Meet the Makers – Edgren Bilt

Tell us about yourself.
My name is George Edgren. I own a small business “Edgren Bilt” in Wild Rose, WI. I have been an artist since middle school and a fabricator since high school. I decided to mix metal and art a few years ago and never stopped since.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I am presenting my metal interpretation of the dragon, Toothless, from “How to Train Your Dragon”.

Why is making important to you?
Building and making things is how I express myself and my emotions.

What was the first thing you remember making?
The first thing I made was a yo-yo when I was about 10 years old. It was wooden and had a skull carved in it. It was a little rough but that was my start.

What have you made that you are most proud of?
I made a custom motorcycle named “Death”. It is a tribute to a friend that passed away in a motorcycle accident. It has a coffin sidecar and there are skulls everywhere. I’m most proud of that build.

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
If I had an unlimited budget, I would build cars and motorcycles that were more art than vehicle.

Meet the Makers – Lumen Electronic Jewelry

Tell us about yourself.
We’re 4th generation mechanical engineering siblings. We grew up in rural northern Wisconsin with basically our own maker space in the woods. Dad had a machine shop with EVERYTHING that was as big as the house. Making is in our blood.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
Lumen Electronic Jewelry re-imagines the humble circuit board into art. Our pieces incorporate twinkling LED lights with tiny solar panels to power them. Hours of blinky, no batteries. We have pre-made jewelry from $15-$200 as well as soldering kits for all levels.

Why is making important to you?
Robin – I enjoy making something with my hands, I get a joy jolt every time something actually works!
Marty – ‘Cause Making. I can get what I really want, not only what is available.

What was the first thing you remember making?
So hard to remember, we’ve both been makers since pre-natal.
Robin – I loved origami as a kid. I was constantly folding any paper I could get my hands on.
Marty – At 10 I made an all wheel drive all wheel steer remote control LEGO car. It used the old-school power box. I used a bendy straw as the bellows instead of a universal joint.

What have you made that you are most proud of?
Robin – It was in an aerospace job and top secret, so I’d have to kill you if I told you. HA! But seriously, Lumen is my favorite. I use all my talents every day and I love it: artistic, engineering, teaching, strategic planning.
Marty – Well, everything lol. Currently its the all-wheel drive motorcycle, its the big and flashy one. I works really well. The drive-line layout is on its 2nd generation, suspension on its 4th or 5th generation. It’s taken a lot of voodoo, trial and error. Makes even a novice look good

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
Robin – Starship Enterprise. I want to travel to other planets faster than light and have no time dilation!
Marty – Laser heat exchanger rockets. Pretty damn cool.

Meet the Makers – R Rated Clothing

Tell us about yourself.
R Rated Clothing started when I introduced my friend, and now business partner Roberto Rivera, to another friend of mine who does screen printing. Roberto has fans from all over the country that have asked for his art on clothing. After being given the idea to start his own clothing brand from my friend, Roberto looked at me and said “do you want to do this?”. One week later we ordered our first batch of shirts, and R Rated Clothing was born.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
We are presenting our collection of graphic T-Shirts. Every design was drawn by R Rated’s own Roberto Rivera.

Why is making important to you?
Making is important to us because it shows the raw talent that was needed to produce the product. We have a very high standard for the designs that we use on our shirts because we want people to feel like they are looking at a piece of art, not just a T-Shirt.

What was the first thing you remember making?
As a company, the first thing we created was our first line of T-Shirts. When I was little, I remember making a ton of board games, and I’m sure Roberto has plenty or stories about drawing pictures on napkins or whatever he could get his hands on.

What have you made that you are most proud of?
As a company, our most recent shirt “Beautiful Land”. One of the first people that saw it called it “iconic”. Hearing that one word made us want to make more, and better shirts.

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
If we had an unlimited budget we would create a ton of designs representing different charities across the US, create the shirts, sell them, and give the charity all of the money from sales. We have talked about this concept for a while.

Meet the Makers – Kathryn Hughett

Tell us about yourself.
I am an artist and crafter. I’ve been drawing and painting since I could hold a pencil and paintbrush. I am experienced in a multitude of art media. My favorite creative things to do are painting and jewelry work. I don’t have a store or sell at fairs but I do have some public albums on Facebook showing things I’ve made and am willing to take special orders for. I am all over social media and can be found under Kathryn Hughett.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I will be doing face painting near the Dark Arts area using UV reactive face paints.

Why is making important to you?
In order to BE I have to Make.

What was the first thing you remember making?
Mud pies at the age of two.

What have you made that you are most proud of?
So many things that I can’t possibly pick out one. I made a beautiful Star of David pendant for a friend out of copper, sterling silver, and brass. I made a card box for my nephew’s wedding that looks like a bee skep. It turned out so beautifully.

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
My dream is to paint a wall mural in in someone’s home, something large and colorful with giant flowers.

Meet the Makers – Mark Rehorst

Tell us about yourself.
I am a dentist in Racine, Wisconsin who used to be an electrical engineer. I am also a member of the Milwaukee Makerspace where I am most interested in 3D printing. In the past I was into audio and built electrostatic speakers, amplifiers, etc., then started restoring antique vacuum tube radios. I was always into bicycles, too, and designed and built a carbon fiber recumbent bike about 8 years ago that I still ride today.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I will be exhibiting my self-designed and built, 2nd generation 3D printer, Son of MegaMax, and, if I manage to finish on schedule, a large volume 3D printer that prints chocolate vases. I might even bring my bicycle.

Why is making important to you?
I was born a maker. I have been making and building things since I was a little kid and can’t imagine my life without some sort of project going on. Usually, shortly before I feel like a project is finished, I start thinking about the next project. No project is ever really finished, of course.

What was the first thing you remember making?
I don’t recall anything specific, but I had Lincoln Logs and an Erector set when I was a kid, and then a lot of LEGO. At about 9 or 10 years old I started getting into electronics and built a lot of RadioShack P-box kits, a few Heath Kits, and a lot of projects from electronics magazines. In high school I was in a ham radio Explorer post 373 in Bay View and got licensed up to general class.

What have you made that you are most proud of?
That’s a difficult question. I guess my second generation 3D printer, Son of MegaMax would be my current favorite, though my bicycle is a close second.

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
I think I’d like a really big telescope. Or an electron microscope. Or a 3D printer that can print buildings. Or a ….

Meet the Makers – Chad Bridgewater

We’re pleased to have Chad Bridgewater returning to Maker Faire this year. If you aren’t familiar with Chad’s work, much of it has to do with re-purposing old tools into new machines. Discarded tables saws become 3D printers and laser engravers, and a drill press rescued from the trash becomes a CNC router.

Chad recently received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and his MFA show in the spring was the first reveal of some of his machines. Chad did much of his work in the Digital Craft Research Lab at UWM and has a great appreciation for the merging of new and old processes to creating unique things.

Chad’s appreciation for tools and those who work with their hands (coupled with his love of rummage sales) resulted in a “memorial” of 135 worn and neglected toolboxes interlocked together.

Chad’s been keeping busy this summer, and he’ll have some great new builds for Maker Faire Milwaukee. If you want a sneak peek, check out Chad’s blog at chadbridgewater.blogspot.com

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Meet the Makers – Steve Hay

Tell us about yourself.
I am an old guy who can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making things.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I will be presenting a talk on designing and building the 1903 Wright Brothers engine My father, Steve Hay Sr., my brother Jim Hay and I built a 1903 Wright Brothers Engine in 1978 that we ran for years at the EAA AirVenture. That is what led to my brother and I building the engines for the Centennial Celebration in 2003 at Kitty Hawk. I believe that engine is a perfect example for Maker Faire, because of its simplicity of design. It utilized old technology and new innovations in materials in a design which could be built with the machinery the Wright Brothers had in their bicycle shop.

Why is making important to you?
The manipulation of materials and properties of materials have always been a prime interest of mine and making things has always been a most enjoyable way of learning both. The Ornithopter, which I am presenting at Maker Faire, is one of my more successful projects, although it is still evolving. It started out as a car over 30 years ago and morphed into an aircraft. I honestly never thought it would survive this long. I have been taking it to the EAA AirVenture for 30 years.

What was the first thing you remember making?
I do remember, when I was quite young, asking my mother if I could bake a cake from scratch. She said “OK”, and I made a mess of the kitchen and the cake didn’t look like much but it tasted good. Then, as now, I am usually more interested in the process than in the finished product, so I have made a lot of things that have not quite come out.

What have you made that you are most proud of?
I have built many other things and the one I am the most proud of right now, is a very ornate 15 century wheel lock rifle.

Given an unlimited budget, what would you make?
I would take an old steam locomotive and modify it with modern materials and technology and go after the steam locomotive land speed record. That would be fun.