I really really appreciate this forum. So many friendly and knowledgable people at the same place, it’s truly a little miracle. I get so much technical knowledge, guidance and insight here.
There is also quite a lot of creativity happening, many people with amazing projects going on. We also help each other out with input on techniques, materials and machining practices.
BUT - one thing that I feel lacking(in my own maker-life), is helping each other out exploring our own creativity. To be fully honest - I often struggle with being confident in myself in terms of MAKING STUFF THAT LOOKS GOOD. I can figure out how to mill brass, cut vinyl and use a laser, but I’m not sure WHAT the brass stamp/burn-head should look like.
Is there a way we can help each other out figuring out how to make nice stuff? We are very good at cooperating with hardware/software development - but what about aesthetical development?
I have been playing with an idea for a while - what if we had monthly/bimonthly/trimonthly workshops? For example, what if we had a topic/assignment/object that we all worked on for some months, and then shared opinions on outcome, techniques and styles? I had great fun making the mountain terrain. It has crossed my mind that there are many ways to utilize the 3d model that I extracted. What if I shared this model, and challenged the forum to make stuff based on the model? Plotted 3d silhouttes, wood inlays, 3d printed clay, etc etc.
If someone shared a common topic/assignment, we could all work on this and develop our own sense of taste and technique and learn from each other.
Sounds interesting for sure. I also know how to build stuff, but lack on the what do I now build with said stuff lol
Are you kind of thinking like a community feature design or project. That would be fun and if it’s something simple and within the confines of the machines here and uses cheap product I think it’s would be a great idea.
One suggestion on how to do it:
Each three months a new forum member is challenged (either by Ryan or by the previous workshop-holder) to come up with an assignment. Let’s say Ryan starts the workshops: “do your own make of the v1 logo. (file attached). Use whatever method you find suitable, within reasonable cost and time limits. Please share as a new post in the “Workshop category” and be open for questions and feedback. Remember that this is not a contest on who is the best maker, but an opportunity to challenge yourself and learn new stuff from each other”.
After three months the workshop is closed and a new assignment is given. Thinking about it, I think three months is the SHORTEST timespan suitable. If we have to order stuff or have busy lives otherwise, three months can go buy very quickly! I don’t think of this as a competition at all, but more as an opportunity to push yourself and actually getting things made. I often feel a creative kick when preparing for a maker faire or having a deadline to work up against. A forum workshop could be a low threshold kind of way to invite for creativity and sharing.
And if each workshop got its own hashtag, we could use our own channels to guide attention towards v1e. I’ve seen different variations of this on instagram, #genuary for generative art each day of january, and #plotterparty for different pen plotting assignments. Surely sparks an interest in me!
I love this! I agree with you so so many points here! I get stuck in what to make. Here lately I feel like I’m just making machines and not actually making things with them. Would love it at just the new ideas of things to make.
Conference calls (including video enabled calls) are free via Discord, and it occurs to me that all we need to do is have a V1E Discord server, and someone who is willing to organize and publish the when and what!
One topic that could be revisited in many different ways: challenging makers to come up with ways to reclaim waste and turn it into something usable or even profitable. For example, I recently made useable, decorative, art gifts from wood flooring scraps that were unusable cut-offs and destined for the waste bin had I not intercepted them. I have currently made about 45 gifts (update: more than 50, about 52 I think). Enough for “Christmas in July” for our whole church (one per family), which is a one-off fellowship event we’re having this coming Sunday.
In practice not so much - I enjoy a competition and it’s a great way to learn, I regularly enter Prusa competitions for instance, but only if I have a need or an interest in pushing myself in a particular direction. The thing that is lacking from those is any real critique - they are not design competitions per se, they are really about getting clicks on Printables.
One of the problems with critique on an open forum is the offence it causes, whether inadvertently or not, bear with me for a bit, but if we had a section which would be quite different - it would be a place specifically for project advice criticism and help with techniques - “How do you polish aluminium?” Is there a better way of cutting this circle?
Perhaps it could have a warning header that if you post there constructive criticism will occur?
The zoom/discord meeting would be fantastic, but problematic in terms of time zones.
As I write, it’s 10:30 am here, in EU it’s 2:30 AM and in California 5:30 PM yesterday but it would be great to give it a go!
I would like both lol
A place where I can bounce ideas of ppls brains. A lot of the time a struggle for one person is a simple fix away from someone else. Or a total brain seed different route. The zoom things I would have the time for I am sporadic with my times I get to actually do work stuff.
Asynchronous stuff is much easier for this group. Because we have such weird schedules. I am sometimes up at 4am and posting gcode tips when I can’t sleep. Sometimes I am cooking and need a distraction while I wait for some step.
That said, we have a lot of async already. So if someone wants to try to include a sub group in a synchronous chat or call, there is plenty of room for something like that.
At my work we have the concept of “lunch and learns” where about 1/month someone will present what they are working on, why it is interesting, and what they are still struggling with. It is great for us (we are a company of focused projects and always trying not to duplicate related work). The presentations are usually at lunch and the people in the office get catering. But they never send me a burrito in CO (I’m not that bitter ). The key bits are: One person schedules them pretty far in advance, so people think they will be well prepared. Then they scramble to make a presentation a day or two before. It is all pretty chill, because we all know it is hard to present. Constructive criticism is welcome, but it needs to be tactful.
There was also a 3D printing themed friday night chat on discord that was open to the Internet. I think they generally had a few topics prepared each week. But anyone could show something off. I never tried it, but it seemed to get some traction. Maybe a “First Friday” (of each month) chat would work?
Honestly, if anyone wants to volunteer to get one of these started, they can. You don’t need permission from anyone (and if you do, then we will get it). You can’t find a time where everyone in the forums can or wants to join. But if you can get a quorum, then consider it a success. Schedule a few, make it clear it is a trial, and keep them short (to avoid awkwardness and make us want more).
Interesting. The discord is open for whatever, if you need me to change a setting, I can. I think that only comes to play if we were all to be available at the same time. Might be a good idea to pick something super easy and sorter term to work out some of the bugs. Like a drawing workshop. I have always wanted to mess with giant markers since I always use 0.3mm pens. Then you could get a feel for how things should change a bit before getting into a wood, laser, and metal combined project.
This comes to mind because you might get wild things like Jamie’s 6 color unicorn drawing, when in my head I just think about drawing a Sandify pattern.
I am very willing to offer some sort of award, for each session, as motivation. Then you get into the voting issue. Or maybe the person that runs that challenge gets to choose a couple of people that went over the top as recipients? Thinking forum badges, gift certificates to the shop, maybe a new board. Just don’t make me pick who gets them.
The drawing sounds awesome. I was just saying today that I would love to try one like you posted from one of the recent shows. The most I’ve ever drawn was the crown lol. Then tried to do the ruler today and got that all messed up lol. That sounds like an awesome first trial run. I think keeping it to a forum post might be better than the discord. We are a group of people spread all across the globe. Nearly impossible to get any decent group of people together at the same time. And for me it’s a lot easier to go though and look at a forum thread than to try and catch up on a live chat. Just my .02
Or just a random number picker, anyone who participates gets a number in the hat.
I would love to see directed projects. I imagine things like laser projects or V-carving, for people that have never done it to have a bigger group all doing it at the same time to help would be easy as it is all fresh in our minds.
Discord, I have a link at the bottom of the website and top of the forums as well. A lot of people are starting to use it so just know there are setting for things like notifications to make it stop beeping at you all day.
I get your point with this… But wouldn’t that take the drive to try “harder” out of it? If the person running the challenge picks the “best” then that would give the drive to do more?? idk maybe I’m just over thinking it LOL
). The key bits are: One person schedules them pretty far in advance, so people think they will be well prepared. Then they scramble to make a presentation a day or two before. It is all pretty chill, because we all know it is hard to present. Constructive criticism is welcome, but it needs to be tactful.