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Repair Café At Dublin Maker

Do you have broken items at-home – clothes, small appliances, toys, electronics?

No need to throw them away!
Save your things from the landfill and your wallet from having to replace them.


Bring them to our repair café and learn how to fix them together with our volunteers. We have tools, materials, space to work on your item, and repair experts who will help you with your repair.

We are bringing the repair cafe to this year’s Dublin Maker. There will be 50 makers will taking over a tented village of invention. From traditional Aran jumper-making, to AI racing robots, we have everything to keep robots warm and content, but also lots for humans.

The event gives you the chance to speak to makers who have created everything from wooden sculptures to lightweight jewellery, from 3D-printed cosplay props to giving coffee pods a second life as hand-crafted jewellery.

We will be showcasing a mix of our projects and also a repair café. So don’t come empty-handed to the festival on the 23rd of July in Merrion Square.

What objects can you bring in?

  • Clothes and accessories
  • Toys
  • Small electrical appliances and electronics
  • Small furniture
    … and many other things!
    Safety (PAT) tesitng for electrical devices will be available.

Where? – Dublin Maker, Merrion Square Dublin 2
When? – Satruday July 23rd, 10 am – 6 pm
Admission free – all are welcome!

If you would like to be a fixer, drop us an email.

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Laser Cutting is back

It has been a long process to bring back laser cutting to the Tog 4 space. We have an open-source laser cutter called a Lasersaur. A 100W co2 laser with a bed size of 1220mm by 610mm.

To start off with the laser itself needed a complete service. That involved a deep cleaning by removing all the bits or leftover wood, hovering it all out. Next is a srub of all the rails, lenses and parts, residue from cutting plywood sticks to everything.

The final steps were to refill the chiller with boiled water and to carry out an alignment of the lens. Check out this video of our first test fire.

You can check out other photos of the laser cutter service in our gallery.

Next up was the modification to our space. Our new unit has no inbuilt ventilation. Our walls are made up of blocks with an outer metal cladding. We used a core drill to make a hole in the wall to allow ventilation.

A fan was also installed to help with airflow and wired to auto turn on with the laser cutter.

You can see more photos of the vent installation in our gallery.

The first big job given to our laser cutter in the new space is making badges for our friends at Dublin Maker. Check out the video below. If you are interest in laser cutting keep an eye out for our upcoming CAD nights.

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EuroPython

EuroPython will take place at The Convention Centre Dublin from the 11 to 17 July 2022.

The oldest and longest running volunteer-led Python programming conference on the planet comes to The CCD for a face to face and online conference in July 2022. All to celebrate a shared passion for Python and its community!

A week of all things Python:

  • Monday & Tuesday, 11 & 12 July: Tutorials & Workshops
  • Wednesday–Friday, 13-15 July: Conference talks & sponsor exhibition
  • Saturday & Sunday, 16 & 17 July: Sprint

To book tickets visit https://ep2022.europython.eu/tickets

We are delighted to be taking part in the MakerFest section of EuroPython. A special area for all things MicroPython, embedded devices, wearables, and other funky hardware projects are a reality for Pythonistas. Making, exploring and sharing such cool stuff is what the MakerFest is all about. Find us on Thursday the 14th in the MakerFest zone.

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“We need to start fixing stuff.”

Our own Jeffrey Roe was interviewed by Henry McKean for the Moncrieff show on Newstalk.

Irish consumers recycled a record number of electrical items last year, but WEEE, the country’s largest e-waste scheme, has warned that we need move to a more circular economy whereby we repair rather than recycle. But how easy is it to get a washing machine or toaster fixed? And is it worth your while? Henry McKean has been finding out.

Listen back to the interview on this podcast.

https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-moncrieff/we-need-to-start-fixing-stuff-henry-mckean

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Lathe Class For Members

Some of our events and classes are members-only. Sadly this is due to insurance and class size capacity. Our recent Lathe skills workshop was one example. Below is Marcelo’s experience of taking the lathe skills workshop.

I found the training very interesting and complete.

We started the training by checking the safety matters. For example, we should always wear the glasses protector, or in case there is an emergency we can stop the machine safely, and also few other ways to deal with an emergency. Then, we talked about the variety of materials we can use for shaping and the kind of tools we have at TOG for using with the machine.


After everybody was trained, we individually tested our skills using the machine on David’s support. At the end of the course everybody had their doubts clarified, and as soon as David answered everyone, we concluded the training.

I had never had an experience with a lathe before, now I know the complexity of using it, and David explained very well with many details about many tools we can use with the machine and how we can manage that.

I hope I can use the lathe in my next projects 🙂

Consider joining and supporting the space by becoming a member to gain access to these restricted events.