New Hampshire is known for its “Yankee ingenuity, ” a place where generations have worked the land, manufactured goods and come up with creative solutions for reusing and repurposing materials. That spirit of making is alive today, and the Dover Mini Maker Faire is the place to find it. A hands-on festival for all ages, Maker Faire celebrates the thriving resourcefulness, innovation, creativity and forward-thinking technology that can be found in New Hampshire today.
On Saturday, August 23
rd, The Dover Mini Maker Faire will take over downtown Dover, with four locations: upper and lower Henry Law Park, The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, and One Washington Mill. Maker Faire attendees will be able to experience everything from quad-copter launches to porcelain doll painting … 3-D printing to vertical gardening … driving an underwater submersible to learning how to tie flies … making a paper circuit pin to finding out how to make Star Wars character costumes, and much more.
Over 50 makers and groups of makers will be on-hand hosting interactive demos, hands-on projects, small talks and workshops designed to inspire and educate attendees between the ages of 3 and 93 as to a sampling of “making” that is happening in New Hampshire businesses, schools & universities, organizations, and garage workbenches throughout the state and beyond. From engineering and product design, to arts, crafts, technology and homesteading, Maker Faire is the place to be inspired and connect with your inner maker!
2014 marks the 2
nd annual Dover Mini Maker Faire. The first Maker Faire was hosted in the Bay Area of California in 2006 as a place for makers to show what they made and share what they learned. In 2013, 100 independently-produced Mini (one day events) and Featured (2 or more day events) occurred around the World. In fact, this year’s Dover Mini Maker Faire is scheduled on the weekend between Sydney, Australia’s and Trondheim, Norway’s Faires. A licensed event through Maker Media, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is the host and coordinator of the state’s only Maker Faire at this time.
In early 2012, the Museum began the process of becoming licensed to plan and host what would become the Dover Mini Maker Faire. “The Maker Faire concept was a perfect fit with the Museum’s focus on developing creative problem-solving skills and building a strong community focused on learning and collaboration,” says Jane Bard, Museum President. “What better way to shine a light on the innovation and creativity happening in NH but through the people, businesses, organizations and schools that are making that happen.”
In our increasingly complex world, the objects and technology that surround us can be intimidating and hard to understand. “There’s a growing distance between us and the world,” says Chris O’Brien from the LA Times. “We don’t know where our food comes from, how the energy we use gets made, and how to take apart our computer and fix it…The Maker Faire dares us to reverse that trend. And it inspires us to do that by gathering together thousands of people who embody that simple joy of creating things every day.”
Here is a sampling of the 55+ makers and maker activities scheduled to happen at this year’s August 23
rd Faire in Dover:
TOOOL – The Open Organization of Lockpickers –
Teaching people to pick locks and understand how they work and why.
Port City MakerSpace and Manchester Makers – Projects and demonstrations by both organization’s members
TDB Monsters – Focused around making creatures and characters out of discarded items and junk laying around. They create all sorts of other items, from a slithering bicycle, to jewelry made from almost nothing. Recycling objects is a major factor in what they do.
Reproduction Retro Computers – Reproductions of Apple 1 and the SCELBI 8H computers. The Apple 1 is the first product of Apple. The SCELBI is the first personal computer, released in 1974, a full 2 years before the Apple 1. There were around 200 of each system originally built. There are around 70 original Apple 1’s remaining. Original SCELBI computers are even scarcer, as there are only about a dozen original SCELBI’s known to exist. Both will running vintage computer software games from the 1970s. Users will be able to operate both computers.
EPLIS Comics – An all ages sci-fi action adventure comic book series. We’ll have a vendor table for our comics, and we’ll be doing two workshops: learn to draw cartoon characters, and how to create your own comics
3-D Printed Coins – Come make a fun maker crab coin or pin. You will be able to create a fun DIY project with a few materials.
Air Rocket Glider – Featured in
MAKE issue #39. With its wings folded back, it launches on a blast of compressed air, on our new v2.0 Compressed Air Rocket launcher (CAR v2.0). When the ARG reaches apogee, the wings pop out for a gentle glide back to the ground.
Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House – 14 year old George Farrow’s passion for the past six years has been creating the Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House. This small attraction held in his parents’ garage every year focuses on using high quality detailed sets/scenics as well as computer controlled animatronics and spectacular sound and lighting. All elements of this attraction are designed and implemented by George himself. Some methods used to make this event come alive are foam carving/sculpting, carpentry, lighting/sound design, animatronic mechanism design, painting, casting, molding, and much more!
Vertical Gardening by KinneBotanicals – Using long-lasting and environmentally friendly materials, they will demonstrate how to grow plants on walls instead of the floor, be they edible or ornamental. This method drastically reduces space requirements. It also adds an interesting aesthetic to any indoor or outdoor space.
NEMO Equipment – This Dover-based company designs and manufactures outdoor equipment, tents, and shelters. Founded in 2002 NEMO Equipment has won numerous awards for its designs. Sold nationally around the US and in numerous other countries around the world, NEMO is recognized as a leader in outdoor equipment.
Automotive Technology – See how modern vehicles work! Demonstrations on the anatomy of a automotive wheel bearing, how Tire Pressure Monitoring systems work, and how modern computer systems measure air flow into the engine. Look inside the operating system of a modern vehicle to see what all the electronics do!
Advance tickets are now on sale for $10 and tickets at the gate will be $12. Children ages 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased online at
www.makerfairedover.com. For more information on the Dover Mini Maker Faire, please call
603-742-2002 or visit
www.makerfairedover.com
Maker Faire Detroit is coming this weekend, and a whole cadre of Make: magazine staffers are making the trip to Michigan to experience one of the most established and largest Maker Faires in the U.S.
We’re coming all the way from California to meet you, the makers! Please reach out, Tweet at us, come to Dale’s talk, meet up with David or Sabrina, introduce yourself in the Maker Shed.
We are ready to dive in and experience the Motor City as Maker City, and we’d love to know about what you are making and the latest on the making scene in the Detroit area.
Here’s where you can find us:
- Make: and Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty @dalepd is giving a talk at 3 PM on Saturday on the main stage.
- Make: Technical Editor David Scheltema @dcschelt will be roaming and covering the Faire.
- Maker Faire Program Director Sabrina Merlo @sannmer is looking to meet up with both current Mini Maker Faire organizers, and other folks interested in producing a Maker Faire in their community.
- Kelly, Rob and the Maker Shed @MakerShed team will be in full force with a complete popup shop. You’ll find them with *new* Printrbots, Mini Darwin Robots, Sphero, Arduinos, Raspberry Pi, our fantastic line of “Getting Started” books—plus hands-on Lockpicking and Learn to Solder workshops.
So looking forward to all the fun and brilliance at Maker Faire Detroit and The Henry Ford—see you very soon!
The historic Newark Museum provided a perfect backdrop to New Jersey’s first Mini Maker Faire on Saturday, April 5, 2014. With over 40 maker exhibits, 80 galleries full of art and natural science collections, and a full day of workshops, the Greater Newark Mini Maker Faire was a hit with attendees of all ages.
Many homegrown makers came out to share their creativity at the Faire. Crafting from natural materials was popular, with everything from Japanese woodworking to hand-carved Scandinavian spoons on display. Attendees were invited to try their hand at sculpting stone, stamping wood, creating ceramics, and blowing glass. There were also opportunities to make your own art prints, to learn to crochet, to make a kite, or to bead jewelry. Many projects were family friendly, giving kids the chance to explore their inner engineer while building with Legos, marshmallows, K’nex, and more.
Making can be messy, but that’s half the fun.
High-tech projects were out in force, too. Robots were well represented, with Central Jersey Robotics, the Bergen County Makerspace, the Institute for Exploratory Research, and even Hillsborough High School’s RoboRaiders 75 FIRST Robotics team all on site with their creations. And of course there were lots of 3D and 4D printers on display making a wide assortment of projects — from funky bracelets to articulated hands and beyond. Exciting projects from local makerspaces were also on display, like The Orbital Rendersphere from the Hoboken Makerbar and FUBAR Labs’ under-$500 Power Racer.
From lockpicking to 3D printing, you could find it all this weekend.
The crowd was a mix of seasoned artisans, established engineers and scientists, passionate college students, and families eager to explore. “We were blown away by today’s Greater Newark Mini Maker Faire! So many fantastic activities for the kids,” said attendee Helen Demir.
After a solid start, there’s no doubt that the Greater Newark Mini Maker Faire will continue to grow, adding a new dimension to the Newark Museum’s more than 100-year history of innovation.
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Although we already have a decent lineup of cool Tools and Components for prototyping and making (like ShapeLock, and others), the T&C category is one we hope to expand dramatically in 2014. Thankfully, we got a bit of a head start with some gorgeous tools from Tekton and new lockpicking products from Southord.
The 135 Piece Wrench and Socket Set would make a great gift for the new homeowner or someone hoping to expand their tool arsenal quickly. My favorite feature of this set is the versatility of the chest they come in. By disengaging two of the rear clasps, the sides can be separated at the hinge and inserted right into a drawer, for convenient storage. They’ll slide right back together and snap shut when you need to take the whole set on the go.
Also from Tekton, a 2-pc Pick-up and Inspection toolset, for those horrible moments when that critical part gets lost in an unreachable spot. The magnet can hold up to 1.5 lbs, making it great for grabbing anything from bare metal components to large hand tools. The mirror, also on an extendable arm, makes peeking inside hard-to-reach locations (car internals, maybe?) a breeze.
While a more portable option may be ideal for living in your car or bike saddle bag, the Tekton 10-pc Hex Key Sets (available in both SAE and Metric) are really high-quality, with strong plastic molded handles and a long reach. The colored handles also solve a common problem with other allen key sets – knowing where to return the key you were just using.
We also recently released a wide variety of new lockpicking tools from Southord, bringing our current lockpicking product total up to a whopping twenty two! Of the new products, my favorites have to be the four new see-through practice locks.
There’s no better way to learn lockpicking than to be able to see what impact your pick has on the pins. The specific tension wrench and pin pressure required to pick a lock properly takes a lot of practice, so being able to see the results helps monumentally in the beginning. The visible cutaway locks come with multiple keys, some of which will open the lock and some that won’t, so you can see how they effect the pins. Great for teaching yourself, and others!
Look for all of these and many more in the New Product section of the Maker Shed.
Friend of MAKE, Stephanie “Von Awesome” Avery is a Toronto-based artist and maker. The 2013 Toronto Mini Maker Faire took place at the same time as the 4th annual World Maker Faire in New York City. Thankfully Stephanie was present in Toronto to take photos and report back.
People enjoying feeze-dried ice cream
Toy hacking with Maker Kids
Toy hacking with Maker Kids
Toy hacking with Maker Kids
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I’m a little embarrassed to admit I had never been to a Maker Faire or to Artscape’s lovely Wychwood Barns. In my defense our Mini Maker Faire is still a baby event in Toronto, this was only our second one ever. I have no excuse for the Wychwood Barns, a beautiful hundred-year-old streetcar maintenance facility that, since being renovated in 2008, has become a hub for local cultural events. Better late than never, and with Maker Faire being hosted by Wychwood Barns, I was hitting two awesome birds with one spectacular stone.
The weekend of September 21 and 22 was cold, rainy, and dreary. Recalling that our first Maker Faire back in 2011 was relatively small I was worried the combination of bad weather and lack of local Maker-awareness would make for lackluster attendance. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The event was jam-packed. With 3D printers as far as the eye could see, interactive activities to appeal to even the most scientifically reluctant mind, compelling talks, tasty treats, and so much more, Wychwood Barns was full of people having a great time.
Every table had interactive elements, though they were so busy that oftentimes it was a struggle to get close enough to play (not that I’ll ever complain when this many people are this eager to participate). Hamilton-based hack, craft, and DIY space Think|Haus had, among other things, a 3D printing demo, a printer programmed to draw designs onto eggs (‘Eggbot’), fun homemade motors, and hundreds (maybe thousands) of laser-printed, wearable mustaches for us to colour and wear.
At the Site3 CoLaboratory table, while Jeffrey Wick played the Pianocade (a chiptunes synthesizer made of arcade components) Jonathan M. Guberman explained that if you use a 3D printer to print the plastic components of a 3D printer, the cost of making your own 3D printer can be as little as $500. What a bargain!
Alex Leitch, also of the Site3 CoLaboratory, showed off her epic homemade multi-colored flame thrower. Much to everyone’s disappointment we did not get a demonstration of its capabilities. But if any Torontonians reading this are thinking, “I sure would like to make my own epic flamethrower”, fret not! Site3 has open houses every Thursday night, so say hi and get learning.
Words cannot describe the glory that is Active Surplus, though their website does a pretty good job of it as “a museum, workshop, garage sale and hardware store”. It’s my favorite shop in Toronto and I was a little giddy to see they had a table at Maker Faire. Here little Danu is being taught how to make his very own motor.
The fellows at the Ice Volcano table were serving up freshly-made ice cream like nothing you’ve ever seen. The ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, the topping of your choice, and LIQUID NITROGEN. Flash freezing the ice cream before our very eyes, it was getting scooped up faster than you could say, “Shut up and take my money!“
Right smack in the middle of the craziness was a presentation area where guests were rapt by such topics as The Future of 3D printing (pictured), the Toronto Tool Sharing Library, 3D Printed Chocolate: Food for the Future, and a pitch session for the Toronto Awesome Foundation.
I could have spent hours in the Toy Hack area watching kids unleash their creativity on the poor, unsuspecting toys. Max here was decapitating a plastic parrot to “put it on this contraption for a balloon popper robot to pop balloons”, hoping to eventually put a speaker in it’s mouth that could play custom recorded sounds bytes. Kids at Maker Faire are pretty much the best.
3D printing is revolutionizing so many different industries. At the Hot Pop Factory table Bi-Ying Miao shows off a pair of her 3D printed earrings.
Lockpicking was one of the most popular attractions of the faire. Theoretically it’s a practical skill to learn, you never know when you’re going to accidentally lock yourself out of the house or lose the key to a padlock. I’m pretty sure, though, that everyone who tried their hands at this imagined themselves as a dashing secret agent or suave bank robber or something a lot more exciting than boring practicality (I know I was). For the record, it’s a lot harder than it looks. Also, there are few things more endearing than parents and children learning the art of lockpicking together.
You’re never too young or too old to learn soldering. Here, under the watchful eyes of skilled volunteers, we could make our own light-up Makerbot pins. And, because nothing is cuter than a small child soldering, I’m going to end this post with some adorable shots of our future makers.
Despite my limited Maker Faire experience I think I can safely declare the Toronto Mini Maker Faire a resounding success. If it continues to grow the way it has, pretty soon we’ll be able to remove the ‘Mini’ and have a full fledged Maker Faire of our own.
