We continued working through our electronics book in Falstad. Also got some info on creating electronic music instruments.

Below are examples of the book we use, and a picture of some of the chips one of our members uses for musical boards. He showed us how to use paste soldering with our new soldering iron/heat gun.

Turns out we have a couple of experienced jointer operators in our group! We ran some boards through the jointer and compared the output to a straightedge

We gathered yesterday to try out our new forge and anvil by making bottle openers. We rigged a tarp for shade and set up a fan and water cooler to beat the heat. 

We got distracted by our new toys and played with them instead of electronics.

The new jointer is here! Also the new drill sharpener. Please get instruction before use. We will demo them next Wednesday.
I sharpened one drill bit and it worked great. 

We also hooked up the dust collector. We had to turn a few pieces of PVC on the lathe to make them fit. I have to get some sealant to keep the adapters together, but it works - we tested it with the planer. 
A two-inch hose drops from the ceiling over the work table. Bring the portable tools to the work table for use. Portable tools: planer, table saw, band saw, miter saw, belt sander. Plug the portable tools into the two inch hose. Turn on the dust collector. The two inch hose can also be used as a hand held vacuum. We will hook up the Maslow and joiner later. I think we'll have to to manual clean up with the lathe. 

We met last night for our first electronics SIG (special interest group). It's not a class; just people learning together.
We began with kiCad, but switched to Falstad. It is much better for simple circuit building and simulation. We made a circuit to light an LED with a button press then tried out motors and other components.
Wokwi is a microcontroller simulator. You can build a circuit and program an arduino or Pi in the simulator. 
www.kicad.org/
​www.falstad.com/circuit/
​wokwi.com/
We will continue meeting every Tuesday at 6 pm. At first, we'll focus on getting to know the software and then move on to simple and complex circuits. Also looking for projects to work on. Come join us!

Yesterday a few hardy makers gathered to build a stand for our anvil. We bolted 4x4's together and strapped the anvil to the top. We will have a blacksmithing class soon.

We meet every other Wednesday at 6 pm to talk about projects and work on stuff. You can contact us at [email protected] or just show up! Come to the Sumter St. side of the building and go to the door inside the fence and under the old drive through canopy. We have a doorbell mounted on the door. 
Other stuff:
A bottle opener blacksmithing class will be held in a month or so. We need to build a platform for the anvil.
We plan to buy a jointer for woodworking.
Many other plans in the works!
We are always interested in new members!

KiCAD is a free utility for designing printed circuit boards. We got an intro to it from one of our members.

We bought a forge, anvil, and hand tools to do blacksmithing. We'll do a bottle opener event soon, then try some knife making.
​

One of our member (same guy form previous post) made a shelf  for his radios for his boat:

One of our members volunteers on the tall ship Spirit of South Carolina
http://spiritofsouthcarolina.blogspot.com/
​He remade a block that had become rotted. The wood is cypress from Mann Tools.
The ship and the old block:

Making the new block: