Making An Unboxing Video :: Electroforming Kit

We came home from San Diego Maker Faire with an awesome gift from our friends at Enchanted Leaves, and we made an unboxing video (our very first!) to share our electroforming kit!


And hey! Through Cyber-Monday, you can enjoy the sweet sale going on at Enchanted Leaves, where they sell beautiful jewelry, including electroformed designs by Nedda!

Making for a Masked Ball

Alex and Bambi made costumes, including masks, and props, for the Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade. From the Masquerade website... "Costumes fitting our theme are required. Imaginative costumes highly recommended." They were designing, sewing, sculpting, cutting, gluing, painting, researching, and happily anticipating this moment, and the event ahead, for days and days.

Sewn into the fabric of Bambi's dress are tiny LEDs that light up and twinkle, like fireflies.



Costumes and props are finished, they have their forms and driving directions... so off they go!

Here are some glimpses of the making of costumes, masks, and other details... and if you like sewing, design, art, robots, cosplay, STEAM education, electronics, programming, 3D printing, CNC routing, woodworking, metalworking, all kinds of making, please follow BOoMNerds on Instagram! Thank you.

Alex is always carrying around one, or more, sketchbooks. And they are full of concepts, designs, tests, ideas, and beautiful art.

His masks begin in a sketchbook, then move into plaster, which he can use to build a custom fit. Then comes sculpting the modeling in clay, in this case, so he can vacuum-form the actual mask.

The texture of the vacuum-formed plastic has a great effect, so Alex didn't bother sanding it, and went straight to the paint.

A lot of testing and experimenting went into the wings. These, Alex modeled after the wings of a cicada, and he hand-cut them from foamcore... the same handy material William used to make Prince Phillip's shield for the Sleeping Beauty musical.

Drying rack... which happens to be a box William is constructing for one of his skeletons, but that's another story.

These are Bambi's finished wings! Alex is testing them for placement on her dress. Bambi designed and made her dress. We need more pictures... I want to show, between all the layers of tulle in her skirt, the fireflies!

Alex designed his outfit, too, and he and William sewed it.

Also out of Alex's sketchbook and research, came the designs for this prop sword. Alex handed his drawings over to William who modeled 11 separate parts, including this handle and pommel, in 3D Studio Max, MudBox, and MeshMixer (Autodesk, whenever you would like to sponsor our club, Benevolent Order of Makers, we would be honored.) The parts were 3D printed from William's renderings, glued together, sanded, and painted. The cool part... it's a handle, with a jewel glued on, and a scabbard, but there is no actual sword. It was made to safely pass through security without alarming anyone. A thorough prop prop.


Alex twisted the wire detail to go around the glass jewel, and finished the prop by wrapping Pearl cotton around the handle and a section of the scabbard. You can also see the sash William sewed.

This is the beautiful mask Bambi made. I love the floating jewels. There are more parts, more details... and we're still cleaning up! The creativity is wonderful, but the collaboration is what really excites me. It's exciting, too, to hear them talk about how much they learn with each new project, and how much it inspires them for the next project.

We Are Making Arts

No one has seen the dining table, for weeks! We've been making art.

Alex is applying glaze to the ceramic forms he made. With this fine point stylus he discovered in a classroom locker, he can add elaborate illustrations and details to the sculpture he is making.

Back in November, Alex was sculpting the forms that he's glazing, now.

And in November I was busy, too, designing shapes to make little shelves. William offered to take my drawings, and add them to software for operating our CNC router, Frankenrouter. It sounds simple, but it's a lot of work, and he adds his own attentive consideration to the process, including layout, formatting, scale, and measurements. I feel so lucky to have his thoughtful skills and own artistic perceptions to help me get things done.

Then comes taking what William finished, and loading it into Mastercam... a notoriously fickle, yet indispensable operating system for CNC milling and routing. Now we have three artists and makers on my little project. I never underestimate the time and frustration some of my brilliant ideas can command! Fortunately, Geoff relishes a bit of tinkering and puzzle solving. His unique skills are always in demand, and much appreciated.

Maria, Emma, Amira, and Sarah~

When we celebrated Maria's birthday, it didn't take much more than paper and markers to make the party fun. Artfully so.

I love this collaborative, engaged activity... how it evolves and is interactive, but also spontaneous. Sometimes, art can be private and personal, need it's own space, but there is something energizing and stimulating about sharing space, too. The exchange affords opportunity for developing new skills, new ideas.

Thanks to William and Geoff, my little shelves are cut, and glued, and now, I sand. And sand. And sand. I actually enjoy this part.

And this part, too! Painting my cat shelf with a chalkboard surface paint! These little shelves are for holding tiny things, and are completely inspired by the ones I saw in Lauren's home. Of course, I slipped in another New England mention... the goodness has become ingrained in me!

Besides sculpting and ceramics, Alex is painting, drawing, working on his life drawing. And I would love to post more on this, but, to quote myself, "Sometimes, art can be private and personal, need it's own space." For now, just this peek.

Just before her birthday, Maria turned a corner of her room into a gallery, with her own work, and friends'.

This Guy

Benevolent Order of Makers is proud to share some exciting news from our club member, artist, scientist, mentor, and all around awesome friend, Grant! In his own words...

"Finally, after all the trials and tribulations pertaining to admittance into the credentialing program at CSUSM, I can celebrate!

I'M IN.

Also... Some news that I've been dying to share! A while ago, I interviewed for the NOYCE scholarship, a $12,000 scholarship specifically for STEM educators. (That's science, technology, engineering, and math for you laymen) I'm not sure how many applied, but with that kind of dosh on the line, it must've been more than a few. Anywho...
I GOT IT.
Grant the science guy!"

It has been our pleasure to know Grant since 2011, when he began participating in our Young Maker’s Club, Benevolent Order of Makers, as a student maker, and fellow mentor. Our members typically begin as students and over time can become mentors in the club. Grant joined us as an enthusiastic and dedicated young maker, attending Maker Faires, in San Mateo, San Diego, and Encinitas, volunteering, demonstrating, and most recently developing curricula and activities to present with BOoM at the Barnes & Noble Mini Maker Faire 2015. His creative skills, coupled with his education, and his personal interest in promoting and teaching STEAM education have made him an indispensable member of our club. We have enjoyed seeing his progression from participant as an artist and student to becoming a mentor, and teacher with a great capacity to reach out with innovative projects, and an empathetic approach to communicating with young people.

All of his mad skills and hard work are heading with him into graduate school and studying education, then he will inspire even more people in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math! As BOoM founders, we've had some time to think about Grant, his projects, and his participation in this club, and it's been a pleasure to consider why we are so excited about him being a teacher. Grant has the happy gift of being innately curious and intelligent, as well as educated. In our club activities, at Make events, he works diligently, energetically, cheerfully; the effect is inspiring for everyone in his company. Grant embodies the values and aspirations our club holds to support and promote opportunities for learning through art, design, science and engineering, so that we can make things, teach and learn new skills, exchange ideas, and enjoy a celebration of learning for people of all ages and abilities.


Grant, congratulations on passing those entrance exams, and earning The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship. Mr Noyce was a remarkable thinker, with innovative ideas, that he applied to do great things, benefiting all. It seems to me that with all that "dosh" on the line, they chose wisely when the program selected you for their scholarship.

Make BIG Puppet Robots

The second Laputa robot, this time the one from the Laputan garden, is finished and visiting Fanime!
We love every new picture and update Grant shares from Fanime, where he's the Laputa robot from Castle In The Sky, a Miyazaki creation, like Kaonashi... the No Face spirit.

This grand cosplay project began with Grant last year, and has been supported by BOoM with William, Alex, Geoff, Clark, Maria, and Natalie. The last time we checked in there was a form built to create the paper mâché torso, and Geoff had begun welding parts for the aluminum frame. Here is an updated Make post about building the second robot from Laputa...

The first head was solid foam, and heavy. For this second head, William modeled the form using 3DMax, then let Frankenrouter CnC each layer. This made a hollow, and lighter head.


Light and hollow. William using his head!

Here is the robot's chest, in paper mâché... you can see the foam form beneath the paper torso.

For the face plate on the robot's head, William modeled parts on the computer, then ran those designs through the 3D printer. This new design was made with holding electronics in mind.

Another development in the second robot was to make sleeve cases for arm and leg segments. This improvement made the arms and legs stronger, more flexible, and easier to manipulate like a puppet. Muslin was cut, then sewn with separate compartments for each foam segment.

More 3D designing and printing by William. This will be the robot's badge.

This is the crest that is on the Laputan badge. William created it on 3D Max, and then 3D printed it.

The garden robot has two full arms, without the spikes of the warrior robot. So, they made new arms and a second hand.

Painting time! The budget is small and tight, and we feel thankful when we can score a bargain, like finding just the right color by mixing all the leftover house paints from the garage.

The ideal shade of Garden Robot Green.

The surface of the badge is aluminum, and the frame and emblem are 3D printed, then finished.

Last year's head next to this year's model. Now there is room behind the eye plate to add electronics.

Inside the eye plate, William rendered plates and coverings to make the eyes, and add supports for Geoff's LED lights. Geoff programmed the lights to flash in the same sequence from the fox squirrel scene in Castle in The Sky. William made a slow motion screen capture of the scene, so they could replicate the light pattern.

Thank goodness for this lighter head, with it's special features and adaptations. Along with the new frame Geoff welded, the whole robot puppet weighs less, and is stronger, more stable than Version I.

Before Grant left for Fanimecon, Clark and William helped Grant do a test run, assembling the parts, and trying it all on.

The aluminum frame comes apart for easier transporting. It attaches to the backpack frame, which Grant wears. With this design Grant is able to act as the puppeteer, moving and animating the big robot.


A little troubleshooting to get the pelvis section secure to the frame called for more Velcro, and more hot glue. But, confidence is high! This was Thursday, the day Grant and Suki would get to San Luis Obispo, and the next day to San Jose.



Bringing everything together... much easier with friends. Check out the feet, too. This version is designed and built so that Grant slips his own feet into the robot's, and now he can walk in the robot's feet!

A twelve foot tall gardening robot. Beautiful.

Securing all the parts, and admiring the lighter weight, and more stable design.

Clark looks on as Grant slips into those feet.

Feeling the success! The robot looks fabulous in the garden!

Even transportation was taken into account when designing Version II, and the torso fits perfectly in the roof carrier, while limbs accordion nicely and fit in the car. Grant is clear for take-off!

Back home we were thrilled to see the first share from Fanime! Big Bots! Great making, BOoM!