Milwaukee Makerspace

Hi there everybody!  It’s your friendly neighborhood laser champion here to tell you about some amazing things that have happened in the laser lab in the last few months!

We were so pleased with the Xtool F1 Ultra that we purchased back in 2024, that we decided last summer to try out their diode laser, the S1 40W diode and 2W Infrared combo.  Boy, were we ever surprised!  That little laser has been extremely popular for its ease of use and versatility.  Our members, and especially our newer…

Recently, I (Anna K) gave a presentation to the board of directors to start a group buy to purchase an Xtool P3 CO2 laser to begin replacement of our 3 ULS lasers: Left Shark, Katy Perry, and Right Shark

At this juncture of the Milwaukee Makerspace, it is in our best interest to replace these three lasers.  The oldest of these three was made in 1996 – when I was in the 4th grade.  We have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to keep these lasers operational over the years.

Each…

The Casting Area is running another Iron Pour.

This Event will be open to participants, Members and Non-Members.

Please contact Dave directly if you are a Visiting Artist/Non-member and need studio time to make your own artist mold. All non-members must sign the “Iron Casting Waiver” to participate.

Studio Time must be scheduled in advance. If you plan on bringing a mold or making a mold, all weights must be estimated and metal must be broken by said attendee. If you are unable to…

Come to Argren Fair in Riverwest on Bremen and Locust.

We are bringing one of our Crucible Furnaces and Pouring Artist Tiles, and a few other sand molds.

Artist tile workshops are at Black Husky Brewing 

Sunday, Aug. 24th, 1pm-3pm
Sunday, Aug. 31th, 1pm-3pm
Saturday, Sept. 6th, 1pm-3pm
Day of Event (at Garden Park) Till 4 pm

Did you get skipped over in our recent mailing of the Member Guide booklet? In the bulk mailing process, the Post Office rejected the snail mail addresses for about 50 makers, and you’d know if you’re one of the 50 because, well, you didn’t get the booklet in the mail. And because you received an email on April 12 explaining this. 

First Small Engine Repair Meetup Recap
Resurrecting a Snow Blower, Just in Time for Easter

Just in time for Easter, a group of gearheads—and aspiring gearheads—gathered for our very first Small Engine Repair meetup with one shared mission: see if we could bring Mike T’s snow blower back from the dead. (Spoiler alert: we did!)

We kicked off the night with introductions and a discussion of everyone’s previous experience, as well as what they hoped to learn from the meetups. It was…

Some of you may have noticed this little dohicky on the planer in the Lenox woodshop and wondered what it is.
It is a Digital Read Out (DRO). Conceptually a DRO very similar to the digital calipers that many of us use, this one just happens to be mounted permanently to the machine. DROs have long been used the machining world as that type of work is far more precise as wood moves and metal does not. What we do have a need for is repeatability. Now, if you need to plane one more board down to…

When the Milwaukee Makerspace was new, we relied on donations and hand-me-downs for a lot of our equipment.  In 2015, member Tom Gondek lent us a ULS V460 laser that he had used for one project.  That project happened to be cutting PVC!  It was his laser, so he can do what he wants with it.  So when we received the laser, it was pretty corroded.  We ended up buying this laser off of him after it caught fire.  Very surprisingly, this did not make the V-460 inoperable.  It chugged away through a…

Rick Michaels has produced another Neon project.  In this project he wanted to accent major shapes of the Titanic to make it more than just a poster.

Some details:
Red gas-> Neon (Ne)
Blue gas -> Argon+Mercury (ArHg)
Glass: 10mm clear tubing, 10mm 6500 Snow White coated tubing, 8MM clear gold tubing

The water accent is clear glass filled with ArHg and the boot stripe (bottom stripe on a boat) is filled with Ne.

Starting with the poster, Rick sketched out his ideas with the assistance of…

The Casting Area is running another Iron Pour.

This Event will be open to participants, Members and Non-Members.

Please contact Dave directly if you are a Visiting Artist/Non-member and need studio time to make your own artist mold. All non-members must sign the “Iron Casting Waiver” to participate.

Studio Time is to be scheduled in advance. If you plan on bringing a mold or making a mold all weights must be estimated and metal must be broken by said attendee. If you are unable to break iron…