth sharing because this one is the biggest little free library we’ve made.
The one request from the client was to make it large enough to handle all sorts of books from the neighbourhood.
So this one was designed with more volume inside and we added some skylights to improve light inside the library.
The view from inside…
The walls were made of 3/16″ plywood reinforced with frames that could support the assembly.
Here’s all the raw wood used for this project. The plywood had a bow to it so had to be relaxed before actually assembling the sides.
Everything was clamped together and trued-up before fastening with brads and screws.
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The roof needed some supports to confirm the pitch as the glue dried. A few jerry-rigged braces made it easier to set everything.
Strapping on the roof was necessary to support the shingles and to help cover up the skylights–especially important to ensure rain and snow would drip off and not in.
The mounting posts needed to be doubled as well in order to make sure that the library wouldn’t fall over.
Probably should have braced the footings together as they were driven into the ground. This would have kept the posts plum to each other; it’s hard to re-position stakes once set. Of course, a concrete pad with footings would also work but this project didn’t need to be quite that permanent.
We Made a Skateboard
Here’s the latest project: a little skateboard for our youngest maker.
This project was built using a kit from Roarockit. It is a pretty straight-forward vacuum sealed bag pressing veneer onto a Styrofoam mold. But the kit sure makes it easier to put together.
We started with a bunch of laminated pieces of mahogany, which were all part of the kit. We took the laminates and glued them together on top of a Styrofoam form and then vacuum sealed them in an air-tight press.
We started with three layers first, then another two layers, and finally the last two layers.
Once everything was glued up and we had a solid deck we had to sculpt the edges with a rasp. After creating a consistent edge we started sanding the deck down. First we used 60 grit, then 120, 220, 350.
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The paint was chosen by our littlest maker who decided that the deck should be blue. He also decided to decorate it with the wonderful Santa Cruz Screaming Hand drawn by the fantastic Jim Phillips. We made a stencil using a cutter and carefully applied it to the deck before adding the finish. (Apologies to the artist as not all the detail transferred in this image.)
Then we used polyurethane as a finish and sanded down 6 or 7 coats using using 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit to give it a nice, smooth finish.
We hustled on down to Longboard Living in Kensington Market to get some help with the trucks, wheels, and hardware and they hooked us right up.
We applied the grip tape, drilled the pilot holes, and mounted the trucks and wheels.
Managed to get a road pizza on the first tour around the block, but nothing worthwhile comes without a little sacrifice.
More Little Free Libraries
A while ago a friend asked for a new little free library as a gift for his parents. I was happy to have the chance to create a new design and even happier to make another book box for someone’s front yard.
This model uses some slightly different materials from previous ones I’ve done. Specifically I used much thinner plywood (1/4” rather than 1/2”) and so as a result had to create thicker joints to help it all stay together. To do this I used 1×2 pine strapping and wood glue to frame the sides and top.
Clamps are awesome. You never really can have too many clamps. Had I been more clever I would have used some sacrificial blanks between the 1/2” strapping and the clamp face; it is possible to sand out clamp impressions, but it’s even easier to avoid them.
Some quarter-round helped create an inside joint to work with. These were glued on first, then reinforced with brads and penny-weight nails.
The front is a joined frame with plexiglass for a window. This picture shows glueing the front up and using the weight of the library to keep the joints flush. You can see the strap clamp ready to cinch the frame tight underneath the library.
The hinges were counter-sunk to ensure a flush fit of the door.
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Hinges are are aligned and fitted to the front door before any pilot holes are drilled. It’s easy to line up and place the hinges before the door is attached, although it’s always a great idea to measure twice and cut once.
Check out the shop dog.
A bit of cedar shingling and an outside edge finish off the roof. Copper nails help fasten the shingles to the roof. It’s ok if they buckle with wear, but they should still stay attached.
The plexiglass is screwed into the frame to secure it. It’s important to pre-drill pilot holes and to use pan-head screws when attaching the plexiglass. Otherwise the plastic will crack and break. The protective brown paper can be removed by the new owner upon delivery. Once everything is painted to preference, it’s easy to re-attach the plexiglass (because it’s designed to be removed when painting) and then apply a small bead of caulking to the outside if rain becomes an issue.
Finally, a small collar is fitted onto the bottom and centred on the base to ensure proper weighting and balance; it’s interior dimensions accept a standard 4×4 post.
If you are new to making or building, remember that it’s always easier to build to what is seen. Mistakes will almost always happen, and there are lots of creative ways to hide them as long as the finished product is plumb and justified.
Toolbox Kits for Free
We built these little toolbox kits (mentioned previously here) as a way to carry project supplies that are more than you can carry in two hands but less than a honkin’ big toolbox.
The idea is simple, really: take a standard 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood and some doweling and make a simple device that carries well and holds a decent amount of tools.
The main feature of this design is the angled side. This works with the slightly off-centre handle to tilt the toolbox so that it rests alongside your leg without bumping into it. Even full (and it still has a pretty good capacity) it won’t bump into the backs of your knees and it is super easy to carry up and down stairs.
We also built kits–unmade toolboxes–that are an easy-to-accomplish project for anyone looking for a wee bit of a challenge.
The kit is easy to put together with some clamps and a drill. No glue is needed, and assembly takes about half an hour. The trick here is to make sure that all the cuts are flush and true. This will make the assembly way easier and will also give you square corners. Therefore, it is a good idea to use a table saw, chop saw, and/or hand-held circular saw–with fence or guide–when cutting the stock. It’s also a great idea to use a drillbit exactly the same size as the dowel you intend to use for the handle so it is easy to snug-fit in place until you fasten it. You can use 2″ and 1 1/2″ #8 screws for the body and 1″ #10 screws to secure the handles. 2″ Brads and a compressed-air nail gun work well too.
Here’s a simple how-to:
- Start with a flat surface; a level workbench is better than the floor because you will need to do some drilling. Insert the dowel into the two holes in the end pieces and place the three now-assembled pieces on the flat surface. The carrying bar should be at the top.
- Place the bottom piece (the biggest one) flat between the two end pieces and make sure all the corners are flush.
- Clamp the pieces together / down as best you can so nothing moves.
- Drill pilot holes from the sides into the bottom taking great care to drill flush and level. Drive the screws into the bottom from the pilot holes you created on the sides to secure the sides to the bottom.
- Repeat this for the back and sides, using clamps to make sure the corners stay flush. You can also drive a few screws from the bottom into the front and back pieces to make extra sure if you like. Totally optional.
- Clamp the sides to be flush with the carry handle (the dowel you inserted in step 1) and drive small pilot holes from the side into the dowel. This will secure the handle in place. You probably want to use smaller screws and a smaller diameter pilot hole.
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That’s it. You should have a toolbox.
But there’s one more thing.
We built these toolboxes and kits to give away. The idea is that if you can give someone something to build, then that’s more than just giving them a gift; it’s a gift that has the potential to create a maker, or at the very least to give someone new to making a chance to be successful.
You should try it too–build something you can give, and something you can give away. Let us know if you do and we’ll share your story here.
Fidgets
It’s been a while since the last post, but we’ve still been busy with a few projects (which will get updates here soon!).
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3D Printed iPad Stand
A friend of ours lost his trusty stand for an iPad that’s a few years old. Since it’s a bit out of date there aren’t many replacement stands in the stores, we took a look at Thingiverse to see if we could find anything to work with.
Thanks to a brilliant Clip Stand design by Walter Hsaio we made a quick modification to increase the width by 20% and that seemed to be enough for an iPad.
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We also managed to print some in glow in the dark filament so that they’re easier to find in dim morning or evening light.
We also learned that a wee dab of glue from a glue gun helps the stand hold fast to the device; more grippy, less slippy. Just put a slight line of glue on the inside of the “C” that clips the stand to the device. A small dab along other edges might improve stability and durability.