It is with sadness that I report that Warren Bumgarner has died. Warren was a Charter Member of FCW, joining within the first week of organization.
Warren had an MS in Industrial Arts from Appalachian State and taught Machine Shop at CCC&TI, then at WPCC. He was proficient in both manual and CNC machining, expert at MasterCAM, and was valuable in the Machining area at FCW. Handy with many things, Warren also helped with the wiring and wall construction at the previous space,
Electric Chair at Haunted HouseI
Santa at Christmas Open House
and was one of the few that Gene trusted with running the railroad. He enjoyed the events, operating the “electric chair” at our first Haunted House and being Santa at two December Open Houses — including the blue screen pictures.
Warren was from Granite Falls and had two children, Brandon and Ashley. After re-marriage, he moved to Mt. Ulla, NC. After the FCW fire in 2017, Warren traveled back to Granite Falls for our weekly meetings for 4 months to help with the rebuilding.
Diagnosed with a genetic condition, Warren had a double lung transplant in early 2024. He was recovering well from that until getting a DVT early 2025. He died at Duke University Medical Center on February 15. Even though not currently active in FCW, he regularly asked for updated on everyone. He will be missed.
FCW will have an Introduction to RC Aircraft class on Thursday, November 21 starting at 6PM. Topics include: getting started, types of RC aircraft ( planes, helicopters, quad/hex copters, drones), rules and regulations and use of simulators. This would be an excellent class for anyone considering getting a drone or aircraft for Christmas, or anyone just wanting more information. The instructors are Larry and Alan. For more information, call Larry at (301) 793-8135, This class is Free and Open to the Public.
FCW will host an Introduction to 3D Printing class on October 24, 2024 from 6 to 9 PM. This is primarily for those new to 3D printing or are just interested. Topics include: basic concepts, preparing a model for printing, printing the model, selecting a printer, finding models, and types of filament. The printers in use will be Prusa i3 MK3 +.
Due to limited printers (10) we wish to restrict the number of groups to 10 (a family will count as a group). If there is need, we will schedule an additional session in the near future. Please contact geenathegeek@gmail.com or ljfaraci@yahoo.com to hold a spot.
Note: We will have a future session on creating your own model.
FCW was fortunate for the first eleven years of existence in that we had no major injuries or deaths in our membership. Unfortunately, that changed in 2023. Over the past months we lost four of our members to death, all due to health problems. What follows is a brief tribute to them.
Gene Chase
Eugene (Gene) Chase
Gene was in the first group of members to join after the four founders and became a Charter Member. Originally from New Jersey, Gene attended RCA Institute in New York, then the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, finishing with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics. He then had a career with Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ as an expert in Electrostatic Discharge. While there, Gene worked with or knew many famous names in the industry including Shockley, Richie, Kernigan, and others.
Gene joined FCW in 2011 and brought with him the HO gauge railroad that he had been working on for 40 years. He was our railroad guru and had many “Easter Eggs”, many humorous, in the layout. He was also an avid woodworker and electronics
Gene showing ESD at Burlington Makerfaire
hobbyist. Gene went to many shows and Makerfaires, demonstrating electrostatics, and showing dioramas that he built. He had a wonderful, dry sense of humor.
Gene was recently in poor health, having had a battle with Covid, pneumonia, and a heart attack. He passed while at a nursing home near a daughter in VA.
The future of the railroad is unknown at this time.
Kay Brady
Kay Brady joined FCW in 2013 and went right to work. She was a former contractor and carpenter and an avid woodworker. At the original space, Kay built walls in the Science and Stagecraft
Kay building the central wall
areas and did considerable plumbing. She assisted in woodworking classes, built multiple cabinets in Science, Canteen, and Library, and worked many shows and Makerfaires.
After the fire, Kay scoured Realty papers and found the current building just after it was listed. She was on the moving crews, bringing the equipment from Charlotte, Davidson, and local areas. Kay built the center walls in the main and rear areas on the upper floor and a large portion of the railroad room on the lower floor.
Kay had multiple health problems, including seizures, diabetes, and multiple heart attacks. She was found dead in her home from natural causes.
Rich Goldner
Rich Goldner
Rich Golder was one of the founding members of FCW, along with Colin, Michelle, and Dan. The organizational meeting took place at Rich’s house in August of 2011 with six potential members, of which the founding four put in money and became Charter Members. Each loaned equipment to FCW to get the shops going. Rich’s contribution was the original machine shop, including a metal lathe, and a Mill that he had converted to CNC. Rich hunted around and found our original site at the Shuford facility and negotiated a good lease price. He served as president of FCW for several years, and spent more years on the board of directors.
Rich with CNC router demo
Rich was formerly a programmer with IBM and built custom CNC devices after retirement. He contributed many funds to FCW, allowing the purchase of the Full Spectrum Laser cutter at the old space and the CNC router at the current space.
In recent years, Rich had multiple strokes. He died at a nursing home in early June.
Rick Martinson
Rick Martinson
Rick Martinson was a professional woodworker. Brought to FCW by Ross, Rick organized the woodshop, taught classes in woodworking and woodturning, and built several of the cabinets in the woodshop along with many personal projects. He fell in love with the laser cutter and made numerous wood etchings.
Lasercut etching
Rocker-Cradle built by Rick
Rick had been battling multiple cancers off and on for the past five years, and recently had a heart attack, passing in early July.
Each of these contributed to FCW in his own way. They will be greatly missed.
FCW will be offering an Introduction to 3D Printing class/workshop on Thursday, November 17 from 6-9PM. Topics include: types of 3d printers, sources for models, operation of the printers, possible problems, using the slicer software, and things to look for or avoid when purchasing a 3d printer.
FCW has 10 3d printer workstations so the attendance is limited to 10 (unless willing to share a printer). Additional dates will be scheduled handle any overflow.
To reserve a spot, send email to classes@foothillscommunityworkshop.org with contact info, number of persons attending and if your group is willing to share printers.
Location is at FCW: 141 N. Main St., Granite Falls, NC. Parking is at the rear of the building and is accessible from Summit St.
Like many other organizations, FCW scaled back operations during the Covid pandemic. Classes and meetings were paused, but the space was still available for members to work on projects.
Colin (the younger)
One of our members, Colin M., used the time to build a 17 ft. strip canoe. Colin is a recent graduate in Mechanical Engineering and works as a designer for a local furniture company. He is also good at machining, welding, and is our CNC router guru.
Stand Pattern
Using plans that were purchased, Colin set up a work area in our outbuilding and located the appropriate
Completed Stand
wood. He used the CNC router initially to make a custom stand for the canoe. Using the FCW woodshop, the strips were cut and hand fitted into place, then glued. The shell was
Starting on the shell
assembled, sanded, covered with fiberglass, then finished. Colin then made seats and a pair of oars.
The initial trip was over Mother’s Day weekend, and except for a few scratches was successful. Colin sent a picture of the completed canoe to the seller of the plans and was sent a set of plans for a kayak for free — so the next project is starting.
August of 2021 marks the 10th year of existence of FCW and 4th year after the fire.
Open House and Ribbon Cutting Dec. 15, 2017
FCW will be having an OPEN HOUSE for 3 days to observe the dates.
The OPEN HOUSE Dates are as follows:
Friday, August 13 from 4-9PM
Saturday, August 14 from 12 Noon -8PM
Sunday, August 15 from 2-6PM
There will be food, activities, and tours of the space. Also, there will be demonstrations of 3d Printing, laser cutting, wood turning, Ham Radio, Electronics/robotics, Science and others.
Here are links to png and pdf versions of the poster. The poster is designed to be cut in two in order to make two half posters.
UPDATE: Classes continue for the Summer. Intro to Arduinos will continue on July 15 and August 5 and 19. Like Unix will be on July 22 and August 26 (Note no meeting on August 12).
NEW Class: Since July has 5 Thursdays, FCW will have an Intro to 3D printing session on July 29 from 6-9PM. This session will introduce 3d printing, using the printers, and sources of models. A future class will be on design. This class is free and open to the public.
Check the resources link for the specific class to see if any materials are needed for the virtual version.
We are using Google Meet for the virtual portions. The link information is below. Be sure to check back before the session to see if the link has changed.
FCW is pleased to announce that classes/training/workshops will resume this month. We are starting off with an Intro to Arduinos class on Thursday, March 18. This will meet at 7PM for 2 hours on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month and will cover the hardware, programming, and applications of the Arduino microcontroller. A description is here. It is an “in person” class.
On the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month the Like Unix sessions will resume. It will meet at 7PM for 90 minutes and cover topics for Unix and unix like systems including Minux, Linux, BSD, IRIX, Solaris, AIX, and Mac-Os (shell). This will be an “in person” and virtual class,
We are still practicing social distancing so the limits are 10, for now. Both classes are free and open to the public. For more info contact info@foothillscommunityworkshop.org.
FCW was recently donated a vertical plastic injection molding
Gluco VS25 Plastic Injection Molder
machine. The Gluco VS 25 will handle molds about 8×8 inches and several plastic and rubber materials. The machine is wired for 460V but can be reconfigured for 230V. Getting power to it will take some time since it is behind several other projects. After that, FCW should be able to make molds, then plastic parts.
Oscar and Brad modify the Gluco VS25
Thanks to Brad, Oscar, and Colin M. for unloading the machine and getting it inside. It was taller than the door so had to be partially disassembled. It was working well when taken out of service and appears to be in good shape.