His Creations on Etsy Got a Boost from the Library's Maker Space
In his professional life, Stephen Williams is a background stagehand for theater and major concerts for the likes of Chicago and Brad Paisley. But his woodworking hobby takes center stage on Etsy and Instagram.
When he developed a project that required the use of a vinyl cutter, he passed on buying a costly one and saved money by using the vinyl cutter available to the public at the Maker Space. It’s at the Edge Community Technology Center inside the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library.
His cost for the Maker Space materials: about $2 -- “Totally affordable.”
The vinyl cutting is part of a multi-step process he developed to apply a stencil and stain design on a series of one of his wood products – dice towers for gaming.
At home, he downloads a clip art image to a flash drive. At the Maker Space, he transfers the image to a laptop, and sends the image onto the vinyl cutter, which cuts the pattern onto a stretch of vinyl. That enables him to create a stencil that he uses in his process to apply the image onto the wood. “It comes out really beautiful,” he says.
After getting help with a library staffer on his first visit, Stephen bought his own roll of vinyl and has returned to repeat the process about four times. “At this point it’s just one to two images, and I can be in and out of there in an hour.”
You can see the dice towers and many of Stephen’s other wood products on Etsy and Instagram at KnuckleSteveWorkshop.
Other DIYers, entrepreneurs and hobbyists have found the Maker Space a great and inexpensive way to make signs, preserve photo, make toy replacement parts, and more. Here’s what you can do:
- Use the laser engraver to make a sign or designs on wood, acrylic, paper and cardboard. Make your own puzzles.
- Program the vinyl cutter to make iron-on transfers for T-shirts, plaques or flags
- Use the 3D printer to make replacement parts for toys, shelving, cabinets and board game pieces – or just art.
- Convert and save your old negatives, slides, VHS and DVD movies to a USB drive or SD card using the video transfer equipment.
- Repair electronic components, make or fix jewelry at the soldering station.
Use of the Maker Space, including tours to get acquainted with the equipment, is by appointment by calling The Edge at 417-837-5011.
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