One of our members is working on a method of making 3d engravings on the laser cutter. He has been experimenting with various methods and one he has come up with is multi pass engravings. Parts of the image that you want deeper get engraved on multiple passes, which removes a bit of material each time. Here's a test engrave, note that the resolution is low in order to save time during the test, actual engravings can be more detailed.

Including Hands-On Training with the Spirulina Kit!

Taught by AlgaeLab.org Founder and NASA Scientist Dr. Aaron Wolf Baum

Sunday, March 4th , 2012
Ace Monster Toys 
6050 Lowell Street #214
Oakland, CA (near Berkeley and Emeryville)

Grow plentiful food and fuel in small spaces.
Algae reproduce exponentially, but do not require land, soil, or fresh water. They can be harvested every day, producing much more than land crops, and some of them (e.g. Spirulina) have amazing health benefits as food.

You can grow algae too — in your own home — and we will show you how!

Come to the Hands-On Home-Grow Algae workshop series. Go home with your own Personal Photo-BioReactor and everything you need to grow your own Spirulina superfood algae in your own home!

One personal algae photo-bioreactor in one sunny window can provide enough spirulina to significantly supplement the diet of one person every day. Larger installations can provide biofuel and organic fertilizer, and perform important services, such as cleaning up water, and eliminating greenhouse gases from exhaust.
In addition to an introduction to an overview of algae farming, and a discussion of the practicalities of setting up your own farm, we will have an extended hands-on section of the workshop where I will show you how to set up and run your personal photo-bioreactor kit — it’s easy!

Special offer: along with the workshop, all participants will be able to take home a one liter bottle of live spirulina culture to start your own tank or pond — this alone is worth the course fee…

Course Fees:

Workshop plus Spirulina Kit: $299

Workshop only: $99

The kit includes tank, heater, air pump, air diffuser, air tubing, valves, starter and make-up nutrient powder mix, pH testing, harvesting tube, harvesting cloth, clips, plug timer, and 1 liter live spirulina – everything you need to get started growing your own superfood spirulina!

Send payment via PayPal (payment@algaelab.org), or by mailing a check to:
ALGAELAB.ORG
420 Fairmount Ave
Oakland, CA 94611

To receive the personal photo-bioreactor at the workshop, be sure to pay at least a week before the course date so that materials can be ordered… See you there!

If you have any questions, write them at contact@algaelab.org

Tekla Labs will be announcing a 3D Printed Design Competition at Ace Monster Toys. Some of the designs already produced by them and their affiliates will be presented. They will demonstrate the Cell-Scope (CellScope Inc.), a cell-phone based microscope constructed of 3D printed parts as well as off-the-shelf components, and a centrifuge built from an egg-beater! More plans and information are available at: http://teklalabs.org/ and more information about the Cell-Scope is available here:

http://cellscope.berkeley.edu/ .

One of AMT's members, Louise, used Smaug the Lasercutter to make some lamps as Christmas gifts the other day. They turned out nicely and I thought that I'd share a picture of them.

Good job, Louise!

- Al

Tonight at the meeting we did some tests of engraving images into cookies...results a little blurry, and burnt cookie flavor in one case...but it's still neat.

Last saturday the Fixit Clinic came out to Ace Monster Toys and helped people fix their broken things. Among the items fixed were a casette player, roomba, car stereo, and pair of binoculars. Overall the event was a great success, and I think something we'd like to repeat in the future! Check out some more pictures as well.

Ace Monster Toys was approached recently to appear on Make: Live as part of their "Hackerspace Roadshow." As their page says, Make: Live is a streaming show and tell show from people at Make magazine. Given that I own every issue of Make and, of course, all officers of a hackerspace are unable to turn down free press, we agreed to be on their show.

Make: Live had done a first Hackerspace Roadshow this last year, profiling a number of other hackerspaces around the United States, including our sister (cousin?) space in San Francisco, Noisebridge. This time, they profiled Ace Monster Toys (of Oakland!), Hive13 in Cincinnati, Perth Artifactory in Perth, and Tokyo Hackerspace in, you guessed it, Tokyo! A little more international this time.

For the show, they asked us to give a brief tour of the space, show our coolest tool, maybe give a little history, and then show some projects. I gave the tour (under some duress) and Stacy, Chris, and Atom Bomb all showed their projects (which are far cooler than my touring ability).

You can see all of the shows right now on the Make: Live web page. The videos are also up on Youtube. I've put the AMT video inline below or you can watch it there.

I also want to say, for the record, that the truth of samsaric suffering is revealed when you are forced to watch a video of yourself.

-- Al

Ace Monster Toys is getting featured on Make: Live's Hackerspace Roadshow stream. Read details and links to watch below: 

Join us for a Hackerspace Roadshow tonight on Make: Live! This time, we have our passports ready to be stamped because we're taking the show international. We'll be checking in with Perth Artifactory in Australia and Tokyo Hackerspace in Japan. In the US, we'll hear from Ace Monster Toys in Oakland, CA, Hive13 in Cincinnati, OH, and NYC Resistor right here in Brooklyn, NY. Each hackerspace will give us a tour and show off a few of their members' projects. Perth Artifactory has a 30,000 volt MIDI instrument they call the Arcophone, which they'll play for us. Tokyo Hackerspace will show off their LOL Shield builds and how how they melt lead for their radiation detection experiments. Ace Monster Toys will show us their huge 100 watt laser cutter, LED blinking art, and a Minecraft Creeper bot. Hive13 will take us around their impressive space, will talk about their lock picking forensics group and their RGB LED window. And NYC Resistor members will demo their projects, including an Inspector Gadget inspired pop up book, a TV-B-Gone NES Light Gun, remote controlled HAM radio base station, and stylish RFID-blocking wallets. We'll have all that, a giveaway from Digi-Key, and so much more tonight on Make: Live.

Details about this episode:

Make: Live 21: Hackerspace Roadshow II

Wednesday November 30th at 9pm ET/6pm PT

Watch at makezine.com/live or on UStream

Please join us in the UStream chat or mark tweets with #makelive to interact live with the show. 

Thank you and I hope we'll see you in the chat tonight!

--Matt

Come to Ace Monster Toys to get your broken stuff un-broken! Bring electronics, appliances, computers, toys, etc. in a non-working state, and we will assess, disassemble, and possibly repair them. We'll provide workspace, specialty tools, and guidance to help you take apart and troubleshoot your device. If it turns out it's not possible to fix, or we are lacking replacement parts, you'll still learn more about the inner workings and what exactly failed in it.

Led by Peter Mui, an MIT-trained engineer who has put on several of these clinics to great success in the past.

Cost: Free, open to the public

When: Saturday, December 3rd, from 1-5pm

Where: Ace Monster Toys Global Headquarters

6050 Lowell St #214, Oakland, CA 94608. Look for the blueish building, buzz "# 2 1 4" on the door panel to get in.

More information:

• Official Facebook page
• Interview with Peter Mui
• Watch a video of a previous Fixit Clinic