The New Normal

It’s been a long time since I posted news about Astoria Makers.  For the most part I hibernated the business from public view.  As an individual compromised by poor lung function, I had to be extremely careful as the COVID-19 virus threatened those of us with higher risk factors.  Best to hunker down and avoid unnecessary contact.  Thanks to those of you that wore your masks to protect yourselves, your families, and everyone else in our world community.  Thanks to the scientists that developed new vaccines in record time and deployed it under the most challenging of circumstances.  I’m now one of those considered fully vaccinated and ready to rejoin the world in a new normal.  Whatever that is.  I hope you join me as one of those fully vaccinated as soon as you possibly can.

While the world spun on, I was busy working on existing or new projects or learning new skills like many of you out there.  From doing a boot camp of self learning Autodesk’s Fusion360, dabbling in Blender, learning Javascript animation and 3D, C++/C# software development, designing new lights, nature photography, designing and building whimsical art pieces I call spinners to renovating a woodshop and building a shop courtyard and garden. All work purposely designed to keep my mind off the fear of getting this terrible disease or to hide the large time gap and distance from being with my loved ones. 

Going forward, I will be playing a little catchup to document these pandemic projects.  I hope you find these pursuits of interest.


Miles Crossing Shop

Astoria Makers like most businesses have been forced to look at how they do business given our new reality.  We’ve had a chance to look at our current operation and evaluate where we are and where we want to go.  What we decided to do going forward boiled down to three main areas of focus:

  • Maintain our presence in downtown Astoria by keeping our primary design office at 1010 Duane St. and partner with local retailers to display our original design products

  • Develop our online store to sell our products 

  • Consolidate all production at one location in our original building at Miles Crossing

We have several advanced fabrication tools that have not been utilized and with this move we can make significant progress to develop larger original design productions.

We look forward to continuing making laser-cut lights (current and new designs), small batch fabrication projects and new furniture designs using our advanced fabrication tools.  Keep an eye on us, we’re going to do some amazing work!

MC Panarama2.png

COVID 19 Response

Effective immediately, Astoria Makers is closed to the public until further notice. We will reopen once conditions are safe.

Please follow trusted sources for information and action as we deal with the COVID 19 pandemic.

If you need to contact us here at Astoria Makers, please reach out to me personally

Glen Herman (owner) at glen@astoriamakers.com

Custom Tool Carts to Suit Every need!

We'd like to introduce you to 3 of the hardest working members of Astoria Makers- our trusty tool carts!!! Made right here in the studio these bad boys hold most of our daily needs in a state of easily accessible mobility and make our workspace easily and quickly reordered to accommodate different projects. The best part- you don't have to just want one, you can have one! We can design and make custom carts to suit your specific needs, or you can purchase the design plans for these models if you're keen to do the making yourself. Contact us at info@astoriamakers.com to get gettin'!

IMG_0403.JPG
IMG_0408.JPG
IMG_0404.JPG

Thank you Biz Kids!!!

A huge shout out to the Astoria Sunday Market Biz Kids!!! Thank you so much to all the kids who came down to the Van Dusen building to tour our workspace. We had so much fun demonstrating our tap handle production for this great group of kids. They also got a tour of Wheeler Bags upstairs with Nick, and got to make a rad tile project with Audrey of Audrey Long Ceramics. And thank you to Good To Go for an awesome spread of bagged lunches- the kids loved them!!!

The young people involved with Astoria Sunday Market Biz kids are a shining example of why we can hold out a little hope for the future. Bright, engaged young people with a keen eye on making; I am sure we could all learn as much from them as they from us- if not a whole lot more!

We greatly look forward to working with this group in the future- and seeing what amazing things they do! Check out the kids at the Sunday Market this year- sounds like some great ideas are in the works! https://www.astoriasundaymarket.com/

biz 1.JPG
biz2.JPG

We are live on ETSY!

Astoria Makers has a very exciting announcement…. We’re live on ETSY!!!

Come check out our shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/AstoriaMakers and see what we’ve been busy working on!

We have several products listed that we are very excited to share with you. Each item listed in our shop is designed and fabricated here at Astoria Makers, from start to finish. We cut most of the parts for the items you will see on our in house laser cutter, one of our favorite tools. We can stretch our imaginations a bit thanks to the precision and versatility of the laser cutter. While technology is very helpful, we still have many moments of hands on creation with each piece; from sanding, to applying coats of polyurethane, to testing and assembly.

One of our favorite items is our reusable wooden Coffee Caddy- this one has gotten a lot of testing during the design process! Both our Coffee Caddy and Wine Caddy easily disassemble for flat storage; and easily assemble to deliver a sturdy, eco friendly performance, again and again. Many of you may have seen the prototypes of these designs in our Studio during Astoria’s Second Saturday Art Walk- we got a solid test out of the Wine Caddy last month stocking the refreshments for the night!

We also have listed two wooden box designs with interlocking lids. These boxes are lightweight and durable, and measure 4” x 8” x 2”, a size so useful for so many things! Ideal for storage and keepsakes, they also make a great gift box that adds a whole new level to any gifting experience.

All of our items are offered with free shipping for your convenience and we offer in house pick up if you live in the area.

Wholesale pricing is available, and we may have some potential for personalization/ branding depending on the needs of your business.

And have no fear, it doesn’t stop here!!! We are in the processing of designing and testing more items every day to bring your way- stay tuned for new product releases.

In addition to the items we have listed for sale, we also do custom design and fabrication. Our experienced designers and fabricators can help make your ideas a reality. Let’s see what we can make together!


IMG_0362-2.jpg

Astoria Makers Welcomes a New CNC

This January we welcomed a new member to the Astoria Makers family- our trusty CNC machine! To date the CNC has cut 300 tap handles and provided us with endless inspiration for new projects. While all of us here at Makers greatly enjoy all the hands-on aspects of making, we also understand that there are tools and technologies we can utilize to maximize our productivity and precision; and free up time for making a wider variety of projects. Our CNC is the perfect example. We are using an Inventables X-carve that was assembled in house by our team. The CNC is currently employing a Dewalt DWP611 router to deliver precise, reliable cuts. We are in fabrication of our second batch of Fort George tap handles using this setup and we have been delighted to find that it has reduced our routing time by half compared to previous, hand routed batches. This means twice as many tap handles, and more time for our fabricators to take on new projects.

But, how? Why? What is a CNC machine, and why do we love ours so much?  

CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control and refers to the automated control of machining tools using a computer. CNC fabrication has a slew of attractive attributes. In addition to saving time and labor costs, CNC machines greatly increase precision and reduce risk for injury. We are able to load our design files into the program needed to run the CNC machine, and push start- over and over and over again. As long as we make no changes to the designs, the CNC will produce the exact same cuts. If you have ever had to make more than one of anything by hand, and make them look the same, you will understand how exciting this is for us!

We haven’t reached a stage of full automation, and don’t intend to. Our inhouse CNC is currently being used for routing only. We haven’t figured how to get it to hand sand, stain, glue or nail yet, so you can be rest assured that anything made by Astoria Makers will still have plenty of hands on attention to detail. We don’t seek a ‘machine fabricated’ looking finished product; we appreciate the quality that is achieved with a hand made object. We simply seek to harness the tools available to us to make the best possible product we can for ourselves and our customers.


Want to see the CNC in action? Have an idea that seems more possible through use of a CNC than by human hands alone? Email us at info@astoriamakers.com to schedule an appointment for consultation. We are excited to share the endless possibilities of making with you!

IMG_0349.JPG

Our 3D model helps Astoria Public Library raise funding

We are proud to help support the renovation project for the Astoria Public Library!   We fully embrace the library's mission to bring an updated and expanded space to the community, and were delighted to design and build this 3D model -- which pays tribute to the original architectural design and excites the public about what the future will bring.  The best part....our 3D model accepts cash donations through a slit on the top glass!  So, next time you're at the library, think about donating to this great project.    We need to raise a significant amount, but we know we can do it Astoria!

 

To learn more about the project and recent stages of development, click here


On Oct 8, 2017, we presented the 3D model as a gift to the library, at the Astoria Library's 50th Birthday Celebration!

 

* credit to library intern Aubrey Timmons for her help with the model design.