If you haven’t heard by now, yes it’s true, I’m Dr. Amy now.  And one of the very first things I realized as Dr. Amy is life is rough when you abruptly lose access to a fab lab.  It reminds me a little of when I don’t have access to anything electrically powered (from Internet to a calculator) but I’m trying to build something I’ve never done before with a bit of a time limit.  Just when I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and wondering how on earth I’m going to buy myself a laser cutter and waterjet, this story comes out of Afghanistan.

Sabir Shah (left), from the dicey province of Ghazni in Afghanistan, with his homemade microlight. Photograph: Jon Boone for the Guardian

This 25 year old Hazara (one of the ethnic minorities in Afghanistan) who didn’t get the chance to go to college, constructed and flew a microlight with instructions from the Internet and scavenged parts from rickshaws and old cars.

Like, wow, right?  I go weak in the knees when I hear about stuff like this.   Read the entire article at The Guardian.  I commiserated and smiled at his description of the multiple trial-and-error attempts at various parts, and even his honest description of the flights being less “elation” and more “abject terror”.   Then Shah says,

“My father never supported me,” he said. “They asked why I was wasting all this money and not getting a job.”

 

How many of you have heard this from people around you?  (I’ll bet FabFi Keith’s mom probably just murmured “when are you going to get a real job” in her sleep.)  How anxious do you get sometimes, how much self-doubt creeps in before you’re vindicated with a few minutes of abject terror, I mean, self-satisfaction.  What happens to your self-confidence when the accolades and recognition don’t come?

My agony is thinking about all the people who have the courage and curiosity to tackle big dreams that can really change things, but who are beat down by successive hurdles of resources and support.  I’ll never forget the day I saw the once bright eyes of our first Ghanian fablabbers after a few years of working as entry-level laborers in the kokompe, the mechanical / spare parts / machining shops region of a city.  It was both happy to visit with them after a few years and incredibly sad when they asked “is this all there is for us? Why did you tease us and teach us those things with the computers.”  Is this also the fate of Sabir Shah, to go from actually building and flying a plane (a whole plane!) then take a job as a baker because that’s the only real option?

Fab Lab Shopbots have the high speed spindle and over the years I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the parts that come with it and how to replace them.

Here's the spindle kit from Shopbot.

The important components (that you might have damaged or lost) are,

collet nut MSC#81733131 $43.26

collet wrench (toothed) MSC#87683470 $47.90

chuck wrench (flat) MSC#09693987 $27.45

collet for 1/4-inch shank bits MSC#00156885 $25.14

collet for 1/8-inch shank bits MSC#79690376 $25.90

These parts are available from a variety of sources (see also Grainger, Enco, and even Amazon). Use the part numbers from MSC as a starting point.  Shopbot will also sell you replacements.

There are many more collet sizes available, but the most fab lab uses only require 1/8″ or 1/4″ inch diameter shanks. Because this series clamps down as much as 1mm, you can also hold metric bits with these, or entirely replace your collets with metric. The key parameter is “ER-25 series” collets and accessories.

If you got here because your collet or nut have been damaged, be sure to check out Shopbot Bill’s video on properly installing the collet into the nut (before threading the assembly on to the spindle).  Thanks Bill!

These are the tiniest zip ties I’ve found. 0.070″ width. They come in black and white, outdoor and indoor.

Made by Panduit, available from Digikey part number:

298-1038-ND (black outdoor)
298-1037-ND (black indoor)
298-1016-ND (white outdoor)
298-1017-ND (white indoor)

Industry term for these are “cable tie” or “wire tie”.

It’s only the end of the second day?! The running temperature of my brain seems more like the result of four packed days. We cover so much ground and get a little opportunity to apply it to our own projects, but by and large there’s a lot of homework to be done.

Funny thing, it “feels like” I have several big problem sets due but I haven’t started them yet, and I really need to get to the dorm study room.

But instead tonight we went bowling.

I associate bowling with pizza and beer, but Pop!Tech has a different idea in mind.

So it’s the first day of our pre-conference work and to get to know each other we did a “take a page” exercise where you draw on a big piece of paper “who you are” and then present the drawing others in small groups. Parallel processing the “want to be heard” desire. Neat.

AZ had a particularly appreciated welcome for this collection of “weirdos”. I suppose most of us suspect we don’t rate to be here. Which is usually true elsewheres, but (apparently) not here, not with this specific group. I’ll have to trust him for now since it’ll take a few days to get to know everyone.

Also, can you believe how awesome the room is? If it stops raining apparently instead of solid gray we’ll see a spectacular view of the ocean and islands.

Arrived in the wee wee hours in Camden Maine for the Pop!Tech conference. It’s rainy outside so the “view” is solid gray, but judging from the inside of my cabin it’s going to be an utterly gorgeous place.

Once it stops raining.

MakerFaire Africa is this week in Cairo, Egypt! Sadly, I can’t go. (No end to how getting a PhD is not fun!)

I was lucky enough to go last year, when it was held on the same campus as the Nairobi Fab Lab. From MakerFaire Africa 2010 (Nairobi, Kenya):

The Fab Lab, adorably explained by two “nice ladies”.

Maker: Fab Lab from Butterfly Works on Vimeo.

Solar powered automatic water pump prototype made in Fab Lab.

Maker: Paul & Fab Lab from Butterfly Works on Vimeo.

Andy Bardagjy remade the FabISP to plug directly into a USB port without the need of a connector.

The FabFi5 test bed is finally coming along nicely. I’m delinquent with the complete report from Lima (I have it “mostly” done!) but wanted to tease you with what we (I mean Keith, Tom, and Antoine) have been up to since returning to our respective homes.

You know you're jealous the space above your desk is probably just "ceiling".

If you build a testbed workbench, geeks will come. With their laptops.

This is node 1. It's not pretty, and has Nano M5-locos sprouting out like warts. It connects back to the headnode, server, etc. (You know, the world.)

Nodes 2 and 3.

Ssssh, nodes sleeping.

Yes, we’re looking for help. Lots of it.

First step – join the Facebook FabFi group, and/or the Google Group also named FabFi. Or, show up on our doorstep. Laptop optional.

More upcoming fun in the middle of USA!

Grand Opening – Fab Lab Tulsa – Sept 13, 2011

We will dedicate our 3600 sq.ft. Fab Lab and recognize our current funders and supporters.

–
Matt Norris, PE | Board President
Fab Lab Tulsa, Inc. | mobile 00 1 918 346 8591
Tulsa, OK USA

www.fablabtulsa.com
Facebook:  Fab Lab Tulsa | Twitter:  @fablabtulsa

See also “ Tulsa developing fabricated labratory open to all“.