If you live in the world, you’ve likely heard of 3-D printing by now.

I mean, just this week I’ve stumbled across the following:

NPR reported on the very real possibility of using a 3-D printer…to print FOOD.

Live Science reported on the first 3D-printed embryonic stem cells.

And Make Magazine ran two articles:
One on growing up Generation 3-D (yes, yes I do now want a Darth Vader lightsaber thankyouverymuch…even though Acr0nym assures me it won’t work. My response is, “It won’t work RIGHT NOW. But it totally will! And clearly soon.”).

Plus another article just today on 3-D printed body parts.

Which means, I think, if I had a 3-D printer at home, I could, in the very near future, order up a Big Mac, a large Coke, and a new liver…to go. Please.

I digress.

Anyway!

Denhac is no noob to 3-D printing. For the last year or so, Denhac housed the loan of a Makerbot Cupcake and most weekends the kids of members (and, OK fine, the members  themselves) delighted in the printing of any number of cool things. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Makerbot was removed from the space.

What to do? WHAT TO DO?!

At that moment, Jon from Aleph Objects, a Colorado-based company, swooped in and saved the day. He showed up, demoed the Lulzbot 3-D, and then offered Denhac the very generous donation of a Lulzbot AO-100 to the space for our very own.

Of course we accepted and, the moment it arrived, Sockwell and Lordspeed were there to unpack and set it up.

Since then, the Lulzbot has been getting a lot of attention and gleeful use! We haven’t printed any body parts or food yet but I’m hopeful. Mostly there have been a lot of octopi actually. Still…

Thank you, Jon! Thank you, Aleph Objects!

I thank you. Denhac’s membership thanks you. And my liver (soon to be in the print queue) thanks you!

You guys totally rock!

Interested in 3-D printing? Stop by any Tuesday night during Open House for a demo or, better yet, become a member and have access to print anything you can dream up.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go print up my supper and replacement parts.

PS The Denver Post just this week published an article on the phenomenal Aleph Objects. Check it out.

If you want to keep up with the latest blog posts including news, developments, and products from the 3D Printing Store and Lulzbot, go here.

This Saturday morning just past, Denhac welcomed a host of people from the Santa Fe Children’s Museum who are in the process of setting up their own Makerspace and were on a field trip to Denver to check out the Denver Children’s Museum as well as Club Workshop. They asked us if they might stop by while they were in town to take a tour of the Denhac space too!

On the tour

Sean volunteered to take the Santa Fe gang around for a tour including a demo of the lulzbot 3D printer and, while we didn’t have any classes or events scheduled for the day, several members were at the space working on various projects and made themselves available to answer questions (our members are pretty fabulous).

LULZBOT!

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous Saturday morning at Denhac and we were delighted to have them. We wish the Santa Fe Makerspace the best of luck and, I for one, can’t wait to see what they create!

If you’re in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area, be sure to check them out. They are located at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum and are “ looking for Makers of all ages and backgrounds to help dream up, create and facilitate these open-ended experiences for our New Mexico youth”.

Photos courtesy of the SFMakers. Reprinted with permission.

Alrighty then! We’ve had a month to recover from the food and booze coma that is known as December and we at Denhac are ready to get down to business and fun with some learnin’, some socializin’, and some new projects. Check it out!

February special events / classes:

2/2: The space will be open to the public in the morning from 10 a.m. to noon while some special visitors from the Santa Fe Children’s Museum come check out ideas for setting up their own hacker/maker space.

2/5: Radio Heads – Tilver is starting a brand new group for people interested in radio…specifically Gnu Radio, ham radio, HF station installation, and radio modding. Get more information and RSVP on Meet Up.

2/9: Inventory Day – Members will be running around the space taking inventory, organizing equipment, and making wish lists for future purchases. An all member meeting will be held later that evening.

2/12: Locksport – Our monthly gathering of lock enthusiasts led by the infamous Legion. Never picked a lock and afraid to try? If I can do it, you can too!

2/13: CiGDA Hack Night – Colorado independent Game Developers Association monthly meet up. A casual meeting with no agenda. Come and hang out, bring your laptop to work on your game or get feedback on it. RSVP on the Meet Up event.

2/15: dc303 – I dunno exactly what they do. They’re very serious. They kinda scare me. Naw, they’re good guys. Uh…I think. Mostly. Tilver’s nice in any event. So if you’re interested in CTF type stuff, stop by. I’m fairly certain no one there has eaten a human liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Uh…fairly certain.

2/16: Intro to Arduino – Our very own resident arduino guy, Acr0nym, is coming back to run his Intro to Arduino class. Even if you’ve been through the class before, it’s a great time to ask questions, work on solutions, or bring in your ideas for uses. For more information and to RSVP visit the Meet Up event.

2/22: A Night with A Jolly Corpse - Jesse Bull will tell us all kinds of awesome things that he and A Jolly Corpse (http://www.jollycorpse.com/) are working on. Topics will include Wyv and Keep, Smashbox, co-op puzzle design, hyper small pixel art, and so on. There will be ample time for Q&A as well. Please RSVP on the CiGDA Meet Up event.

2/23: KVM Virtualization – Dan Kulinski has graciously agreed to stop by and give us a crash course on KVM (kernel-based virtual machine). More information about what to bring will be provided closer to the event. RSVP on the Meet Up event page.

Weekly events:

Every Monday: Usenet Theater Presents… A movie night where the movie is free and the floors ain’t sticky (we hope). Popcorn and soft drinks provided!

Every Tuesday: Open House. A night for members and non-members alike to come hang out with like-minded folk, take a tour, and find out what Denhac is all about.

Every Thursday: Work from Denhac Day. Do you work from home and need a break from your partner, your kid, your cat, and/or the deep, dark recesses of your idle mind? Come work at Denhac where there’s a water cooler and company but no cubicles or cats.

Hey! Got a class idea you want to teach at Denhac? Let us know!

Come down and join us for tonight’s presentation of “Strange Days” doors @ 20:00

We’ve just added a class to this Saturday, January 26!

Come learn about Puppet – the open source configuration management tool –  with David Willson: trainer, engineer, and enthusiast.

The class will run from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Come on by!