Category: Space

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Building Works Update

We have been transforming our new space over the last 6 weeks. We now have walls \o/ . Our plan is split over a number of phases, to start off with we are building rooms 1, 2, 3 and a kitchen as outlined in the drawing below.  Room 1 will be our new common room. This will be the most used room in the whole space and the centre of everything. Room 2 will be our new classroom. It will be bookable for special events and courses. Room 3 will be our fabrication room. It will hold things like our laser cutter , 3D printers and so on. Our kitchen will be at the front of the building getting natural light for enjoying a cup of tea.

We have now reopened to the public with our regular group nights, so drop by and check out our new space.

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Photos

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Building Our New Common Room

wallsOn Friday, a big pile of timber arrived on our loading bay. On Saturday we turned it into our common room. Well we are a maker space after all!

We built sections on the floor and lifted them into position. If you remember our common room from Chancery Lane…….. well this room will be bigger and warmer too. We’ll be finishing it off over the next week or two and building some other rooms. Pics here.

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Epson Stylus Pro 9500 large form printer

Epson Printer

We, at tog, like to extend the usability of items for as long as possible. (Or at least that is our excuse for all the out-of-date tech laying about.) So back in May of last year when we were offered a very large format printer, it was hard to say no. (Stay with me sewists.)

Some members took it in, gave it some TLC, and we even found a roll of paper at ReCreate! But then we hit a problem. The last available drivers for it are Windows XP 32-bit. Which is not exactly commonplace anymore.

Then, a short while, and some internet searching, ago, we discovered that gutenprint-cups, the default printing facility on many linux distros actually supports this printer! It’s not hard to install; plug in the USB cable, open a browser, go to http://localhost:631/ and press the right buttons. Done.

Long story short; the printer lives again! And for you sewists out there; ever buy a digital pattern and have to spend hours taping together A4 sheets? Well, if you can also get a large form pattern, you won’t have to do that anymore! Just visit tog some Craft Night and we’ll sort you out!

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Metal Lathe

latheLate last year TOG took delivery of a new toy…. a brand new metal lathe. At about 600Kg, it’s probably the heaviest bit of equipment that we have in the space. We had some fun getting it in the door……and yes we did measure the door before we ordered it 🙂 . A bit of heaving and ho’ing with an engine crane and we soon had it up on its cabinet stands. We spent a few weeks assembling it, reviewing all the accessories and getting it all tested. We have 3 and 4 jaw chucks, live and dead centres, steady rests and a number of other tools and accessories.

We’ve had some great instruction from one of our members relatives. We’re now slowly beginning to use it. Our crafters kindly made a nice protective cover from some spare vinyl. The lathe is a great addition to our workshop . We have a brand new MIG welder on the way too, thanks to one of our regular workshop user/members.  We even have a CNC Mill in our sights too….right Ed 🙂 .  Drop in and have a tour of our workshop. You can see all of our tools and equipment. More pics here…..Lathe Pics