Bloominglabs

07/13/2025

https://bloominglabs.org/3D_Printing_Workshop

Greetings,

Bloominglabs is hosting a printing workshop IN THE THIRD DIMENSION! Come join us if you ever wondered what it would be like to make shapes on your computer appear IN THE THIRD DIMENSION.

On Saturday, July 26th, we will embark on a journey of exploration to find out:

What type of plastics can I print with?
What style of machine should I buy?
How does one generate all that machine gcode gobbledygook?
What expensive mistakes should I not make?
Is printed plastic really strong enough to do what I want?

The cost to you is approximately 1/5th of a regrettable first printer purchase.
(That’s $40 in SECOND DIMENSION CURRENCY.)

We will begin at 9am and conclude before 3pm with a break for lunch.

In all seriousness the aim of this workshop is to take beginners and print-curious folks all the way past their first print or two and well into some intermediate and advanced topics. This is a hobby rife with frustrating hang-ups and opportunities for expensive mistakes. This workshop is focused around FDM (filament deposition) printing, not resin printing. By then end you should expect to know:

Common plastics and their strengths
The different types of machine geometries
How to slice models into gcode
How to optimize for strength, surface finish, or fitment
Whether you want to build or buy your next machines
How to assess and improve dimensional accuracy
How to evaluate and diagnose print failures or defects
How to use common machine firmware (Marlin, Klipper, and Vendor versions of each)

This workshop is open to members and non-members alike, high school age and up. Persons under 18 will need to be accompanied by a guardian (guardians don’t need to register separately)
TL:DR: 3D print workshop. 40 bucks, ages 14+ 7/26/2025.

Sign up here via paypal. The cost is $40 per seat (guardians of minors don't need to register unless they're attending themselves). Limit 12 persons.

06/18/2025

https://www.bloominglabs.org/Basket_Weaving_Workshop

Join us at Bloominglabs on Saturday June 28, 2025 to learn to weave your own wooden baskets! Registration is required.

This workshop is open to members and non-members alike, as long as you are 12 years old or older. We chose baskets that are especially good for beginners.

The workshop will be offered in two sessions:

* a beginner-friendly market basket in the morning
* a more-advanced round basket in the afternoon

You may register for one session, the other, or both. If you have never woven a basket before, we recommend that you do the market basket, either on its own or with the round basket.

https://www.bloominglabs.org/images/9/97/Basketweaving_flyer.pdf

This workshop is open to members and non-members alike, as long as you are 12 years old or older. We chose baskets that are especially good for beginners.

04/04/2025

The moment you've all been waiting for.....

Here are the Top 5 teams from the 2025 Spring into Sustainability Challenge! 🌎🌷🏆

Thank you to all our participants - this is the first (but certainly not the last) challenge of this kind that we've run, and the engagement and enthusiasm truly exceeded our expectations.

Congrats to these wonderful groups - we hope this challenge has inspired some sustainable lifestyle changes and moved us closer to achieving a sustainable community for all.

Come see the winners accept their prizes at our Earth Day Celebration on April 19th, from 12-4pm at Switchyard Park!

03/20/2025

Makevention 2024 will run from 10am through 4pm on Saturday October 12 at the Switchyard Park Pavilion. There will be demonstrations and all kinds of cool things happening all day. Kids will have a fun scavenger hunt to complete and there will be plenty of adult activities as well!

03/09/2025

02/16/2025

Dear friends and members of Bloominglabs,

This message constitutes the official announcement of our 2025 Annual Meeting, to be held Saturday, March 1, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, at Bloominglabs (1840 S Walnut St); there will also be an option to join remotely via the Bloominglabs Slack.

This meeting is open to all members of the organization, and the public; however, we especially ask that voting members attend, either physically or virtually, so that we might reach a quorum of 25% of our voting membership. If you are not a voting member, and would like to change your membership status, please contact [email protected].

The Annual Meeting is the primary group governance mechanism of Bloominglabs; the Officers will present the 2024 Annual Report, elections for new Officers will take place (President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two At Large positions), and the attendees as a whole will discuss our plans for the next year.

Additionally, there will be the traditional coffee and donuts provided.

We encourage all members, and anyone interested in the operation of Bloominglabs, to attend and participate. Please write to [email protected] with any questions or comments regarding the Annual Meeting.

Send a message to learn more

02/04/2025

Join Us for Wednesday Night Public Hours at Bloominglabs!

Looking for a place to tinker, create, and explore? Bloominglabs invites you to our free Wednesday Night Public Hours from 7 PM to 10 PM!
* Check out our tools & equipment
* Meet fellow makers & hackers
* Work on projects & get inspired

Whether you're a seasoned maker or just curious about what we do, everyone is welcome! Come see what Bloomington’s community makerspace is all about.

Visitors are free to bring a project to work on.

Bloominglabs – 1840 S Walnut St Suite 200, Bloomington, Indiana 47401

Additionally, all mail should be sent to our mailing address (mail should NOT be sent to our physical address): Bloominglabs Incorporated P.O. Box 2443 Bloomington, IN 47402

04/29/2022

This guy makes some pretty cool props for his magic show, and he's doing a free show next weekend in Columbus.

Holy cannoli!
You have THREE chances to see our show for FREE (yes! FREEEEE!) over the next several days!

5/1 in New Albany Indiana • FREE‼️
5/6 in Columbus Indiana • FREE‼️
5/7 in Charleston West Virginia • FREE‼️

Do not miss this super special opportunity made possible by generous sponsors! And don't forget to SPREAD THE WORD! ❤️

info: mariothemagician.com/tour

03/22/2022

Bloominglabs' library, in addition to many more immediately practical books, boasts a number of old computer manuals. People (like the author of the linked article) who appreciate them are encouraged to stop by some public night (Wednesdays at 7pm) and browse. We have other cool stuff there, too!

It’s my ritual: every time I enter a secondhand bookshop, I go straight to the Sciences section and search for old computer manuals. They’re very hard to come by, as their owners tend to throw them away once they stop using a particular device or piece of software. Manuals also happen not to be ...

02/20/2022

Check out the Blabs mug my friend Laurel made.