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Monday, October 22, 2018

CVAD Fab Lab opens Monday, October 22nd.



CVAD Fab Lab opens Monday, October 22nd.

Open Hours: 8AM to 5PM, Monday through Friday. 
Location: ART 361

Users must take the mandatory safety training and receive a shop card before being allowed to work with the equipment. Walk-in group sessions in November on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 2PM, 3PM and 4PM.

For more details on the lab including equipment, scheduling and updates, visithttps://cvadit.unt.edu/fablab. To contact us via email, write us atcvadfablab@unt.edu.
ABOUT
The CVAD Digital Fabrication Lab (FabLab) is comprised of four rooms in the new wing of the art building: ART 351, 351A, 361 and 369. The main reception area, ART 361, is where users make appointments and check in at their scheduled time. 351 contains all available demo equipment, as well as a bank of 3D printers and a selection of maker-type tools. 351A is where the vinyl cutter and laser engravers are housed, while 369 is our CNC/Plasma room where most of the noisy or messy work takes place. A full list of available equipment appears at the bottom of this page.

The Fab Lab is an open resource for current UNT College of Visual Arts and Design graduate and undergraduate students to utilize the latest digital fabrication tools in the production of their work. Keep in mind that this is a space to make art, it is not a manufacturing facility for business or commercial ventures. It is paid for and maintained using a portion of the standard art student fees. Because of this, all students currently enrolled in CVAD courses have access to the lab without any additional costs.

The demo area is available to any professors who wish to bring their classes in for equipment training. To reserve the room, email cvadfablab@unt.eduor stop into room 361 to coordinate with our manager, Shawn Lopez. Following this, we can also take class reservations on the larger equipment. However, if a professor signs up to bring their entire class to work on a CNC router, for example, that professor must be present to supervise their students and guide them through their assignments. The Fab Lab staff cannot serve as TAs.

CVAD Faculty and Staff can also use the lab for their personal work but on a more restricted basis. They will not be allowed to schedule time in the lab during the regular hours of operation but may use the equipment on a walk-in basis if the equipment is available. This follows regular university protocol. Faculty and Staff can use the FabLab outside the hours of operation provided they attend a training session, BUT there must always be at least two people present and at least one of them has to have attended the “After Hours Training”. If a faculty member is unable to find someone else to be present when they are available to work it is possible to hire one of our graduate students to work with them. The faculty member, or department, would be responsible for paying the graduate student. The current rate in the FabLab is $12.50 an hour. Payment can be made through an IDO (see your Department Chair or Department Admin). Only CVAD faculty and staff will have after-hours access, not students (graduate or undergraduate). Again, faculty and staff utilizing the equipment for their own personal work will not be required to pay a fee to use the equipment but will be responsible for paying for the student worker outside the normal hours and will be responsible for the resin costs if using the 3D printers. No other materials are provided for faculty use in the FabLab.

Anyone outside of CVAD is required to buy a semester pass in order to gain access. The pass, called a FabLab ShopCard, costs $120 per semester and is required of all non-CVAD students, faculty or staff who wish to use the FabLab. Each project coming from outside CVAD must also be evaluated to be sure it fits within our guidelines. To reiterate, this is not meant to be a production facility for a business venture. We are here to make art.
SAFETY TRAINING

Before being allowed to use the equipment in the FabLab, all patrons, faculty, and students, are required to take an annual safety training class (approximately 30 minutes). Drop-in times will be announced during each semester. If you are unable to make it to a public session, visit us in ART 361 to schedule your personalized training. Alternately, faculty can bring their classes to the FabLab to complete their safety training as a group. To set this up, email cvadfablab@unt.eduor stop into the lab to coordinate your class visit. Safety training, both individuals and classes, are allowed during the faculty exclusive period comprising the first two weeks of each semester.
FILECHECK

Students who wish to schedule time on a piece of equipment will first need to come to the FabLab and have the staff work with them on a Filecheck. To schedule a FabLab Filecheck, please visit us in ART 361. At the Filecheck, staff will work with the student to not only ensure their file(s) are correct but to also make sure the student is prepared to use the equipment. The Filecheck generally takes approximately 30 minutes and after it is complete, the staff will schedule the student’s time on the piece of equipment.

With some of the equipment, materials can be provided, but what we have available may not be what the student requires for a project. If we have the materials you need you may have them free of charge.

If you have any questions, send an email to cvadfablab@unt.edu. Appointments are available from 8:30am - 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.
FABLAB STAFF

FabLab Staff are present for your safety, the safety of the machines, and to help you troubleshoot problems you may have in utilizing the machines. FabLab Staff members are not trained to assist with any issues regarding your design process including troubleshooting design software issues - they are trained to help you process your finished design through the machines in the lab.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

The laser cutters and CNC machines are potentially dangerous and need your full, undivided attention. A few seconds could mean the difference between minimal equipment damage and thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Students are financially liable for machines damaged by reckless and/or negligent use. Also, if one would like to make a 6-hour engraving on a laser cutter, then one will have to watch a 6-hour engraving on a laser cutter. It’s not the FabLab Staff member’s job to oversee your 6-hour project. Students are not allowed to temporarily leave the FabLab while a job is being processed without pausing the job first and notifying the lab staff.
RESERVE TIME

If a student is more than 15 minutes late to an appointment on a piece of the equipment they will forfeit their reservation and it will be counted as a no-show. More than two no shows will result in the loss of your access to the FabLab for the remainder of the semester. To maximize time on equipment, students should come prepared. Editing files or cutting down material should be completely done prior to your appointment - otherwise, it eats into your machine time. Fab Lab staff reserve the right to stop your job if it begins to overlap another student’s reservation. Plan accordingly!
EQUIPMENT LIST

The Fab Lab is divided into three areas: the clean area, the dirty area and the demo area. The clean area contains equipment like the laser cutters and resin printers while the dirty area has machines that are either more messy or require a greater amount of dedicated space like the ShopBot and the Torchmate. The demo area is primarily to be used for teaching purposes and is outfitted with all necessary audiovisual equipment and enough seating for a full class. We are also looking into ways to better serve the maker community by expanding our equipment list to include soldering kits, Arduino prototyping boards, Raspberry Pi computers, a selection of motors and sensors and a number of HTC Vive headsets.

3D Printers
(2) Formlabs Form 2 Resin Printers
Uses UV-cured liquid resin
5.7"x5.7"x6.9" Build Area
Colors Available: Clear, Black, White, Gray, Castable (Blue), Tough (Aqua)
Parts commonly designed in 3D programs such as Rhinoceros 3D, Autodesk Fusion 360, Google Sketchup, Tinkercad or Autodesk Maya

Laser Cutters/Engravers
Cuttable materials include: Wood, acrylic, paper, polyester, cardboard, leather
Engravable materials include all of the above, plus: stone, glass, anodized aluminum
Not allowed on machines: Polycarbonate, PVC, vinyl, Lexan, fiberglass, HDPE, polystyrene

(4) Epilog Fusion M2
75 watt
40"x28" cutting area
13.25" max material thickness
Cut depth dependent on material
Rotary attachment for cylindrical objects
Camera for streaming or recording job progress

(1) Epilog Helix 24
60 watt
24"x18" cutting area
8.5" material thickness
Cut depth dependent on material

(1) Epilog Zing 16
30 watt
16"x 12" cutting area
4.5" maximum material thickness
Cut depth dependent on material
Portable. Self-contained filtration system. Available for demos.

3D Scanners
(1) Creaform Go!SCAN 20
Industry standard, engineering quality
Full color
2”-20” part size range
.1mm accuracy
.1mm resolution
Faculty signature required for checkout

(1) Creaform Go!SCAN 50
Industry standard, engineering quality
Full color
12”-120” part size range
.1mm accuracy
.5mm resolution
Faculty signature required for checkout.

(2) Structure Sensors
Paired with iPad Pro
Lightweight, portable
User-friendly and easy to operate
Full color
Outputs compact .obj, .stl, .vrml, .ply files

VR
(5) HTC Vive Pro
Base station 2.0
2018 version of wands and controllers
Dual OLED displays 2880 x 1600
Vive Tracker ecosystem

Waterjet Cutter
(1) Wazer
High pressure water stream mixed with garnet abrasive
12"x18" cutting area
maximum material thickness 1”
Cut depth dependent on material
Cuttable materials include: steel, aluminum, glass, plastic, copper, titanium, marble

CNC Routers
Cuttable materials include: Wood, MDF, acrylic, aluminum, plastic
(1) ShopBot Desktop
1hp spindle
24"x18" cutting area
3.5" maximum material thickness
Cut depth dependent on job setup and bit selection
Portable. Available for demos.

(1) ShopBot PRS Standard 96 x 48
2.2hp spindle
8'x4' cutting area
4" maximum material thickness
Cut depth dependent on job setup and bit selection

Plasma Cutters
(1) Torchmate Growth Series 4x4
48”x48” cutting area
½" maximum material thickness