How did you first find Milwaukee Makerspace?

I first heard about the Milwaukee Makerspace from a poster that was displayed at American Science and Surplus. I was a regular haunt at the store so I often saw the sign hanging there. At some point I found out about the first open house when the ‘Space was at Chase Avenue location. It was a great and interesting time. It was the first time I had seen a Power Wheels race. My interest was definitely piqued, but for some reason I didn’t pursue joining at the time. The next time I attended, was after the move to Logan avenue, unfortunately.  I didn’t read the webpage close enough and I tried to return to the Chase location only to find locked gates. Thank goodness for Smart Phones! I got to the meeting late but still in time to get a tour.

Why did you decide to join?

At my first visit to the Logan Avenue building, I decided that I couldn’t afford not to. I really wanted to join and started waffling about it. I thought I would go home tell the wife about it and then hem and haw and return an see about joining in the future, and that’s when I figured I should just join and quit agonizing over something I was going to do anyway.

What do you do at Milwaukee Makerspace?

I guess I should start off by saying I’m the area champion of the Jewelry Area. I’m working on getting a proper workspace for Jewelry construction going. Everything from simple processes to brazing, lost wax casting, hydraulic forming and more. Currently we are expanding the area to include Watchmaking. Aside from Jewelry, I use the Laser Cutter a lot for various projects, something I hadn’t foreseen as an interest in when I joined. I do a little Blacksmithing on the forge. I spend a bit of time on building tools to use to make jewelry.

What would you like to tell others about Milwaukee Makerspace?

Just come down to one of our Tuesday night meetings to check things out and Welcome to Wonderland!

What do you plan to work on in the next few weeks?

I am finishing work on a twenty ton hydraulic press for jewelry forming. I have an ongoing project to finish a magnetic finishing machine. I am working with a number of people at the ‘Space who are going to be building Daleks from the Doctor Who series.