Swindon Makerspace

High on the list of world changing, Nobel prize winning inventions that nobody has heard of is the phase contrast microscope. This microscope uses some tricks that exploit changes in refractive index within a sample, allowing you to see details of cells that you generally can’t see without staining. The problem with staining cells is that it kills whatever you apply it to. Phase contrast microscopy made it possible to observe processes in living cells and improved our understanding of cell…

By Matt, Aidan, Derek, Jess & James

Tools at the Makerspace used:
MIG welder
Planer
Band saw
Mitre saw
Laser cutter
Soldering iron
various handheld tools

Concept and design

Each year the South Swindon Parish Council hosts a light trail at night though the Old Town Gardens. It’s a fun event where you get to walk though the gardens at night viewing different light installations from disco balls to multi-coloured arches and more. Back in the middle of September we approached the council with the…

Thanks to the lovely people at Elegoo, we now have a resin printer for the members to use. After much reading up on how to handle resin (which is toxic so you shouldn’t get it on your skin), we designed a process to use it, and taught some members.

One of the first was Matt, who videoed the process for us:

We were generously sent an Elegoo Mars 2 Pro printer, a curing station and a bottle of water washable resin.

Stats:
Made by: Matt
Status: Finished
Tools used: Dremel, Soldering Iron

Introduction:

So this was a project that I always had in reserve if I didn’t have many other projects. So when the world shut down I decided to give this a go. The aim was to grab an old portable boombox from the 90s and breathe new life into it by replacing most of the internal electronics and adding new features. It was initially going to be a small project with just Bluetooth, rechargeable battery and amp but…

• Made by: Joe
• Status: Finished
• Tools used: Horizontal bandsaw, angle grinder, MIG welder.

A rocket stove is a stove that uses small diameter wood as fuel, and burns incredibly efficiently without smoke. Primarily used in India and Sub-Saharan Africa due to the reduction in wood required, they also make great stoves for camping, or for burning garden waste.

My dad had some scrap steel tube, and as a gardener has an endless supply of twigs, sticks and small branches to get rid of. After…

• Made By: Steve
• Status: Finished
• Tools used: 3-in-1 lathe, 16mm reamer, Arbour Press

I have a Honda Grom and like any good motorcyclist I take pride in modifying my bike. This modification involves replacing the standard steel swingarm with a Tyga aluminium over braced item. This is a straight swap however I wasn’t happy with the new arm as it had like the OEM arm rubber bushing at the pivot instead of roller bearings that I would expect.

Bought replacement Swingarm

The…

• Made by: Joe
• Status: Finished
• Tools used: Thicknesser/planer, table saw, vertical bandsaw, mitre saw, electric planer, belt sander, electric drill.

I’ve been keeping my toiletries in a plastic basket that I got at university, despite the fact the basket was way too small and things kept falling through the bottom. After having made a large treasure chest to keep my sheets and blankets in, I decided to take a second attempt at treasure chests and make a smaller, better…

• Made by: Jess
• Status: Finished
• Tools used: Mitre Saw, Powered Screwdriver, Trepanning Tool (new!), Polyurethane spray varnish

My old dog is getting a bit unsteady, and often ends up sitting on her food and water bowls. The existing tray (which I added legs to a while ago) has gotten all soggy, and lost its bordering edge, so the water bowl ends up all over the floor.

The replacement needed to be more waterproof, taller, and keep the bowls in place, even when lent or sat…

Part of our makerspace access system involves an Arduino and an ESP8266. Mostly it works just fine, but every now and again the Arudino seems to lock up and stop working. Various attempts have been made to stop this happening, but so far to no avail. Leaving a laptop connected to the Arduino’s serial port for debugging wasn’t happening because it happens quite infrequently and no-one had a spare laptop to leave lying around.

Enter the OpenLog! You can buy OpenLog boards for just over £10 (less…