Prof. Steve M. Potter’s Workshops for Makers

THIS SUNDAY, Dec. 3rd at the Belfast Tool Library:

Intro to CNC: Computerised Woodworking

Sign up on Cademy: https://cademy.co.uk/tech-workshops/computerised-woodworking
Fablab in Dundalk, Ireland at Creative Spark
The new FabLab makerspace is now open in Dundalk!
terrain carving
Terrain carving of the mountains of NE Ireland that I made using my mostly-printed CNC machine.
Timelapse from my 2017 synthesizer soldering workshop at The Science Gallery in Dublin

News

  • November & December 2023: I have a variety of courses at the Belfast Tool Library on Electronics and CNC. Have a look: https://tech-workshops.cademy.co.uk/
  • September 2023: The Belfast Tool Library have settled into their new location and are now offering courses. I will be teaching “Beginner Soldering: Make your own component tester” on Sept 13 and 27. Limited to 6 learners per session. See my Cademy listing for more info and booking!
  • January 2023: Creative Spark in Dundalk has a new FabLab! I will soon resume my maker courses there. Email me to let me know which ones you would like me to teach!
  • December 2022: I present my latest maker project, a wireless controller (pendant) for my home-made CNC machine on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lYjtsSwlnhk. It uses the ESP-NOW wireless protocol and was featured on Hackaday. Here is the article.
  • November 2022: My Terrain Carving Tutorial was featured on Hackaday! Here is the blurb.
  • November 2022: I have been doing a lot of terrain carvings with my MPCNC. I wrote a detailed Instructables tutorial about how I do them, and made a YouTube video. Have a look!
  • April 2022: I presented my portable MPCNC at the Balbriggan Library’s Mini Maker Day.
  • November 2021: “Electronics & Soldering for Beginners” at Creative Spark. Every participant will get their own soldering tools and solder their own electronics testing kit! Email me to get on a list so I can let you know when workshops resume.
  • October 2021: I am teaching Computerised Woodworking for Beginners in CNC for three 4-hour Saturday sessions at Creative Spark in Dundalk, Ireland. This course is for beginners who want to get into modern woodworking. You will get all the instruction and hands-on experience needed to go from zero to designing and carving your own creation on my home-made Mostly-Printed CNC carver. Creative possibilities include signs, decorations, and useful 3D assemblies. Requirements: Open to 13 and older. Windows laptop+charger (or a Mac with a Windows virtual machine), and proof of vaccinations. Limited to six students. Sign up at Eventbrite: BOOK TICKETS
  • August 27, 2021: I was featured on the Make:Cast podcast, and interviewed by the Father of the Maker Movement, Dale Dougherty. Listen here.
  • July 20 and Aug 4, 2021: I taught “Arduino Basics for Adults” classes via Zoom for the Dun Laoghaire Library.
  • I made a video about my portable CNC machine! It is now ready to bring to makerspaces across Ireland for CNC classes and activities! If you would like a CNC workshop, get in touch!
  • June 19-20, 2021: I presented my new home-built portable Mostly-Printed CNC machine at this year’s Dublin Maker fair! Learn more at DublinMaker.ie
  • June 2, 2021: I was featured on the live STEAM stream of TOG the Dublin Hackerspace, previewing my MPCNC build. View this 15-minute tour of my CNC and a couple of things I have carved with it so far on YouTube here.
  • March 2020: Sorry, in-person workshops were cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic. We will get back to them as soon as most people are vaccinated!
  • March 2020: Computerised Woodworking! My next Creative Spark workshops will be a 5-session evening course in CNC carving for beginners, starting Wednesday, March 11th, 2020. Book your spot now at Creative Spark’s website. Space is limited.
  • October 2020: The CNC workshop at Creative Spark in October went well…See photos here.
  • July 2019: Dublin Maker fair was a huge success, with ~10,000 visitors to this event on July 20, 2019. I brought my Handibot portable CNC machine and lots of examples of what you can do with CNC carving. I helped the kids design customised name signs and carve them out of wood or acrylic. We also used a Sharpie pen holder to do CNC drawing of their designs. Photos here.
  • August 2019: My CNC carving booth at the Dublin Maker fair was featured in a piece in the August newsletter of Shopbot Tools.
  • Summer 2019: Here is a Dublin Maker blog post about me and my Mobile CNC booth at the Dublin Maker fair at Merrion Square in Dublin, Ireland: http://www.dublinmaker.ie/mobile-cnc-carver-by-prof-steve-m-potter

I teach hands-on maker workshops across Ireland. I can get you started with computer-aided design using Fusion360 (which is free for makers) or VcarvePro. I teach computer-numerical control (CNC) carving of wood and plastic with my home-built portable MPCNC or a portable Handibot. I also teach soldering, electronics and coding for Arduino projects. And how to repair or repurpose all sorts of things. Let me know what you would like to make! If you have a makerspace, meeting hall or another venue that you think would work for a making meetup, get in touch with me. Email me with a polite heading that uses my name (or else it will be marked as spam) to steve at stevempotter.tech. 

My Story: About Me page

My Instructables and other things I’ve made

I have written how-to guides for some of my maker projects on Instructables.com. I have lots more projects that I documented with photos but have not had a chance to write up yet. I have posted some of those here on this site. Click here to see my Instructables portfolio.