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Maker Space World Tour: i3 Detroit

I3Detroit

Jan and I were in Ferndale today grabbing tickets for Theatre Bizarre so we stopped into i3 Detroit for a quick tour. We’d seen their work at the last couple Detroit Maker Faires, and Jan and I both took seminars from a member at Up in the Aether. i3 Detroit is a member-run community workspace with reasonable monthly rates, classes, and regularly scheduled meetings. We’d meant to check out their space for awhile, and this was our chance.

A team was busy packing up for Burning Man but they graciously gave us the grand tour anyway. (Wanna tour yourself? Consider scheduling one by emailing: contact@i3detroit.com) Like any maker space, i3 Detroit packs an impressive collection of gear inside their unassuming facade but what struck me about i3 Detroit was the unpretentious, down and dirty quality of their equipment. Sure they had the usual wonders like a couple 150W laser engraver/cutters, a metal lathe, a small collection of 3-D printers, a stack of welding gear, a honking big Shop Safe table saw, etc but members had also cobbled together a linux-based plasma cutter, a home-rolled vacu-form machine and there were also a couple industrial strength injection molding devices, a cone 6 ceramic kiln and a Bridgeport milling unit, y’know, sitting around, just chilling. Their craft area had devices that quite literally, I had no idea what they did — which excited me to no end. The electronics room is tidy, well-stocked and meticulously organized. i3 Detroit is indeed a wonderland for those with busy hands and wild imaginations.

flammableThe biggest delight in any makerspace, for me anyway, are the bits of projects either abandoned or in process. Jan’s favorite at i3Detroit were the “bunk couches,” a nifty arrangement of 2x4s, plywood and ingenuity, that allowed comfortable seating with minimal floorspace: i.e. stacked loveseats. I kinda dug their signage, obviously cut with the vinyl cutter on premises. The signs for the bathroom, showing a stick figure in obvious bodily distress were amusing but the flammable storage sign really caught my eye. A starship assembled from autoparts, I think, hung from the ceiling and heck, even the bin where aluminum scrap was collected told the tale of many ultra-cool endeavors.

i3 Detroit has recently been recognized by RedBull as evidenced by a fridge well stocked with the stuff as well as the 40 W laser they received as prize. I’m a fairly experienced maker and I was pretty impressed by the low-key variety of stuff and tools available at i3Detroit. If you’re based in the Detroit area and don’t have access to the means to produce your wildest dreams, check out i3 Detroit.

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Friday Photo: “Anemone”

anemone

I often joke that if I can’t eat it, I don’t know how to grow it. To a great extent, that’s true but there is one part of the 20MinuteGarden that we’ve devoted to flowers, specifically perennials. It gets a fair amount of sun… and the smallest share of our attention since it’s on the south side of our house. The greatest part of perennials is that once they get established, they often benefit from dividing. What’s so great about that? Dividing an over grown perennial helps it grow better (I think–see that previous comment I started with) and you’ve got something to give away or trade with other gardeners. We’ve acquired most of our perennial flowers through this gift economy and one of the loveliest is the Anemone. Nope, not the one that lives under the sea. These pink blooms are about the size of a half dollar and they pop up every August. The other benefit to tucking these flowers away from the “working” part of the garden is that these blossoms always seem surprises.

Posted in • Growing.

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Dewberries on the vine!

Ripening Dewberries

Ripening Dewberries

We visited our good friend Mark a couple weekend ago, and he showed us the wondrous berries ripening in the yard. If I got the story correct, his partner Bruce transplanted the berries from a family member’s yard, and the berries have now become well-established in their backyard garden.

Jim and I were not previously familiar with these brambles, which are dewberries or wild blackberries, but we eagerly sampled them. They were large and juicy and very tasty!

Mark has been saving up the ripe berries (for the most part) in the freezer, and I plan to reward him with a special home-made dewberry pie. I’ll be doing research to come up with a couple of recipes to compare and perfect!

Posted in • Growing.


A Black Raspberry Bed to be proud of

Raspberry Bed, Pruned and Mulched

After a thorough pruning, weeding, and mulching, our black raspberry bed is looking very fine.

It certainly wasn’t a speedy or instantaneous transformation but was indeed worth the efforts.

We’re working on a Pruning Tutorial that will take the sting out of growing great raspberries.

Meanwhile, check out the Raspberry Archive for more posts about how to care for and make the most of raspberries.

Posted in • Growing.


9 Things I Learned/Relearned at the 2013 Detroit Maker Faire

Maker Faire

Jim and I attended the Detroit Maker Faire at The Henry Ford last weekend. We got off to an early start on a cloudy summer day and headed to Dearborn to check out the displays and talk with lots of people about the cool ideas and projects that they are involved with. I learned some new things, and I was reminded of concepts I’ve encountered at previous Maker Faires and in life in general.

1. The Henry Ford/ Greenfield Village is an American treasure.
I love this place, even though it’s part of the town where I grew up so I could be a little meh about it when I was a kid. The Henry Ford itself is a well-oiled machine that knows how to host a special event as well as run a huge museum.

2. Overcast days are enjoyable.
There’s been a lot of complaints about the weather this year, but I enjoyed walking around the parking lot based displays without the sun overheating us.

3. Mousetrap is still nifty.
The life-sized Mousetrap game took a lot longer to set up than it did to run– just like regular Mousetrap– but the bang of the 2-ton safe landing on the car was still a thrill.

4. Soldering is cool.
Above is the 3rd blinking pin I’ve soldered at Maker settings. Pretty neat!

elephant
5. Fire is elegant.
The Flying Elephant mobile made by Thirsty Beach Landscaping was beautiful. Jim and I chatted with one of the creators and marveled at the design. The elephant body is built off a golf cart base and not surprisingly it went to Burning Man. The flying canopy and the flame shooter are both nice touches.

6. Change is hard.
We missed a few booths and groups that we enjoyed in the past, like Theatre Bizarre and the Utilikilt booth and the leather hat people. In fact, there was a distinct lack of steampunk altogether which was something we missed.

7. Sharing is good.
We talked to someone about 1000tools.com. It’s a neat idea for web-based tool sharing community.

8. Hunger is the best pickle. (Ben Franklin)
If you walk by food stands for a couple hours and find yourself very hungry, whatever you order will taste delicious.

9. Friendly people are great.
Talking with people about the projects they’ve created is inspiring. Seeing what others have invented, made or hacked makes you want to go home and do it yourself. It was a great day for learning and relearning from the makers who share their ideas and projects at Maker Faire.

Posted in • Making.