This last week has been an amazing week of learning and inspiration. I've been diving deep into the world of making and 3D printing and I've gone down some rabbit holes.

It all started with lamps. Well, technically it started with a free treadmill.

It was bulk trash week and my neighbor had a treadmill she had left out for bulk trash pickup.

I walked past it a few times, thinking about rescuing it and on about the fifth time I finally did. And unfortunately for my wife, ever since then my week has been filled with other commitments and it's sat in our courtyard ever since.

The reason I wanted it was for the motor. I had read an article in Make Magazine about making a windmill generator from a treadmill motor a few years ago and have been thinking about it for a long time.

Then I watched a video about a guy tearing down a treadmill to get access to all sorts of useful parts and it gave me more inspiration.

Finally, I thought, "how can I use the rails and other parts that most people just throw away?" That led my to thinking about a floor lamp.

I started researching to find inspiration for a lamp shade I could 3D print and eventually found a hanging lamp that was surrounded by stained glass parrots.

I am not going to attempt something like this and I'm still trying to figure out a lamp design, but I wanted to share my thought process and how I got to my topic for the week. Which I will share shortly.

Seeing that made me think about The Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. I love that place so much. I read a book a few years ago by one of the original Imagineers named Rolly Crump that was just a fantastic read about Disneyland's early days.

Anyway, seeing the parrots brought me back to a project I've always wanted to tackle. Animatronics.

For the past few days I have been researching animatronics, which led me to automata, which led me to clocks, which led me to coming up with a family project that we are going to start working on. A large Halloween display using animatronics.

It will require us learning a lot of different things like 3D modeling, mechanical engineering, coding, and I'd like to add some historical storytelling to it as well. I am really looking forward to seeing what we can come up with. 10 months isn't that long when we're talking a project this big.

Let's get into some of the things I learned/found while I've been going down the rabbit hole.

It's that time of the week! It's MAKER Monday! Every week, we'll share things about things we or others have made, interesting artistic creations, fun new knowledge, education in the maker community, and leave you with a weekly challenge!

Monday Maker Magic:

I came across this YouTube channel a year or so ago, but have really been getting into it the last few days.

I've really gotten interested in mechanical engineering and this man makes some really incredible things. He uses a lot of 3D printing and has both a Patreon where he shares all of his files with subscribers and a website where you can purchase them individually.

This video is what led me to really taking a deep dive into his work. he created a 3D printed mechanical clock, but in the video, he takes the time to talk about how a mechanical clock works, and the math involved in getting it to keep correct time.

It is such a beautiful piece of technology and I will be subscribing to his Patreon and printing the clock at some point.

Mechanical clocks are both complex and simple at the same time, and I love that the video describes in detail how they work and provides some whimsical options for the construction.

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Artistry in Action (Artist Spotlight):

Have you ever heard of Barnaby Dixon? he is a puppet artist who got interested in stop motion, but eventually saw its limitations and moved on to puppetry.

He uses so many different forms of technology in his creations. He uses mechanical linkages, 3D printing, black lighting. It's really incredible.

Here's a great short video about his history and progress.

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His YouTube channel is definitely worth a follow.

Knowledge Nuggets:

Researching animatronics led me to finding information about automata. If you've ever seen the movie Hugo, based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik, he was inspired by this automata.

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There are some pretty incredible videos out there, one documentary in particular really dives into the history of clockmaking and its relation to automata.

It was such an incredible form of engineering combined with art that it's almost a shame that they're no longer being made.

Yes, we have the technology for audio animatronics, and they are amazing. You can even buy them relatively cheaply all things considered, but those Chinese made Santas and jumping Halloween decorations pale in comparison to the engineering that was required to make automata.

I'd love to see someone revive the art form. Not me, but someone. I'm finally learning that there are only so many rabbit holes I can successfully go down.

Education Exchange:

I spend a lot of time thinking about learning. And if you're reading this I assume you do as well.

I love learning, but school made me dislike it for a long time. At least it made me think I didn't like it.

It took me years to realize that learning is a natural part of living. We are always learning. Even when we are playing video games we're learning. We can argue that they may or may not be beneficial, but playing them is definitely learning.

This week I want to address something that bothers me about our collective idea of what learning is. Credentialism.

I've mentioned before that I am a certified health coach and I follow and learn from a lot of people on social media.

One of my favorites is Max Lugavere.

Max lost his mother to dementia in her 50s and it led him to start studying healthy living.

He writes and talks about how diet and lifestyle are not only contributing factors to our health, as we all know, but that much of what we have been taught is completely wrong and ultimately what caused him to lose his mother at such a young age.

This last week, in an exchange online, someone attempted to insult and discredit him because he "lacks a background in science" and is not credentialed.

I hate that attitude about society. Ben franklin is considered to be one of the greatest inventors in our country's history and he had exactly zero formal training.

We have a world of information at our fingertips, and for some reason, a large portion of the population has been convinced that unless you spend far too much money to be credentialed in the eyes of the chosen and conferred with special letters, you're not allowed to speak on a topic.

One of the best books I've read in the last few years was Range by David Epstein.​

One argument it manages to successfully make and show is that solutions to problems often come from outside of our range of "expertise." And specialization only tends to make things worse, as when new problems arise, we only see solutions we have spent all of our time studying, rather than thinking outside the box.

There is a good argument to be made that too much reliance on specialists is harmful to the creative process to problem solving.

Before I wrap this section up, speaking of health, I need to highlight a young 17 year old homeschooler I follow on X/Twitter. Grace Price @travelingenes has a similar story to Max Lugavere, but she lost her grandfather to cancer and has been studying cancer and working on a documentary.

She has no magic letters to her name, not even a high school diploma, but she's doing amazing work.

Rise to the Challenge (Weekly Challenge):

OK Maker, that's enough consuming for today. It's time to challenge you to get out there and create something!

How about a lamp? There are a lot of lamp shades on Thingiverse and Printables. Or you could deign one with Tinkercad or some other program!

I'm going to design one myself. It won't be a parrot yet. Actually, maybe it will be, I just had an idea! But it won't be stained glass parrot I will say that much.

Get out there and create! You and your child are both geniuses and creating things brings joy!

Thank you Reader for joining us this week on our making journey! If you have anything to add or you want to share what you've been working on, please don't hesitate to respond!

Please share this with your friends and help us grow our maker community! If you haven't already, like our Facebook Page and join our Facebook group, Homeschool Makers and 3D Printing Enthusiasts!​

Now get out there and create something amazing!