Having a maker space in a historical building is so cool.
After many months absence, our first night back at the DDO was dedicated to some clean-up. A new part of ylab is the DDO’s basement workshop, so we decided to attack it first.
Knows what these are, and can tell some parts are missing.
Getting into some of the old tool cabinets...
Some attendees of past ylab events at the DDO approached the site with a healthy amount of fear and trepidation. Not because of us – we’re the happy, friendly kind of crazy – but because of the state of road and driveway during construction and years of wear and tear.
Hillsview Drive. With real curbs. An a distinct lack of mud.
To...
On March 8 we signed our agreement with the Town of Richmond Hill to get the Ylab Maker Space back up and running in the basement of the administration building of the David Dunlap Observatory.
For ylab, it’s been over a year of paperwork, waiting, negotiating, board meetings and calls, getting insurance, and still taking care of tax...
We have (hopefully temporarily) retrieved our laser cutter and some other gear from our lair at the DDO so we can use it over the summer. After we get re-calibrated and back in operation, we’ll be scheduling some get-togethers.
It will take a couple of weeks as many of us are completing our own transitions – kids from school to camps,...
Richmond Green Library held their maker event on Saturday afternoon, March 11, and might not have been prepared for the ylab mayhem. Other exhibitors might have been content with a display table. We kind of… expanded. Out of control.
Hovercraft rides. They’re not just for kids.
People coming in through the entrance rotunda for a quiet...
Where can we find an alligator clip to ground out a screwdriver?
If you’re going to remove a fly-back transformer from an old TV, as shown here (we’re giving them credit because we took their picture), you first need to safely discharge what could be up to 30,000 volts in the tube. Hook up an alligator clip to the screwdriver, and...
Richmond Hill Public Library’s Richmond Green branch near Leslie and Elgin Mills. is hosting a Maker Event on Saturday, March 11 from noon until 5 PM, and Ylab will be there.
It’s a family event – ages 6 and up, according to the RHPL event listing. While you’re in the area, bring out your...
Anyone who’s watched an old Frankenstein movie – or almost any old black-and-white sci-fi movie – knows you can’t have a decent science lab without a Jacob’s ladder and its noisy, sparky electric arcs crawling up between two wires.
He would get a charge out of this.
Since we call ourselves ylab, member Craig felt...
What-seems-like-an-eternity ago (it was the beginning of October), we kicked off a light sabre(1) big shiny stick thing making class, using a new circuit board design engineered by ylab member Richard. It’s designed to handle the latest 5V, 144 LED per meter, multi-color light strips for lowest power and maximum brightness....
We had a great group show up for the Wed Oct 12 Arduino: What’s It All About? open house. Big thanks to members Jack, Richard, Pek, Ross and Paul for bringing in and sharing their creations, and as always, to Jay for loaning his light sabres.
We’re caving to popular demand and finally scheduling an Arduino hands-on class....