Maker Space at the Italian Forum, Leichhardt, Sydney

I came across Three Farm's Maker Space, in the Italian Forum, in the inner west of Sydney (on my way to the Leichhardt Library). Shop 39 in the forum (at 19-23 Norton St) has been turned into a high-tech workshop. For a small fee you can use the  3D Printers, Sewing Machines, pottery wheels, Belt Sander and other tools. Three Farm does not seem so hard core as "Make Hack Void" in Canberra, with pottery and photography added to the mix and no UAV construction in evidence.This appears to be part of Leichhardt Council's excellent "Renew Leichhardt" initiative, with artisans taking over unused shop-space. It would be interesting to see if any maker spaces have been combined with co-working offices for micro-business.

Leichhardt Pop In Space

Greetings from the Leichhardt Pop In Space, in the inner west of Sydney. Leichhardt Municipal Council has arranged temporary community use of a former workshop in Marion Street, Leichhardt, just up from Leichhardt Market-town (a "Meanwhile Space"). This evening's event is on "DIY Off Grid Renewables", with Alain Ashman demonstrating solar panels and pedal powered generators demonstrated. Impressively, the projector and computer for the presentation is being powered by rechargeable lithium iron batteries on a hybrid tricycle.

3D Printed Parts for Toilet?

One way the Internet can help the environment and the community is by providing advice on replacement parts and instructions on how to repair, rather than replace products. One example is keeping a flush toilet operating. Older cisterns use more water, but can be upgraded to a dual flush and the outlet valve can be repaired if you have instructions. Most recently the inlet valve was leaking, wasting water and making an annoying noise. A replacement toilet fill valve is around $15, but I only needed the $4 Ballcock Replacement Seal.

Apart from saving some money, replacing a seal or washer, rather than the whole unit, results in less material thrown away. However, it can be difficult to work out exacly what needs replacing, how to remove it and what to get. I found Graeme Hawkins video "How to replace a ballcock washer in a toilet cistern" very useful (complete with New Zealand accent). But for hardware stores to stock large numbers of seals and replacement parts is a problem

 Perhaps a 3D printer could be used to manufacture these parts on demand. University of Washington students are reported to have 3D printed a whole toilet.

ps: The Canberra "Make, Hack, Void" is holding a free conference to show off some of their work (including 3D printing).  MHV MakerConf 2013 is 2 February 2013 at the Australian National University in Canberra, in conjunction with LCA2013.

Using Old Printers

Laser and ink-jet printers are now available for under $50. However the low cost laser printers typically come with less than full toner cartridges and new new high capacity cartridges cost around $100. A $100 color laser will cost you $400 for new cartridges.  The ink-jet printers have cartridges which cost $10 to $30 and can't be refilled. An alternative is an older printer with refillable and lost cost supplies, or better still a free one which is already full. Older printers are available second hand at places like  The Bower in Marrickville in Sydney and Tiny's Green Shed at Mitchell and Symonston in Canberra.
I picked up an ink-jet printer left near the bins at my apartment block. This had ink in it which worked for a few dozen pages. The cartridges are easily refilled with low cost bulk ink and do not have an anti-refill chip which prevents reuse.

In need of a printer in Sydney I found a discarded Brother MFC-7420 multi-function copier, fax, laser printer, on top of a recycling bin. There was a toner cartridge box next to the printer, indicating it may have a new cartridge in it (the cartridges are good for about 2,000 pages). These printers can have problems with paper jamming, but work well using the single sheet feed slot.  The simplest way to get it to work with Linux is to choose a compatible per-installed driver, such as for the Brother MFC- 9600 Foomatic/hl 1250. Assuming this printer has a full cartridge, printing a couple of pages a week, it would last about 20 years.

Perhaps there is scope for retrofitting older large capacity laser printers for a longer life. One way would be to modify the printer firmware, or the printer driver, so that only one sheet of paper is in the paper path at any time. Another way would be to slow down the printer, so paper travels through it more slowly. More radical engineering, perhaps by the "Maker" community, might see simpler mechanisms around commonly available laser printer mechanisms.

Gadget Maker's Shed in Canberra

Recently I attended the monthly show and tell at Make Hack Void. This is a non profit Canberra based group which make gadgets, out of old bits and pieces. If you have seen the TV show "Mythbusters", then you get the idea. The group has a "shed" at Downer to work in and a set of tools (plus strict safety rules).

On display during my visit was a talking household interface, a laser cut case for a tiny computer and a robot aircraft for finding people lost in the outback.

The shed looks like a backyard inventor's dream, with neatly arranged steel shelves full of cataloged bits and pieces for making gadgets. There are electronics assembly areas, machinery areas, a 3D printer, computer controlled lathe and other equipment. Mostly importantly there is a kettle, bar fridge and a large table for discussions and getting advice from others.

Such "mens sheds" have been promoted in Australia for keeping older people active, but the MakeHackVoid welcomes any age or gender. In the USA, the Defense Department is promoting such "Do It With Others" (DIWO) activities in schools, as a way to encourage a technologically trained workforce. This has been popularized though Make magazine from O'Reilly Media Media.