In 2016, Adam Savage went on what he called his “Maker’s Tour,” visiting several makerspaces around the country. His very first stop? Intermediate Unit 1, whose program was SO impressive.
Learn more about IU1 and one of its instructors, John Kopp, who led the school’s involvement in Project Egress.
Bio: John Kopp is a Fab Lab teacher at Intermediate Unit 1 Educational Campus at Waynesburg. IU1 provides education and related services to students in grades preK–12 who are in need of highly supportive and comprehensive special education services that are not available in the public school setting. Intermediate Unit 1 has done many exciting projects with their students to enhance their learning experience and unlock their full potential through the use of IU1’s stationary and mobile Fab Labs.
PART #14: LEFT HAND DOUBLE LATCH ASSEMBLY WITH PULLER
Artist Statement: “The IU1 Fab Lab serves students in southwestern Pennsylvania. The IU1 build crew for this special Apollo 11 project consisted of 5 elementary special education students that were present in the Fab Lab for extended school year programming. The crew began the build with the Fab Lab teacher explaining this special Apollo 11 classified project and its significance. Through this special opportunity, IU1 introduced students to the IU1 Fab Lab and digital fabrication. These 5 students had previously seen 3D printers, but none had ever used a 3D printer or had ever prepared 3D printer files. Project Egress offered a great way to discuss the many facets of 3D printing from build strength based on infill, use of supports and different support material, print time, print orientation and more. It was also a place to begin conversations about other methods of making and machines within the IU1 Fab Lab. These IU1 special education students enjoyed their time learning about 3D printing and participating in this exciting project for the anniversary of Apollo 11.”
Tested fans know Sean Charlesworth well. Beginning with the Inventern competition in 2013 (which he won), Sean has made regular and frequent appearances on Tested: everything from shop tips to 3D-printing instructions to Show and Tells. As our resident expert on 3D printing, it was a given that Sean would be one of the first people we approached as a contributor to Project Egress. It was equally a given that Sean would not only make a part, he would make a FUNCTIONAL part.
Read on for more about Sean and his thoughts about the project.
Bio: I am a designer, fabricator and fixer – often using 3D printing. For the last six years I have worked online with Adam Savage’s Tested doing builds, shop tips and equipment reviews. I have also done design work for Tippett Studio, Formlabs and Dremel. Prior to my current work I was the Repair Technician for the NYU Film & TV program for many years – rebuilding motion picture cameras and production equipment.
Artist Statement: “I was honored to be selected as a participant in Project Egress, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Replicating the hatch was particularly exciting for me — I had obsessed over it during a previous trip to the National Air and Space Museum and taken many photos of all the intricate engineering.
Since my ‘medium’ is often 3D printing and we were supplied with the necessary 3D files I knew that I needed to concentrate on the fit and finish to make my latch stand out. I made some modifications to the 3D files so all the parts would fit properly coming off a 3D printer. I chose to finish the latch with a ‘blueprint’ look in honor of both the NASA engineers who designed the parts but also Adam’s MythBusters days and his love of the design process.
While the finished parts were not required to work, how could I NOT make it work? Using lubrication in key spots and some real hardware, the latch actuated well. This was not my first foray into building space equipment as I had previously modeled a detailed replica of the Mercury capsule, escape tower assembly and portions of the Atlas rocket for the short film “T-Minus,” which used all practical effects. I hope to return to more space replicas – maybe I’ll have to do the whole hatch for myself!”
Matt Zigler turned his participation in Project Egress into a learning experience for some of the students of Bullis School BITlab, using a Shopbot CNC router to carve the part out. Luckily, they went the sturdy route, as their outer window withstood quite a pounding from Adam Savage during the live build.
Read on to learn more about Matt, his students, and their part for Project Egress.
Bio: Matt Zigler is the coordinator of the Bullis School BITlab. In this role he teaches making courses such as Making for Social Good and Iteration and Design. He also works closely with content area teachers to help them replace tests and papers with hands-on, meaningful, learning experiences and writes about them on his blog. Matt has an MFA in Painting and incorporates technology and digital elements into his own artwork.
About Bullis BITLab: Located in the Gerald L. Boarman Discovery Center, the BITLab is a campus hub for STEM activity. The Makerspace for robotics and high tech design is a place where creative individuals can find the tools to build almost anything. This space is the home for 3D and resin printers, vinyl and laser cutters, sewing machines, and workstations. Learning in a Makerspace is more than just learning how to use those tools, it is about learning how to create new things, solve problems creatively, and design objects and experiences that can change lives. This is learning that is truly meaningful and impactful.
The adjacent Fab Lab features such equipment as a bench grinder, welding station, CNC router, milling machine, vacuum former, ducted spray booth, drill press, injection molding machine, furnace and much more.
But the true magic is in the creativity and innovation that the space and the equipment enables. From Spanish classes to leadership clubs, theater tech needs to math manipulatives, the BITlab regularly provides everything students and their teachers need to bring learning to life and build in three dimensions just about anything that can be imagined.
PART #8: OUTER WINDOW
Artist statement: “Being a K-12 educational space, what I loved about this project was being able to use it as a teaching moment with students in the Fab Lab. We got to discuss how digital fabrication works and how different it is from when these parts were originally created. The fact that digital files that were designed in one place were sent out to 40 plus different labs and makers who then returned the physical parts back to be assembled successfully in one afternoon is an amazing illustration of the power of digital fabrication and the maker community. This is the kind of understanding about how things can be accomplished in the 21st century that I want all of my students to understand and have access to.”
You may know our friend Sophy Wong from her appearance on Tested, but if you follow her on social, you know she worked on MythBusters Jr. as well. In this case, not only did she make a part for Project Egress, she jumped into the live build once it became obvious that it wouldn’t be completed by the time the museum closed for the day!
Read on to learn more about Sophy and to watch her build video.
Bio: Sophy Wong is a designer and maker whose projects range from period costumes to Arduino-driven wearable tech. She has been featured by Make: Magazine, Tested.com, Adafruit, and is a regular contributor to HackSpace Magazine. Sophy has spoken on wearable tech and design at Maker Faire Bay Area, Maker Faire New York, Teardown Portland, Seattle Mini Maker Faire, GeekGirlCon in Seattle, and at Microsoft.
Sophy documents her work at SophyWong.com and on her YouTube channel. Her book, Wearable Tech Projects, a compilation of 30 tutorials and articles about DIY wearable tech, is available from Raspberry Pi Press.
PART #34: BOTTOM 3 LINKAGE ASSEMBLY
Artist Statement: “Project Egress challenged me as a designer — how could I interpret my part and make it unique, while maintaining its dimensions and function? To start, I asked myself, what is its function? Our sculpture is not built to be a space-worthy hatch, but to celebrate Apollo, and make something inspiring with many different hands working together. Instead of replicating the original part with exact materials, I wanted to fuse new processes, 3D printing and technology, with hand-worked metal. I’d worked with these processes separately before, and it was exciting and challenging to combine them for the first time in one piece.
I made part number 34, one of the many linkages that connect around the perimeter of the hatch to allow the handle to actuate the door. My part is 3D printed in PLA, clad in brass, and soldered with silver and copper wire. I also added an NFC tag that can be scanned with a smartphone to pull up the Smithsonian’s webpage for Project Egress. I thought of this as being like a digital time capsule hidden inside the hatch sculpture.
After working on the piece for a few weeks, sending it away was bittersweet, but I’m so glad I captured my experience by making a video of my build. I’ll always be able to relive my journey through this amazing project, and visit our sculpture in The Smithsonian!”
Noah Rasor is a maker who may specialize in motorized creations (walking go karts, offroad couches, 40mph shopping carts just to name a few), but that didn’t stop him from turning aluminum scrap into a part for Project Egress!
Read on to learn more about Noah and to watch a video about his build.
About: Noah Rasor identifies firstly as a maker, but also as an educator, engineer, mad scientist, and tinkerer. He specializes in motorized creations (walking go karts, offroad couches, 40mph shopping carts), but also dabbles in siege engines and other creations (like a 22,000 rpm turbine powered pencil sharpener). He tinkers at his home shop, but also is a fab lab enthusiast, user, teacher, and manager. He documents his builds on his youtube channel and on his website.
PHOTO #23: BOTTOM LEFT PLATE ASSEMBLY
Artist statement: “I’ve always been fascinated with space… mainly in the fact that we are infinitesimally small and that you can see so many stars, moons, and planets that (for almost all of human history) have been completely impossibly unreachable. The Apollo missions were a tremendous step towards humans exploring the cosmos. To be selected as one of the few makers who were tasked with building a part of the 50th anniversary recreation of the Apollo hatch was incredibly amazing. I am super stoked to be a part of celebrating mankind’s extraterrestrial endeavors!”
Rich Lehrer turned the making of Project Egress Part#31 into a collaboration with his son, Max. Which we LOVE.
Read on for Rich’s backstory!
Artist Statement: “In 2013, when he was three, my son Max became one of the first recipients of a 3D printed prosthetic when a group of my 8th grade students and I from Brookwood School in Manchester, MA, created this functional “Robohand” device for him. This launched us into the world of 3D printing and over the past 6 years I have explored many authentic design initiatives with my students.
Interestingly, in the past few years, Max has also become interested in CAD designing and the use of 3D printing to solve real problems. When I mentioned the “Project Egress” project to him he expressed an interest in being involved and so he helped me download the files, slice them, and print them using Brookwood’s Ultimaker 2+ printer.”
We visit Rec Room’s developer headquarters to playtest an early build of Stunt Runner, the latest game update coming to Rec Room this week! Chatting with Rec Room’s Shawn Whiting and Cameron Brown, we discuss the new mechanics introduced here, user-created levels, and what’s next for Rec Room across all platforms.
After a particularly intense week, we regroup to talk about the ways in which we chilled and reset ourselves over the long labor day weekend. Norm recaps his trip to Galaxy’s Edge, Will read The Fall, and Adam shared his favorite cosplay he saw posted from Dragon*Con. Plus, an appreciation for the puppetry in the new Dark Crystal show.
If you spend ANY time on Tested.com, you know prop and costume maker Bill Doran very, very well. We actually did a search on our site and got SIX PAGES of results! He was one of the first people we called for Project Egress, and as always, he didn’t disappoint.
Read on to find out more about Bill’s contribution to our command module hatch.
Bio: Bill Doran is a prop and costume maker from Seattle, WA. He runs Punished Props Academy along with his wife Brittany and their amazing team. Bill and the gang create detailed tutorial videos and books designed to teach new cosplayers the skills they need to replicate their favorite props and characters from TV, film, comics, and video games.
PART #15-D: LEFT HAND LATCH ASSEMBLY D
Artist Statement: “The 3D files that we were provided for this project were stunning. I ended up printing those files on a high resolution SLA printer, but I wanted my parts to be more durable. I also wanted to get my hands a little dirty, so I made silicone molds from all of those printed pieces. From the molds I cast copies from a much more durable urethane resin. My new plastic parts were painted with a silver spray paint. For another challenge, I turned all of the pins out of steel on my lathe. I don’t have a ton of experience on the lathe and this was a perfect excuse to get some practice.”
World-class machinist Tom Lipton was given the option to produce one of three different parts for Project Egress. His choice was a very personal one, connecting to a decision he made in 1987 that changed his future.
Read on to learn why this project is so personal to Tom. (And yes, of course his part is fully functional. This is Tom Lipton, after all.)
Bio: Tom Lipton AKA Oxtoolco or sometimes even Mr Bozo is a lifelong metalworker. During the day Tom is on the cutting edge of science at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab providing technical solutions to scientists involved in fundamental research advancing human knowledge and building solutions to problems facing all humans. In an effort to preserve and advance trade knowledge and skills Tom has also authored two books on metalworking and engineering subjects as well as built a large metalworking following as Oxtoolco on YouTube. Tom is extremely passionate about the skilled trades that have provided him with such a rewarding career. This passion for the work permeates his life and the people he surrounds himself with. This extends to his personal life where he is more likely to be found in his workshop at home happily working away than anywhere else. Tom also holds six United States Patents for unique devices and has designed an array of equipment for the consumer product testing, laboratory equipment, medical devices and machine tool industries. He lives with his beloved wife and pesky dog in the San Francisco Bay area.
PART #9: VENT ASSEMBLY
Artist Statement: “When I was a kid growing up in California I remember going outside in the summer of 1969, looking up facing as close to east as I could, straining to catch a glimpse of the mighty Saturn booster carrying Apollo 11 as it lifted off. The rest of the family was back in the house watching the launch on an old black and white television. I had asked my dad which way Florida was so I could look in the right direction. At 8 years old I didn’t know that there was a slim to none chance I would be able to see the Saturn V blasting off on its way to the moon landing. This illustrates how focused the country was on the space program. Everybody was talking about it and felt like they were a part of the national effort to put a man on the moon. Kids didn’t want to be hedge fund managers, they wanted to be astronauts.
Fast forward to around 1987. At the time I was working as a welder machinist along with one of my great machining mentors. In the sweltering summer of the south I found myself in the Louisville, Kentucky, area on travel assignment for a special project. Exploring the local area on my time off I happed to visit the Kentucky science and technology center. I might not have gone there but my first choice was the Louisville Slugger factory tour which was jam packed so fate presented my alternate.
How fortunate that was. As I toured the museum I found a spacecraft related section which included a Gemini program capsule. I don’t remember how long I spent looking at the hatch mechanism but it was a while. I do have a strong memory of being fascinated by the complexity of the mechanism which is exposed on the interior of the hatch. Impressed enough so to snap a single photo of it that plays a strange part in this entire story.
Present day. I was contacted by Adam Savage of MythBusters fame. He was looking for makers to participate in a special project he cooked up. By the way when Adam calls you sit up and pay attention. Of course I’m interested tell me more was my quick answer.
Of all things Adam wanted to recreate the Apollo 11 unified hatch for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing using modern techniques and materials. My first impression was holy cow what are we signing up for. The hi-res picture of the interior of the hatch is certainly intimidating on its complexity and the sheer number of parts to fabricate.
Here is the eerie part. I was offered three assemblies to choose from for my part of the project. Keep in mind there are hundreds of individual parts and assemblies in the unified crew hatch. Of all those parts, and being nearly last in line to be offered a place on the project, it’s down to three parts and me. Out of those three parts that were left there is one assembly that in my opinion is iconic and stands out in stark contrast when you look at the hatch mechanism. It also happens to be what I took a single picture of back in 1987 at a little museum in Kentucky.
I feel a deep seated need to honor the men and women at North American and Grumman that carefully machined the actual parts used for the Apollo 11 hatch. I feel like I’m standing on the shoulders of those folks along with all the mentors and various tradespeople that taught me the craft. I am using many of tools and techniques I have learned from the people I have worked with during my journey in this trade. Many of my team mates that gave a piece of themselves, or a tool that make it possible for me to take on a project like this are no longer with us. In the finest old school traditions I use the tools and skills they gave me to fabricate this assembly and hopefully get that tiny nod of approval from workmates I truly respect and look up to.
There is no question in my mind that this vent assembly will work and function as the North American engineers intended. I could not take on something like this and not have it function as designed using as close to original materials, and techniques as possible. As I work through the different parts of the assembly they all seem to make sense, shapes, sizes, and proportions. Radii are just big enough to facilitate machining, Slots and grooves have the needed tool clearances. Things like that give me confidence I’m going in the right direction.
I chose this part not because it was safe and easy, but because it was my destiny. This part has been flying toward me since the dawn of time. Nothing I could do would prevent it intersecting my life. The quote below sums up my experience pretty nicely.”
We choose to go to the Moon…We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too. -JFK
