Pete Prodoehl, Author at Maker Faire Milwaukee

Tell us about your Power Racing Series team.
ASME at Valparaiso University is dedicated to innovative design in order to help prepare responsible and constructive engineers.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
ASME at Valparaiso University has constructed a Power Racing Series vehicle to compete in the Power Racing Series race at Maker Faire Milwaukee.

What inspires you to make?
ASME at Valparaiso is inspired to make for the purpose of preparing responsible and constructive engineers.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Honestly, everyone can invent. Thomas Edison is said to have failed more than a thousand times before successfully inventing a viable lightbulb. Just keep trying. You’ll get there someday.

Tell us about yourself.
Well, I come from a blended family and have five younger sisters. I grew up in rural southern Colorado but went to college in Chicago where I earned my Bachelor of Arts from SAIC in 2000. Currently, I reside in Milwaukee. By day I’m a commercial photographer specializing mostly in product photography. In the evenings and on weekends I design and build custom lamps and light fixtures. I’ve been at it about three or four years and work under the name W Luminaries.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I’m very pleased to be presenting handmade accent lamps made from my preferred materials: wood, metal (raw brass and polished nickel) and glass.

What inspires you to make?
The people whose work I greatly admire–too numerous to list here–definitely motivate me. But maybe it’s a lifestyle choice? I guess I’ve always just made things starting from a very young age. There’s a certain satisfaction that I get from both organizing and materializing these crazy ideas I have in my head. Simply put, I’m a relentless tinkerer with an artistic bent. I just keep wondering, dreaming and building. It’s what I’ve always done in one form or another.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Don’t be afraid to steal ideas but you better be sure to make them your own. I’ve learned it’s better to be an extension of the work you revere rather than a direct imitation. Oh, and relax. Frustration is the antitheses of creativity. At least for me it is.

Tell us about one of your failed projects.
Now that’s a tough one! With so many examples of failure under my belt it’s hard to choose just one. I’ve tried so many things in my life: fiction writing, song writing, acting, sculpture, drawing, painting, photography–the list goes on and on. I’ve been moderately successful to down right bad at these many disciplines. The ones I have a real and unforced affinity for I continue to work at. Along the way I’ve come to appreciate the complete process, or bigger picture of what I’m doing. Why dwell on failure when it’s an inevitable part of the creative process? Somethings work well, others not as well. Yeah, it bugs me a little when I don’t foresee the short comings of this or that design. But on the flip side I’m all ready on to the next idea or motification. This is how I get along, really. I just try to keep moving myself forward. And I have to say that all those little failures have moved me faster towards my little successes. Of which I’m grateful.

Tell us about yourself.
I am a mechanical engineer and I like to tinker in various areas of engineering and manufacturing in my free time. I find a wide variety of manufacturing methods interesting and I have spent some time working to reproduce a few of these methods in my home shop. Sometimes I buy the needed equipment and other times I make the equipment myself. Some of the manufacturing processes that I have performed in my home shop include welding, metal casting, electric discharge machining (EDM), CNC machining, 3D printing and plastic injection molding.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I will be showing my homemade injection molding machine, homemade arc welder and some samples of items cut using software that I wrote for generating and modifying g-code input files for CNC machines.

What inspires you to make?
When I see an interesting process I like to consider whether or not I would be able to replicate it. I am all the more interested if I have a practical use for the end product. However, not having a practical use for something does not prevent me from taking on a project. Sometimes the project needs to be built before its uses can be fully identified. When I was building my homemade lathe, I was often asked what I was going to use the lathe for. At the time I did not have a defined use for the lathe. I tried to explain that the lathe itself was the project. I still don’t have a specific use for the lathe, but it gets used occasionally for various projects.

What is something you’ve made that you are most proud of, and why?
I am usually most proud of things that I have made recently or that have a long lineage of projects that build upon each other to result in an item. Recently, I made a couple of new Aluminum molds for injection molding at Maker Faire Milwaukee. Both of these molds are shaped like Makey, the maker faire robot. One is a spinning top and the other is a key-chain or zipper pull. These molds and the resulting injection molded items fit both my recently made and lineage criteria. The molds were made using g-code generated by F-Engrave (CNC software that I wrote) and I inject the plastic into the mold using my homemade injection molding machine that was partially built using my homemade Gingery Lathe. The lathe was cast from Aluminum in my home foundry, the crucible I use for casting the Aluminum was made from scrap angle iron that I welded together using my homemade arc welder.

Tell us about one of your failed projects.
One manufacturing process that I have not yet been able to reproduce is friction stir welding of plastic. Friction stir welding is a process in which a spinning metal bit is pushed through a material creating a welded joint. The friction resulting from the spinning bit in contact with the base material causes the two pieces of base material to flow together resulting in a solid joint between the two parts. In my experiments so far I have had results ranging from very weak joints to molten plastic flying across the shop. Up until this point, I would not classify these results as success.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
I think Jimmy Diresta has given the best advice on this topic in the past. Jimmy suggests making something every day. It doesn’t matter what you make or what you make it out of. If all you have is paper make something with paper. Whenever you make anything you will develop new skills or refine the skills you already have. There are no barriers to making. You just need to work with what you have available.
(Jimmy talked about becoming a maker in the MakingIt podcast, Episode 083 at time: 23:40)

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Matt Goode and I am a senior in Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University. When not in class, I dedicate all my free time to PrISUm, Iowa State University’s solar car team. It has always been my dream to build a vehicle from a blank sheet of paper, and through partaking and leading this club I am happy to report that we have done it. I hope to build electric vehicles for the everyone someday.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
PrISUm is showcasing Pheaton 2, the team’s 13th solar powered vehicle. The lightweight carbon fiber exterior and mechanical systems were handcrafted by Iowa State University students during the fall of 2015. Every aspect of the vehicle was designed, manufactured, and tested in the Midwest. The Phaeton 2 competed in the eight-day, 1,800-mile 2016 American Solar Challenge race from Ohio to South Dakota. The International Solarcar Federation awarded the team their Achievement Award, which led to the production of remote-controlled scale models of Phaeton 2, the only car to ever hold this honor. The models will be sold throughout the world to promote solar racing and the concept of “Brain Sports.”

What inspires you to make?
PrISUm’s mission is to build a practical solar car that changes the paradigm of transportation. In doing so, we strive to inspire future generations to pursue their passions through education.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Never give up. Inventing is hard, and making your dreams come true is even harder. If you keep trying you will succeed greatness!

Tell us about one of your failed projects.
Building a vehicle from scratch is quite difficult. When first assembled, the suspension was improperly manufactured, the battery pack would not turn on, and the vehicle’s motor would not spin once given power. Overall, members spent over two years and thousands upon thousands of hours into Phaeton 2 to make it operational and race across the United States. During the race, the car fell off the road and into a ditch. The body was severely damaged and an axle/wheel was damaged in the accident. Members were able to fix the car and make it operational within 30 minutes.

If you could make one thing that would improve the world, what would it be?
PrISUm hopes to change people’s idea of what a car should be. Our new vehicle, Penumbra, has 4 seats and a rear hatch to store grocery items. This will be the world’s first solar utility vehicle, and we hope to make people think differently about what a vehicle can do for you. Once completed, the car will travel to all 99 counties in the state of Iowa, demonstrating the ease of use and feasibility of electric/solar electric vehicles.

Tell us about yourself.
I’m 29 years old, and I’ve been a cosplayer since High School, though back then I didn’t do as much as I do now. I didn’t do too much sewing, in fact my first cosplay was made up of mostly bits and pieces from Goodwill. Then I started learning how to sew, first with a few Kimonos, then with some simple outfits. I still pieced together things from Goodwill, and it wasn’t until I had graduated college that I really took off on making cosplays and costumes. I even made a medieval outfit with a gathered skirt for a wedding I was in, and it turned out fantastic. I’ve been getting better and making improvements with my accessory work and fabric work, even though sometimes I tend to not get my own measurements exactly right even when I use a pattern. I love to create, and cosplay has been a great way to meet people that are just as nerdy and dedicated to crafting as I am. I’ve made so many more friends in the community and I’m so happy for it.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I am presenting some of my cosplays as well as probably bringing in a new cosplay to sew and assemble so people can see how its done. I have a lot of outfits spanning a lot of video games and anime and my list is ever growing. I try to plan outfits that I can be comfortable in, or will function in both hot and cold climates. My current cosplay that I have recently nearly completed, is Lady Three from the game Drakengard 3, and I will either be wearing her or at least bringing in her armor to show people what Worbla can do. She so far is my greatest success as I have worked really hard to make the outfit spectacular.

What inspires you to make?
Bringing a character to life or designing an outfit is fun and frustrating. For me, I have a long list of outfits I want to do but not as much sometimes of an idea for how to do them. I sometimes feel like my skills aren’t on par with some others out there so I get afraid to do certain outfits. However in the past two years at least I’ve been inspired to take some risks with outfits that just simply called to me, and that’s brought me out of my comfort zone making things I never thought I would make. Seeing video games or shows I really like, characters that have amazing or crazy personalities or that I can relate to. A lot of the characters I cosplay are a little twisted but I like it that way, and I like doing characters that are a little obscure.

What is something you’ve made that you are most proud of, and why?
There’s a lot of outfits I’ve made but I have to say one of my best ones is a dress I had sewn together based off the main character from a game called Fatal Frame IV. I had cut the pieces out so gingerly, and spent over six hours sewing everything together, the trim, the lace and then getting all my accessories in place. I have a few antique cameras I actually use as props for this outfit and one other as well and it just came together so well. More recently my outfit that I made armor for out of Worbla, a thermoplastic material you shape with heat, has turned out fantastic as well and I really feel like my skills have grown considerably since that dress.

Why do you consider yourself a Maker?
I love to make outfits, costumes, cosplay. I consider myself a maker because each outfit I create and put together I give the character I’ll be portraying a life outside of their normal medium. I can spend hours creating a costume, and that can include finding a pattern, getting materials, gathering ideas and reference pictures.

Tell us about one of your failed projects.
I had some scissor blades I had originally made out of smooth foam. I drew up a pattern and cut them out. Then after I had glued them I was going to paint them and figured spray paint would make it quick and easy. I get set up and suddenly the spray paint is melting the foam as I started trying to use it.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Never stop creating. Never stop learning, and be open to accepting help and criticism.

Tell us about your group.
Vrakas Labs (or V/Labs) is our “brand” for all of the projects our family works on. For as long as we can remember, we’ve been inventing – air cannons and electric go-karts, Arduino projects, drones, rockets, custom computers, circuit boards, furniture and wood projects, welding projects — whatever looks cool! We now have enough gear to get most projects off the ground and we continue to look for new projects and new learning opportunities. Tim is a high school senior, aiming for a degree in electrical engineering. Ben is a sophomore, a LEGO master, CAD design guru, and hardcore Gamer. Andy is a middle school teacher, and enthusiastic amateur.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
This year we’re featuring a custom liquid-cooled PC, a DIY electric bike, presenting some 3D printing design ideas, and a vintage prop reproduction any hardcore Trekkie will recognize. We also will have a variety of DIY camera gear, and a custom gimbal system.

What inspires you to make?
There are an infinity of cool things that you can be the creator of, and it’s up to you to decide what it is you want to create. You never know when you will be the inventor of the best thing since sliced bread.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Focus on projects that are equal parts fun and challenge. Show off your skills while learning new ones. Also, collaborate on projects with other people. Swapping skills and working together can be a lot of fun.

If you could make one thing that would improve the world, what would it be?
I would make it easier for students and learners to develop their skills. Everyone should have access to a makerspace where they can personally work to solve the problems in their life.

Tell us about yourself.
I have a strong sense of wonder and like to understand things. And when one is curious about things, one tends to investigate them. I therefore spend a fair amount of time reading, poking things, and asking questions. I also reuse paper towels, dance oddly, and look at the sky a lot. Sometimes all at once.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I am looking forward to demonstrating how to make fossilized snowflakes, and to showing a selection of some that I’ve photographed and made into little picture blocks.

What inspires you to make?
Science as art is an enjoyable motivator for me.

What is something you’ve made that you are most proud of, and why?
I made my washing machine work again for six dollars after I did an internet search for “washing machine” and “horrible noise”.

Why do you consider yourself a Maker?
Seems to me that we are all Makers.

Tell us about one of your failed projects.
If one looks at any given project as an experiment, then there is no failure. But philosophy aside, it was a failed attempt at a science project that set me on to fossilizing snowflakes… I tried to preserve some snowflakes one winter, following some supposedly-easy instructions, and everything just turned into sticky mush. Repeatedly. I found it highly irritating and I felt challenged. So I did a little more research, and did many many hours of trial-and-error experimentation and data collection until I started getting results I was happy with. I’m still experimenting; in fact, every attempt is an experiment. That’s part of the fun.

For more info check out the 2016 profile page for Out Snowflaking.

Tell us about yourself.
I am an artist in residence, tile maker, early childhood art educator and a yoga instructor.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I will be presenting my Story Tile display. It was my thesis project for my art education masters.

What inspires you to make?
Making things gets me excited about life. The goal is to see art in everything. I have a spiritual connection to my grandfather who was an inventor.

Why do you consider yourself a Maker?
I am a maker in the way I manipulate phenomena in the exploration of materials.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Be inspired by the marketing skills of our fellow Americans. We are brilliant at marketing and design. Americans can market everything from breathing to bricks.

For more info check out the 2016 profile page for Heather Eiden * Craft Me Calm.

Tell us about yourself.
I am a collage artist from Wauwatosa and I have been creating for about 15 years. Even though I took art classes in college, I never got the knack of illustration. To scratch that creative itch, I turned to collage, a form that (mostly) uses existing text and images. Recently I’ve begun leveraging my body of work into images for greeting cards. These can be found on Etsy and in several area retailers.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I’m showing my line of cards and I’ll be explaining my creative method.
I’ll also have several large, decorative and some smaller original pieces on display so people can see and touch the results of my work.

I’ll have visitors participate in making several collaborative (or crowd-sourced) works of paper on wood. I’ll supply a stack of magazines and glue/water solution and people will be able to apply images and text to complement what other have done before. I’m hoping for a strange results.

What inspires you to make?
You might say that I hack the worthless words and images that commercial media throws at us everyday. I want to scoop up fragments of that trash and make something beautiful, macabre, sensual or ironic out of it and I want the viewer to share in the wonder elicited by this re-contextualization of everyday media garbage. I work only with found material like scrap plywood and old magazines.

Why do you consider yourself a Maker?
I am executing my vision and offering it to the world to inspire, to mock or to tease meaning out of the inherently meaningless. I do what I do for it’s own sake. I am the boss of my time and my energy. I don’t have remarkable skills or technical know-how but I think that simple tearing, cutting and gluing elevates humble or toxic junk to ingredients of communication. I also want other people to see what is possible and to maybe use my methods for different purposes.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Until recently I though that the term “Maker” was reserved for people doing high tech stuff like 3d printing or building robots. At some point, maybe it was the TED talk or maybe it was an article in Wired, I got a more liberal view of the term “Maker”. So you make physical things and if you’re down on yourself like I was, don’t try to overcome through some act of will. Just use your skills again and and again and you’ll begin to want to share your work. You probably know way more than you think you do.

If you could make one thing that would improve the world, what would it be?
I worked out a system that would use carrion animals like flies, and beetles to strip the flesh from the recently deceased, leaving only the bones. The next of kin, if that person had the desire, could keep the skull or the femurs as mementos of the loved one. If possessing the bones of dead relatives seems disgusting, the skull could be engraved and stored in a crypt–just like in the old country.

Why do this? Cut down on the demand for cemetery plots. Bring us closer to the reality of death. Use natural processes to dispose of corpses. Generate complete skeletons for study. Make a non-destructive way to practice some forms of forensic medicine.

Seriously, I worked out the rate of decomposition in ideal conditions when aided by XYZ species of insect and rodent–and to leave a 100% compete, undamaged skeleton. Not many people are interested in talking about this.

For more info check out the 2016 profile page for Basement Graphics.

Tell us about yourself.
I was born 50 years too late. Missed the whole tinkerer generation. When I was young I tore apart anything that wasn’t nailed down. I come from a mechanically-inclined family. I joined the Makerspace several years ago to have access to machines I didn’t have. I still haven’t finished the project, I joined the Makerspace to complete, but I’m sure having a great time learning a lot and meeting like-minded people.

What are you presenting at Maker Faire Milwaukee?
I am presenting a art project that includes neon painted items, crafted projects and flow-dynamics. I started prepping for this right after the 2015 Maker Faire. It looks great in my head, hoping it looks that good in the Dark Arts Room.

What inspires you to make?
Making is a very loose term. Much of my time is making parts and repairing items for family, friends, fellow-makers and organizations. This year’s Dark Arts Project inspired me because I think it looks cool.

What is something you’ve made that you are most proud of, and why?
There isn’t just one thing I’m most proud of. I really enjoy the process of making and helping others do the same.

Why do you consider yourself a Maker?
I can take a project from thought through its completion. My wife says I can fix anything. It might not look good but it’s gonna work.

What tips or advice would you give to someone who wants to become a Maker?
Just do it.

Tell us about one of your failed projects.
There has been quite a bit of trial and error while working on my Dark Arts Project this year. There have been multiple trips to the dump and recycling center.

If you could make one thing that would improve the world, what would it be?
Go back to creating products that are not planned to be obsolete shortly thereafter.

For more info check out the 2016 profile page for Adrian Volden.

« Previous Page — Next Page »