Julie and Carl of Scoops Ice Cream & Candies of Kenosha, approached new Makerspace member, Brandon Minga, with their project. They were given recommendations from other projects he’s done in the are including Mike’s Chicken & Donuts and the Modern Apothecary. Scoops was looking to enhance and draw more attention to their new location with a large exterior sign. Going through the concept and design process Minga quickly decided that the sign design was also going to become their new logo. Once the final design was rendered he quickly learned how to CNC a template to hand plasma trace the design out of sheet metal. The middle of the sign was also hand cut, roll bent and broke to match the bubbly ice cream cone shape. With a little help from friends a the Makerspace, he ground down welds and drilled 44 holes for the light bulbs. After all the holes were drilled Minga fit the sign with sockets, wired up the sockets and tested the electrical. Working with Prodigy Sign in Kenosha he also coordinated the hanging of the sign.

Any project starts with a sketch.

Nothing wrong with learning a little g-code.

 

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Took that g-code and used the handmade CNC router to cut out a template (note to self, don’t use OSB for plasma templates).

Traced template with hand plasma cutter.

Hand cut, roll bent, metal break and tack welded the bottom shell.

Hand cut and used the break to bend my own c-channel for the stabilizing guts of the sign.

A little help from my friends!

 

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A little custom install and wiring….and we have lights!

Can’t forget the paint! Primed inside and out, the sign got coated with some retro color.

Installation day was very windy, they called two crews in to stabilize the sign as they anchored it to the building.

This is a Mingadigm.com by Brandon Minga

This project was done at the Milwaukee Makerspace,  thank you, gang!

In the wee hours on Black Friday, we got the materials: 4 sheets of wood, 4 boxes of 100 count LED lights, and extension cords. After sketching out the design…

…and cutting out the letters…

…it was time to drill the 400 holes and hot glue all the lights in place.

It only took a weekend to make and hang these and I think the end result is well worth it.

One of our members, who I’ll refer to as a “Master of Metal” made this fully-functional sign for one of our doors. Never again will someone attempt to enter said door without knowing who (and what) lies on the other side.

And when I say this sign is “fully-functional” I mean it is fully-functional. Enough said.

Lock-out tags are used by factory workers to clearly identify broken or damaged equipment.  Milwaukee Makerspace is no exception.  A set of stop sign-shaped, 3″ wide, 3/16″ thick, red plastic tags have been created with the words “STOP – NEEDS REPAIR” in bold, white letters.  Tags are hanging over the first aid file cabinet by the light switches in the Workshop.  If you find a machine is out of service, please zip-tie a tag to the machine, preferably over its ON/OFF switch so people can easily spot it and refrain from using a potentially unsafe tool.

Besides all the purely informational signs, we’ve got some humorous signs, and a few signs that probably fit in both categories.

So here my friends, is a brief look at some of the signs of the Makerspace.

We have this special stuff at the space we call “Makerspace Filth” that, if unchecked, tries to infect everything. This is how we fight this menace.

We have numerous classifications for our projects… From “Somewhat Safe” to… well, maybe I shouldn’t talk about the other end of the scale!

Speaing of safe, here’s a good reminder. I actually nicked this one from the guys at Robots and Dinosaurs.

This makes sense right? Things you should not use the Test Equipment for include: hammer, boat anchor, blunt object, doorstop, spider flattener.

Occasionally one of your projects needs some privacy. (Especially if it has an escape hatch built into it.)

Yes, the Milwaukee Robotics Club meets here. Or at least we used to. (It’s been a while since we’ve had a meeting actually…)

Protect things like your eyes. And your signs. You might notice that even this sign about protecting your eyes is protected by a piece of plastic. Similar to how you might protect your eyes. #meta

Yes, we do have bathrooms! (Note: some of that “Makerspace Filth” we talked about may be located in the bathrooms.)

By the way… if you use the bathrooms, you might also want to use the wedge, so you don’t get locked out.

We also have some cameras around the place keeping an eye on everything. (Note: there are not cameras in the bathrooms.)

A gentle reminder to always add acid to water. I’m going to assume the other way around is probably a bad idea.

This one is on the laser cutter. Yes, we have a laser cutter. And yes, you can etch a mirror in the laser cutter without destroying yourself or the laser cutter.

Speaking of the laser cutter, we do vent the fumes, but we figured it was still a good idea to put this one along the path of the vent pipe.

I’m not sure we’ve ever had an implosion at the space, but if we do, we know the proper procedure for such an event.

Hmmm, looks like the maximum load had dropped a bit since the initial construction of the building. Those old floors ain’t what they used to be!

The Hack Rack sign has been upgraded since last year, and now includes the bit about taking something if you leave something—which is good—otherwise the Hack Rack would take over the entire space at some point.

I’m not even sure this one is a sign… I think it’s actually artwork contributed by a member’s daughter. Either way, it’s a great interpretation of our logo.

I hope you enjoyed the look at some of our signs! Let us know if you have any suggestions for future signs at the space!

In addition to the variety of projects that were being worked on last night, Shane and Brant rewired Chris H.’s “American Horseshoes” game cabinet and reconnected the speaker.  After a few rounds, we understand why it had been disconnected.  It’s definitely a bar game.  Regardless, it will make a great addition to the Workshop.

The “South Shore Frolics” formerly known as the “South Shore Water Frolics” is a Bay View institution. The current celebration of summer & joy starts on Saturday July 16th at 11:00 in the morning with a parade leading to South Shore Park, after which there is a festival and a variety of activities including fireworks for the remainder of the weekend. The Frolics is an event that I have participated in as long as I have been alive, and it is a very integral part of my summer. Of course I was thrilled when the Makerspace agreed that this was a worthwhile use of our time and talents.

Our goal for Milwaukee Makerspace’s representation in the parade is to produce some electric vehicles, ride some previously produced power wheels racers, as well as present a unique parade float. 

Thus far the main work was completed by Tom Gralewicz who re-powered the Makerspace’s “pots of gold” (two electric vehciles that have a parade heritage) with new motor controllers. Now that we have two functioning platforms, we of course wanted to turn one of them into an 8′ mechanized cylindrical sign. (that will resemble a beverage container) 

The build on that commenced last evening. Here are some photographs from the madness & joy:

Matt N. always measures twice and cuts once. 

I don’t know how many times these guys measured, but they always made the right cut!

Here the team cuts the circular bases that will anchor the piece. In the background, there is a serious discussion about logicstics…or something. 

Matt G. shows us the pride that comes with making.

Kevin B. tests out the fit and finish of the first circular support on the vehicle platform.

So far so good! I can’t wait to see how this comes together!

Come and see us at the South Shore Frolics Parade!
Saturday July 16th, 2011
Parade starts at KK & Lincoln at 11:00am
Joy will be had by all!
If you consider yourself a Milwaukee Maker, you are welcome to walk the parade rout with us & represent making in Milwaukee!