Fab Lab Workday 10/28/2023

Attendees:

• Dave Miller
• Steve Saner
• Gemma Blackburn
• Brad Cozine

Laser cutters

There’s a clipboard with routine maintenance log sheets by the laser cutters, but the log hasn’t been followed in a while. Plan to discuss getting back on a schedule for maintenance at the next area meeting. Dave has been cleaning the lenses and doing some tasks as needed. It’s been a while since the beds were cleaned (using the purple stuff to soak and degrease the beds). Need a day with nice weather to clean outside. Larry Meeks had mentioned the coolant needed flushed (drain and fill chillers with distilled water). Currently have 4 gallons of distilled water on hand.

Would be helpful to have a description of each maintenance task with instructions.

Talked about encouraging people to use the calendar to reserve laser time again and promoting that. Also, check to see how well the calendar is working and if people are struggling to use it.

Someone is needed to teach the rotary tool class. Dave would share how to use it, and Steve Saner plans to teach the class.

3D Printers

There are several older printers currently not working. We discussed a priority list for possibly fixing them. Both the Ultimaker (for two color capabilities) and Ender5 (for larger plate) were considered. Paul C. had been working on the Ultimaker and made some notes - no success yet.

The Prusas are popular with members, are easy to use, and don’t require much maintenance. They are often all in use at once. Discussed the possibility of selling/auctioning some of the extra printers to help pay for additional Prusas.

Dave’s dry erase info cards by the Prusas, where members can leave their contact info, are working out well.

The money collected from the payment jar isn’t covering the cost of the filament being used. Discussed raising the price (FYI: the Wichita Public Library is charging 10¢ per gram). Also discussed putting a sign on the wall behind the printers reminding people to pay.

Little Blue Mill

The mill is working. Not sure if the final home of the mill will be Fab Lab or Metalshop. There is a concern about aluminum chips spreading around Fab Lab.

Vinyl Cutter

Vinyl cutter is now working. Steve S. offered to teach classes.

Vacuum Former

The machine should work, but we didn’t try it. Gemma will get some thermo plastic to try it out at a later meeting. Did locate some information about this specific vacuum former (Nicols Model 10-B Therm-O-Vac) and a YouTube video - would be good to add to the wiki.

Discussed modifying the frame so smaller pieces of plastic could be used to be less wasteful. The frame is 14” x 20” and currently requires material at least that size.

Storage / Work Areas

Could use a sign on the wall with the wifi credentials - something members often request.

There is a large stack of member-owned filament in FabLab that is getting a bit out of control. Discussed better storage options for this and possibly encouraging members to rent a locker to store their belongings.

Dave has been looking into installing racks for people to store their (marked and dated) material for the laser cutter, and the idea of turning the closet area into material storage.

Do we need more desks for project work? Discussed putting a desk/chairs by the south wall - would have to be near a wall for access to power. Currently that area has several CNC machines, some that are not functional. Some are member owned, but no one is sure about ownership of the Fireball mill. There are also totes full of old components and random junk by that wall, including the old guts from the little blue mill. CAD group could sort through these totes and suggest what to keep and what to discard.