The Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour comes back to the Old Wrigley Building starting Oct. 13th, 2018. Once a confectionary outpost on the West Coast of the United States, the Old Wrigley Building is now a hub of creativity, as well as commerce. Idea Fab Labs will be hosting 2 talented artists during...
Flea and Ant-weight robot competitions with DIY terrestrial robots! Want to build your own robot and battle against each other? Come hang out every second Friday of the month! No robot required to join! We will start by meeting up and talking about different robot models you can build and the rules for future competitions....
We hold Open House each Monday from 5:00pm-7:00pm.
You are invited to see our equipment, take a tour, and get a feel for what IFL has to offer!
Do you love LEDs?? Come hang out and discuss lighting things up, LED projects, programming, hardware, wavelengths, frequencies and all that!
Check out our new mural! We commissioned Human Shaped Animal to build a large 20ft mural to spruce up a big blank wall at the fab lab! Come by for a First Friday celebration and scope this thing out! Also stop in for the Contemporary Artifacts show being held across the hallway at The Art Cave!
Flea and Ant-weight robot competitions with DIY terrestrial robots! Want to build your own robot and battle against each other? Come hang out every second Friday of the month! No robot required to join! We will start by meeting up and talking about different robot models you can build and the rules for future competitions....
Idea Fab Labs and The Art Cave are hosting the second annual Westside Holiday Bazaar at the Old Wrigley Building in Santa Cruz! Have you been the Wrigley Building lately? So many good things are happening on the Westside! Local businesses, artists, and artisans will come together for a day of art, gifts, food, drink,...
Do you love LEDs?? Come hang out and discuss lighting things up, LED projects, programming, hardware, wavelengths, frequencies and all that!
Flea and Ant-weight robot competitions with DIY terrestrial robots! Want to build your own robot and battle against each other? Come hang out every second Friday of the month! No robot required to join! We will start by meeting up and talking about different robot models you can build and the rules for future competitions....
We hold Open House each Monday from 5:00pm-7:00pm.
You are invited to see our equipment, take a tour, and get a feel for what IFL has to offer!
Brief Explanation: The laser cutter and engraver uses a drawing program to tell it what to do. A CO2 laser can cut and engrave wood, leather, some plastics, cotton, paper, even bread! It’s not strong enough to cut glass or metal, though it can etch glass and coatings on metal such as anodization or paint.
How it works: It uses a focused beam of light to burn through wood or other materials. It can cut all the way through or just engrave the surface. It is good at very detailed cuts and engravings.
What it makes: It is used to make engravings of images, signs, boxes, sculptures and more. A CO2 laser can cut and engrave wood, leather, some plastics, cotton, and paper!
Redsail 1290 Laser cutting & engraving machine
GWEIKE LC1390 Laser cutting & engraving machine
Brief Explanation: The 3D printer builds objects by “printing” out one layer at a time, using a 3D model as a guide.
How it works: It is essentially a tiny hot glue gun, that squeezes out melted plastic and draws a single layer of an object, then moves up a tiny bit, and draws the second layer on top of the first layer, and on and on.
What it makes: Mostly small plastic items such as toys, containers, replacements parts, and more.
2 x Prusa i3 Mk3
Brief Explanation: The ShopBot is a computer controlled router that can cut or carve wood. It can cut up to a 4ft by 14ft piece of wood. We can use a drawing program, or we can send it a 3D model in order to tell it what to do.
How it works: It uses stepper motors to move the router through the x, y, and z axis system. A router is like a drill bit, but it is designed to move sideways through wood as well as up and down.
What it makes: It can be used to make furniture: chairs tables, desks, kitchen cabinets. Also large signs, 3D carvings, and more.
