When I was young, I learned computing using a variety of 8-bit microcomputers. Many of these used the Z80 CPU. For a long time, I’ve had it in the back of my mind to build my own Z80 microcomputer from scratch, and I’ve now started on this project. To get going, I ordered the Z80 and …
Did you know that FCCH’s LASER engraver/cutter can also engrave glass? We had a broken glass-covered picture frame at home, so I decided to try engraving a piece of the glass. It worked out better than I could imagine, with a very nice finish in the engraved area. I used ~6mA power (very low) and 300mm/s …
The votes are in! Here is the new board of Fort Collins Creator Hub: Steve Undy (President) Curt Oliver (Vice President) Erik Andersen (Treasurer) Jim Zdunek (Secretary) Lou Sharpe (Member at large) As always, see our contact page for details re: how to contact the board or our members, and our upcoming events.
The Northern Colorado Mini Maker Faire is coming up on Oct 10 and 11 in Loveland. It’s a great event full of cool people, great making, fun activities, and interesting products. Come and see what making is all about! For more details, tickets, etc. see http://makerfairenoco.com/attend/. This year, FCCH will be hosting an interactive game in …
FCCH member Stephen Warren recently designed and built a set of plaques to honor and thank our Founders. It pulls in many maker buzzwords: WS2812/NeoPixel LED strips, an ESP8266 WiFi SoC, the Arduino programming environment, a LASER cutter, a soldering iron, hot glue, heat-shrink tubing, a bandsaw, and a drill press. Find out more from the project write-up on …
FCCH member Mike Michaud recently created a detailed write-up of his foam rocket launching device. It’s all managed by an Arduino, has configurable pressure levels, LED lighting effects during the pressurization process, and of course a big red button to launch the rocket. All of this is contained in a custom-built housing, along with self-created …
What happens when you take the high-voltage microwave output from a microwave transformer and connect it across a dampened sheet of wood? Conduction, arcing, fire, and smoke! All that fun, and you get awesome patterns left behind from where the wood has been vaporized. Once the fun is over, a bit of cleaning up and …
As part of the FCCH meeting, we will be holding our annual election of board members. Meeting time and location: 7PM Wed October 14th Fort Collins Creator Hub 406 N College Ave (door in parking lot at south of building) Fort Collins Co 805264 Any member may vote at the election, or by proxy vote. …
Here are some videos of our LASER cutter/engrave in action. I’m in the process of making plaques to honor our Founders. I’m making these from 1/4″ acrylic sheet. The first step is to engrave in some text and graphics: … and then cut out a rounded-square perimeter to leave the plaque itself. Here are some …
Here are a couple pictures of Michael Churchill making a leather knife sheath at the Creator Hub. The first is of the cut leather, which he’s in the process of embossing before stitching together. The second is of a tool he uses to hold pieces of leather while he’s stitching them; a “third hand” if …
