All posts by gms

Areas, FCW

Parts is Parts is Parts ….

FCW has been fortunate to have been donated thousands of parts to the Electronics shop.  Things start off with the Parts Wall,

Parts Wall

containing parts donated by Hackerspace Charlotte, Dallas Makerspace and FCW members. There is a similar one in the Arts & Crafts area containing hardware and mechanical parts

Parts carousels

That was later followed by a huge donation from UTC.  Three cabinet carousels contain chips, transistors, connectors, relays, and numerous other parts, including a lot of Surface Mount components.  These are still being sorted and it will take a while to complete.

 

Electronics Parts Cabinet

Electrical Cabinet

UTC also donated an electronics parts cabinet with resistors, capacitors, relays and switches, and an electrical parts cabinet containing conduit fittings, boxes, breakers, outlets, plugs and sockets, and tools.  All of these are available for projects, repair, and general learning.

 

Uncategorized

Meetings Resume Sat. May 9

With the lifting of the NC stay at home order on May 8, FCW will resume physical meetings at 3PM on Saturday, May 9, with restrictions.

As suggested by the Nation of Makers group, there will be limits on the number of people in each area to allow social distancing, and there will be no loaning or sharing of PPE.  Classroom activities will also be limited.  Visitors are welcome to attend any time that someone is in the building.  Regular meeting times are Saturdays 3-5PM and Tuesdays 7-9PM.

Events, FCW, Workshops/classes

Physical Meetings Cancelled — Covid 19

In order to help prevent the spread of the Covid 19 virus. All Physical meetings of FCW are cancelled until further notice.  This includes the regular Tuesday and Saturday meetings; the GDG and Like Unix groups; and any classes/workshops.

Members may still work on projects on an individual basis as long as social distancing is practiced.

Provisions are being made for Virtual meetings.  Additional information will be forthcoming.

Construction, FCW

More Machine Shop

Programmable Heat Treating Furnace

Here are two additional items donated by Corning.  The first is a programmable Heat Treating Furnace.  Along with the Hardness Tester, previously donated to the Science Area, this gives FCW a start on manipulating hardness of steel fabrications.

The second item is a RAM EDM.  For those not familiar with Electrical Discharge Machining, this machine literally burns holes in metal using electrodes.  It is possible to create blind holes of odd shapes, or even create threaded holes in stainless steel.

Both units need some cleaning and wiring.  We have the materials, so it is just a matter of time (hopefully short) before they are on-line.  Again, many thanks to Corning for the donation.

FCW

Welcome the Mills

Many thanks to Corning for donating two Tree CNC mills to FCW.  Kudos to Brad, Oscar, and Kay for the unloading and positioning.  They need a little TLC and power but should be up and running soon.

(BTW- The one on the left may make Star Trek fans a little nervous)

FCW

How Dry I Am!

A recent donation included this industrial drying cabinet.  It is proving valuable to create low humidity storage for 3d printer filament, welding rods, and anything that the Science Center may need.

After running for 20 minutes, it had dropped the internal Relative Humidity (RH) from 59% to 15%.  After one day, it seems to be holding at 6% RH.

Events, FCW, hamradio, Workshops/classes

Ham Radio Tech Class – Jan 2020 – VE exams Feb 1

FCW will be hosting an Amateur Radio (Ham) entry level Techician Class in January 2020.  This class will prepare participants to take the Technician exam, which will be offered at the end of the class.

 The  sessions will concentrate on the more difficult portions of the exam.  The instructor is Gary Schwartz

Class #1 Sat Jan 11, 9:30-12

Class#2 Sat Jan 18, 9:30-12

Class#3 Sat Jan 25,  9:30-12

Exam: Sat Feb 1, 10 AM

The sessions will be held at FoothillsCommunity Workshop, 141North Main Street, GraniteFalls, NC 28630

The class and all materials are free and will be available online for downloading.  This class is open to the public.

The exam fee is $10. The exam is at all levels and is available to anyone wishing to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio license.

For more information, contact michelle@foothillscommunityworkshop.org or call 828-754-5002

 

Events, FCW

Open House, Dec 7 and 8

Open House and Ribbon Cutting Dec. 15, 2017

FCW will host an Open House on Friday, Dec. 7 from 4-9PM and Saturday, Dec 8 from 10AM-6PM.  Although visitors are welcome at FCW anytime someone is at the space; at the Open House there will be

  • Food
  • Tours of the areas
  • Demonstrations
  • Activities

Much has been done since the previous open house.  Demos in Arts & Crafts will include the 3d printers, laser cutters, and CNC mill.  The Electronics area will be showing Arduinos, propeller and Raspberry Pis.  The Ham Radio station, K4FCW will be operating, and (with any luck) the railroad will be operational.

Primary parking is in the rear.  This event is free and open to the public.

Events, FCW, hamradio

Ham Radio Field Day

On Saturday, June 23 starting at 2PM through Sunday, June 24 at 2PM, FCW’s Amateur Radio station, K4FCW will participate in Field Day.

Sponsored by the ARRL, Field Day is set up as a contest to make contacts all across the US and Canada.  It allows Hams to set up portable/emergency equipment for practice and provides an opportunity to introduce Ham Radio to new people.

K4FCW will be operating  to introduce persons to Ham Radio.  If you are a Ham, or interested in Ham Radio, come by (it is a 24 hour event), and “get your feet wet” on long distance radio communications.  Our antenna system is still being rebuilt, since the fire, but we will be operating.

Contact Michelle, kd4ytu at michelle@foothillscommunityworkshop.org or (828) 754-5002 for more details.

This event is free and open to the public.

Events, FCW, hamradio

Grand re-Opening/Open House

Open House and Ribbon Cutting Dec. 15, 2017

It has been a long journey since the fire on July 21 last year,  but FCW has, for the most part, recovered nicely.  On “Star Wars Day”, Friday May 4, from 4-9PM and Saturday, May 5 from 9AM-6PM. FCW will be having an Open House celebrating the re-Opening of several areas for usability.    The areas ready for use are:

Electronics – includes electrical, analog and digital electronics, microprocessors, robotics, computers, networks, automation, PLCs, soldering, and Internet of Things.

Arts & Crafts – includes the former stagecraft and fabrication areas: model shop (wood, metal, plastic and glass), sewing, laser cutting, 3d printing, sets, props, costumes, special effects, lighting, sound, video, animation, and VR.

K4FCW- the Amateur Radio station.

Classroom – set up for 20 participants.

Computers/robotics/gaming – includes general computing and all kinds of games.

Computer Museum – various vintage computers.

Lounge – a place to relax.

Woodshop – includes woodturning, woodworking, construction, and CNC routing.

As usual, with the Open Houses, there will be food, tours, demos and activities.  One special activity this time is a retro-gaming which includes vintage computer games, console games, and arcade games.

The address is 141 N. Main St, Granite Falls, phone 828-212-0930.  This event is free and open to the public.