If your design imagination has grown beyond your means of creating it, Idea Fab Labs has a Shopbot CNC (computer numerical controlled) router that might be just what your project needs.

With this tool, complex contours, pockets, and even 3D shapes can be precisely cut or carved from wood, foam or even soft metals.

“You can get delicate details on the ShopBot, it all depends on the bit you use,” said Ty Mendoza who used the ShopBot to create this intricate geometric piece of art.

Getting your design to a finished shape on the CNC router is accomplished in three basic steps.

The first step is to draw the design you want to make in a CAD (computer aided-design) program. There are programs such as CorelDRAW or Sketch that are easy to use, and other programs such as AutoCAD and SolidWorks which can create more detailed 3D designs.

Once you have created a digital drawing, you will want to convert it into a toolpath for the CNC router to follow in a CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) program. The ShopBot has a program called Partsworks which creates a toolpath from your CAD files. There are other programs such as Fusion 360 which have both CAD and CAM capabilities which will be made available to members.

The third step is loading the toolpath into the ShopBot, securing the material, zeroing the router’s axis, and watching as your design comes to life.

The CNC Shopbot was used to cut out the pieces of this 3D skull created by Erin Banwell.

If all this seems like a lot to take in, the very knowledgeable CNC shop manager Brad Rios is always available to walk you through the process.

For members wishing to take the CNC safety and basic use classes, Brad is there Friday at 7 p.m. (update: now Brandon on Tuesdays at 6pm) to show you the ropes and get you signed off on the equipment.

Idea Fab Labs member Steve Roberts zeros out the router before starting a cut.

So don’t keep those ideas bottled up, uncork your potential this new year at the Idea Fab Labs.

To begin with, the Lab recently acquired a Juki Industrial Walking Foot Sewing Machine, allowing members to now sew through incredibly thick layers of material, such as leather and cowhide, very easily. The machine gets its name from a metal piece in the sewing mechanism that resembles a walking foot and helps feed the materials through while stitching. As Alicia Jacob, Zone Manager explains, “This machine is different from our other Juki industrial sewing machine, which sews much faster, but can only sew through thinner materials such as denim, canvas, and lightweight leathers.”

Jacob has managed the Jewelry and Leather Zone at the Lab for over a year. When she was asked to take over management of textiles as well, she suggested combining all three into a single room. The result is a larger overall work space with a full-size 8’ cutting table and plenty of room for collaboration, plus lots of natural light and improved ventilation.

Additional sewing workstation featuring the Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond embroidery machine.

For sewing and textiles work, the zone also features a Husqvarna Viking Designer Diamond programmable sewing and embroidery machine, a home sewing machine, a four-thread serger and basic sewing tools. The jewelry workstation features anvils and mandrills for bracelets and rings, chaffing hammers, mallets, files, a Dremel rotary tool, and a soldering station with acetylene torch. Members should provide their own materials and consumables, but there are samples of embroidery thread, leather scraps and copper pieces for testing and experimentation.

One of the two jewelry workstations, featuring a variety of hammers, mandrills and other tools.

In addition to the wide array of tools available, one of the best resources in the new Jewelry / Leather / Textiles Zone is Jacob herself, who is regularly available to advise members on crafting techniques and project design. No stranger to leather and jewelry work, Jacob makes extensive use of the zone for her own projects, focusing on handmade leather handbags, backpacks and messenger bags, laser-etched with original art, available locally at Three Sixty Ecotique, 511 Main Street, Chico, California and online through her Etsy web site.

Members are required to attend a safety and basic use class (SBU) before being approved to use the zone, which happens on Monday nights starting at 6:30 p.m. Interested members should register for the next upcoming SBU on the Idea Fab Labs web site.

For more information, visit http://chico.ideafablabs.com/sbu-classes/ and http://www.BelovedLeather.etsy.com/.

We all spilled into the front yard around 10:00 a.m., each of us having separately detoured through Midtown Local for our respective cups of joe. Jake and Cody had the kettle—made from an old Sierra Nevada Pale Ale keg—cleaned, sanitized and ready to go on the burner in short order. The next thing you know, we’re boiling water! It turns out that Jake has numerous books on brewing, including a weighty tome dedicated to nothing but water. For our purposes, we used good ol’ Chico water right out of the tap.

Jake announces that we are brewing an American Strong Ale, today’s batch being dubbed, Fabrewcation Strong Ale. Jake and Cody walked us through the various steps of creating our signature brew, each stage affording us a good hour or so to sample a new beer or talk about the more sophisticated aspects of craft brewing.

Jake Dickman and Cody De Graaff discuss the home brewing techniques being demonstrated as IFL members and guests look on.

The wort is poured over the grain in the mash tun a second time to concentrate the final product.

The first batch of wort is poured back into the kettle for a second run as James Hall, IFL’s Operations Manager, looks on.

Jake adds a packet of CTZ hops pellets, which are a blend of the Columbus, Tomahawk, and Zeus varieties…

and some fresh Cascade hops…

a cap full of Irish Moss…

Cody and Jake have it under control.

and finally, some activated yeast. The mixture will now ferment for 15 days.

“Jake was a good teacher,” says Zack Lamanski, a participant. “I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the weather and the company. I liked the informal part of it. We didn’t take notes; it wasn’t regimented; we could pitch in if we wanted to or not. It was a Fab Lab event. I wanted to show my support for the Lab and learn how to make beer. It’s a whole day of relaxing, not just a cooking process.”

Jake and Cody took the group from cleaning and sanitizing the equipment, completely through the brewing process, there being some chuckles when the terms “vorlauf” and “sparge” were discussed. The Fabrewcation Strong Ale must now ferment for 15 days, at which time the initial group will meet up again to try the finished product.

For more information, see http://chico.ideafablabs.com and http://www.midtownlocal.net

Project Manager James Hall faces some new challenges with completing this installation. “Because all of the pieces are radially cut, we need to make the wood pieces bend in ways they don’t typically want to when doing the final assembly. But, we have all the pieces cut out on our CNC router. We’ve fully assembled one of the skulls and the remaining two are in progress.”

As designer Erin Banwell passionately explains, “This thing is going to be awesome! 12 feet by 24 feet of ½” plywood badassery, contrived from a single 3D model with multiple radial axes, all conjured up for your scary Halloween viewing pleasure.” The finished installation will feature a final paint job, laser beams shooting from the eyes (!) and custom effect lighting to enhance the live performances.

Close-up detail of skull assembly in progress.

Scary Party will showcase the legendary electronic music duo Groove Armada from London, England, plus Seth Troxler, Subb-An and other artists. The party starts at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2015 at The Midway, 900 Marin Street, San Francisco.

For more information, visit http://www.daxpresents.com and http://www.ideafablabs.com.

Students from regional middle and high schools, along with CSU students, toured the Expo to learn about the latest manufacturing technologies and workforce challenges. The Expo is designed to help dispel the myth that everything is manufactured overseas and improve community perceptions of the local manufacturing sector and its value to our economy.

Idea Fab Labs was unique among the exhibitors at the Expo, in that its focus is not to manufacture a specific product, but to encourage and empower individuals to innovate through a community space offering a variety of tools and resources that support prototype manufacturing.

James Hall (from left), Erin Banwell and Brad Rios show off various projects created at Idea Fab Labs using the in-house laser cutter and 3D printers to a group of local middle school students.

James Hall, Operations Manager, demonstrated the Lab’s Printrbot 3D printer by printing a model skull, roughly 2 inches square, for an upcoming Halloween project as touring students looked on. Samples of finished projects made using the Lab’s laser cutter-engraver, CNC (computer numerical control) router and electronics zone were also displayed.

For more information, visit http://growmanufacturing.com/manufacturing-expo-october-2/ and http://chico.ideafablabs.com

We are almost halfway done at this point!

Assembly line of wiring the panels continues. We were able to produce at least 10 per evening once we got into the groove.

It’s important to turn the lights of and test every once in a while.

Sometimes things are funky and we have to break out the scope.

Power supplies are ready to go.

Karl and Thornton wire up more  electrical.

The excitement as we put in the last of the panels!

Hello World! The installation is finished!

Seems like cause to celebrate.

The LED Ceiling project has been a lab-wide collaborative project that at least one hundred people have had a hand in from late nights designing and prototyping to gathering materials to building softboxes to producing panels to wiring and installing and simply providing coffee, pizza, and moral support! Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Now production of custom software commences!