Show & Tell at Hive 4A Recap

On Monday, January 17 AEDC hosted MakeLV's first Show & Tell event at the hackspace at Hive 4A, in the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center. Tinkerers and hobbyists from Pennsylvania and New Jersey came to the Lehigh Valley to network, talk about projects, exchange knowledge and eat pizza. 

The crowd included members of MakeLV, a group of Lehigh Valley hackers working on a wide variety of projects and the driving force behind the establishment of the hackspace at Hive 4A. Tyler Worman, of MakeLV, helped organize the event and maintains the MakeLV wiki. Also in attendance were Amy and Tony Buser of Berks CoLab, a Reading, PA group working toward the creation of a Berks County makerspace. 

Tony Buser gave a demonstration of his RepRap, a 3D printer that fits on a desktop. He made the machine himself, using parts that he made with a makerbot. RepRaps are self-replicating, so he has used the machine to make the parts that other users will need to build their own printers. Tony told a story about breaking a latch on his screen door, and going to his basement to recreate the part on the printer rather than needing to head to the hardware store.

Tyler gave a description of the difficulties of making 3D scans for 3D printing and showed off his homemade 3D scanner, cobbled together using an inexpensive laser and a PlayStation 3 camera. 

MakeLV will continue to strive toward a fully-productive hackspace at Hive 4A over the next few months. A collaborative work environment will allow MakeLV members to work together on projects using shared equipment and generate new ideas. MakeLV will hold a business meeting in the first week of February to discuss governance.

The next MakeLV Show & Tell at Hive 4A is in planning and should be announced shortly.