News

Due to  the measures the WUR has taken to battle Covid-19, the FabLab will be open on prior appointment only until at least September 30th. Also, entry will only be for registered FabLab members and StartHub associates.

Please contact us – in advance – via our central e-mail address:

Up to September 30th, 2021 : contact info@fablabwag.nl

While we will do our best to accommodate requests, we can not guarantee any access in this period.
We are sorry for this, but we hope you understand the urgency of the situation.
On other days the FabLab will remain closed. This includes the weekends.

Entry without explicit prior approval is not allowed.

As far as we can plan now, we will – if circumstances permit – gradually re-open fom the start of October. This would include giving coursen and Open Workshops again. Obviously, this will require some preparation. Please check our website for more details.

As FabLab we are happy to do our contribution to tackle the Corona -crisis. Therefor, we have co-founded ‘Makers voor de Zorg’, an initiative where, using our knowledge, machinery and network, we try to connect makers and institutions in the health sector. One tangible result is a co-operation with Ziekenhuis Rivierenland in Tiel, for whom we are making face protection shields.

The shields are being made using a design that – in true FabLab style – is freely available on the website of Prusa, the famous Czechian 3D -printer manufacturer. The design is frequently updated as users give their experiences as feedback and makers use these to improve the design – we can’t think of a better example of community work. We modified the disign a little (to stack multiple copies into one printjob) and makes the frames on our 3D -printers (even commissioning members’ machines by now), the transparant shields are laser-cut by the TD Studio of the WUR.

Link to the site of ‘Makers voor de Zorg’: https://www.makersvoordezorg.nl/

Link to the site of Prusa: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/26241-face-shield-a4-binding-sheet-easy-punching

Due to the spread of the Corona -virus and the measures that the WUR, our landlord, has taken we are temporarily suspending all activities. This means no ‘Open Workshop’ on Saturday afternoons nor any other (group)activity or course, like the Arduino -course. Members who planned to do any private work we have to ask to plan these for a later date. Only start-ups and members who seriously rely on the FabLab for their production logistics and get in serious problems if they can’t use the facilities until July 1st may continue work, but only after communicating with Tim Daalderop of ‘StartHub’ in advance and booking the machine on this website. Others have to postpone their activities.

We realise this may be bad news for some of you but we have to follow proper guidelines. We kindly thank you for your understanding.

Update (June 5th):

We have seen – again – unauthorised use of our facilities – and we are definitely not pleased with this. As we want to protect our machinery and our good relations with the WUR we will be forced to cut off electricity to the premises. It is sad this has to happen, but we have no choice. The rules are clear to everyone: consult Tim in advance.

Update (June 1st):

Considering the current spread of the virus and the measures WUR and other universities have taken or are considering, it is well possible that the current situation will last up to – and including – the Summer holidays. As soon as we have any updates, we will post these on this site.

Jutta has indicated she wants to focus her time on other endeavours.  So, she will be leaving the Board. Happily, we have replacement in the person of Tim Daalderop, known to many of us as Incubation Manager at ‘StartHub’ and long-time FabLab -afficionado.

We wish Jutta success and a warm welcome to Tim !

FabLab Wageningen has – together with the rest of the StartHub community – re-located to WUR ‘Atlas’, on the corner of Droevendaalsesteeg and Hoge Steeg. For various reasons, we have a separate entrance on ground level. Hereby some notes on how to get there.

The entrance is – at least at this moment – not very visible. It is located at the west side of the building (facing ‘Forum’). The easiest is probably to orientate yourself on the statue of ‘de zaaier’; then the official entrance – the footbridge to the first floor – is to your left and our entrance is a wide door at about the middle of the building, on ground floor level. As there is no footpath, you need to walk through the flower meadow (which the WUR actually officially discourages). Proper signage should follow – and a path too, we hope. In the meantime, we hope the photo illustrates the point a bit.

Weekdays:
Weekdays the entrance is open – at least it should be. You can enter and walk to our workspace, a sort of zig-zag through the building. Our workspace has ID D.001b, but this may/will change. In case of doubt: just ask anyone. Left of the door of our workspace is the well-known key locker (code remains the same). If the door is not open, you can use the official entry to ‘Atlas’ and go down one floor.

Outside working hours:
Outside working hours the building is closed and only accessible for pass holders. FabLab members who want to use the facilities outside working hours should, like currently, get a pass from the pass keepers.

Open Workshop on Saturdays:
Visitors to Saturdays Open Workshops can use the doorbell at the entrance.

We hope this photograph helps a little.

Since January 2019, FabLab Wageningen has a new Board. After a good 4 years, our founding Board members have said ‘Good-bye’ and a new Board has been installed.

We would like to thank Robbert Kamphuis, René van Corven and JanDirk Bulens for all their efforts and contributions. Together with a band of enthousiast volunteers, they have set up FabLab Wageningen and made it into what it is today: a place where every ‘maker’ in Wageningen  can feel at home.

The new Board consists of Olivier Langevoort, Jutta Wirth and Marcel van Dijk. Good for quite a few years of experience and a lot of new ideas !

As most will know or have seen, we have a new laser machine. Actually, it is the old one from the ‘ontwikkelwerkplaats’, which we have bought. Here are some characteristics of the new machine:

a. General:
The new machine is a BRM 90/130, capable of cutting sheets with a 90 by 130 cm. size. The power is – still – a 100W CO2 laser tube.

b. Turning on and off:
The machine should be turned on by first turning the key about 90 degrees clockwise and then pushing the green ‘on’ button.
The machine should be turned off by turning the key 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

c. Exhaust fan:
The exhaust fan is coupled with the cooling, so there’s no need to turn it separately on / off.

 d. Cooling:
The machine is blocked when the cooling is off. Cooling can be turned on by the same button as on the old machine; the button should be turned about 90 degrees clockwise.

e. Putting sheets on the bed:
The bed is tested / measured by a mechanic and has a tolerance of (now, at least) maximally 0.5 mm. This has been measured (as should be) against the bridge with the laser head, not against the surrounding frame.
For the moment, it seems the best practice is to put ‘old’ 60 by 90 size sheets at the upper LEFT corner (thus not upper right).

f. Power and speed settings:
We have been advised by the mechanic to use some specific settings, due to hard- and software of the machine:
– Power: maximally 85 per cent – minimally 12 per cent.
– Speed: maximally 40 (for cutting only, for engraving 500 is fine).

The parameters, as put in the spreadsheet on the PC at the FabLab contain a number of cases with values which are too high, according to the BRM mechanics’ advice. We will do extensive testing in the coming period to check the appropriate values and put these in the spreadsheet. If you have found anything based on your experience, please let us know so we can help others, too.

For any questions, please talk to us when we are present of mail info@fablabwag.nl us.