Makerspace

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Maker Spaces are common place in most libraries these days, so we thought it time we got one too!

Although we are at the very early stages of planning for a space, we now have equipment available to use at the Ōamaru Public Library.   Please read the information below to find out more about what equipment we hold OR you can join us on one of our Maker Space Monday events (last Monday of every month): workshops that use our equipment (including our sewing machine and over locker) as well as our 3D printers and Cricut equipment.

You can also book a time to have sole use of some of our equipment.   Please contact Debbie on 027 292 1275 or email her: dpriceewen@waitaki.govt.nz

 

3D Printing

Can I get something 3D printed?

Yes you can!  If you are confident about what you are doing and you already have your design prepared, you can email our Digital Services Librarian, Debbie, with your file: dpriceewen@waitaki.govt.nz or give her a ring on 027 292 1275 to organise a drop off.

 

I'm new to 3D printing, how can you help me?

We can provide you with a Chromebook and we would encourage you to explore the pre-made designs on Thingverse and Printables.com.  If you would like to design your own object, then we recommend you use Tinkercad - especially if you are a beginner.  For the more advanced, there is Autodesk Fusion 360 which has a free trial period but is fairly pricey.

What printers do you have?

We have three Prusa I3 Mk3S 3D printers (one with a 0.6 mm nozzle and two with a 0.4 mm nozzle). 

Pricing

Pricing is based on the weight of the finished design including structural support ($0.20 per gram) + print fee to cover general wear and tear of the printers ($1.00).

Materials

Our current choice of filament is PLA - a biodegradable, non-toxic (but not food friendly) filament.  You are welcome to bring your own filament if you have specific design properties in mind.  We source our filament from a local supplier and have a range of colours.  We currently stock:

If you would like to bring in your own filament we can accept the following:

PET/PETG

Prusa's PC Blend

Flex

CPE

Nylon

XT (ColorFabb) - food safe

HT (ColorFabb)

Composite materials

PVA and BVOH

nGen

T-Glase

Cricut

We have a Cricut Maker 3, an Easy Press 2 heat press for making heat transfer projects like tee shirts and tote bags and a Cricut Mug Press. 

 

Cricut Maker 3 can cut so many materials we can't actually list them all here, so we recommend you go to Cricut's MATERIALS LIST to find out what material to choose and which blade is recommended with what cutting pressure and multi-cut settings you'll need to set the machine at. 

 

We recommend you familiarise yourself with this list before choosing a project to work on. 

 

Please also note that Cricut Maker 3 uses Smart Materials - materials that do not require a cutting mat.  If you are not using Cricut's smart materials or you want to use non-Cricut brand materials, be sure you know what tools you'll need to use and the mat you'll need to put your materials on (see what mats we've got, below).

The Cricut can now be booked for $5 an hour.  You will need to bring your own materials and a laptop with Windows 10 as we are still working on getting a dedicated PC and printer for the Cricut.

  • Cricut rotary blade
  • Cricut basic engraving tip
  • Cricut single scoring wheel
  • Cricut premium fine point blade
  • Cricut deep point blade
  • Cricut Midas foil tip (fine, medium, bold)
  • Cricut core essential tool set
  • Cricut roll holder (for extra-long materials)
  • Cricut 30.5 x 30.5cm or 12" x12" mats: fabric mat, light grip mat, standard grip and strong grip
  • Cricut basic perforation blade
  • Cricut knife blade
  • Cricut fine debossing tip

Easy Press 2 - comes with a Cricut Medium Easy Press Mat

 

Cricut Mug Press - please bring your own sublimation mug blanks and infusible ink and other materials.

Sewing Machine and Over-locker

Please let us know if you would like to book this equipment for use in the library.

Maker and Artist Links

We thought we'd bring together some useful links that might enhance your creativity and work in with some of the projects you may be working on in our Maker Space.  A lot of these resources are provided by libraries from around the world and offer access to millions of public domain images in their digital library collections, which users are encouraged to explore, download, cut up and and reuse.  Other digital libraries, such as Art Institute Chicago offer thousands of images to explore and be inspired by.  As always, make sure you double check that the images you use are copyright free.

1) The British Library's Image Collection on flickr

2) UCLA Children's Book Collection

3) Internet Archive

4) Art Institute Chicago

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