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It's Time To
Vote!
Community Vote is now Live!
MAY 13-20
Each team has been given a team number. Click on the photo or video to enlarge the image and see what the teams said about their project. Vote below by selecting the team number of the project you like the best.
One vote per email.
To see videos and photos from each team in more detail, follow #themakercollabjudging24
1. @thereallifereddells & @Brooklynthemaker
My daughter, Brooklyn, has been begging to attend WorkbenchCon for the past two years & has become very passionate about women in the trades. When she found out about this contest, she insisted we make something, so she designed her own vanity desk with a bookshelf, a drawer base, & built in lighting & a Bluetooth speaker. She wanted it to serve as a desk to do homework but also a functional vanity where she could get ready in the mornings. She had built a few rough pieces over the past couple of years with a hammer & nails, but this was the first time we worked together where she could learn how to properly use the tools & equipment essential to woodworking. She learned the basics by building herself a workbench out of scraps from some of my remodels, & then we bought 1 sheet of Maple plywood for the bookcase, the desktop, & the drawer faces, but we bought Pine plywood for the drawer boxes & the cabinet base (we spent over $300, but we weren’t looking to go higher just to buy another sheet of Maple). Brooklyn & I ripped everything down to size, she painted all of the trim, I sanded/sealed/varnished all of the Maple, & we spent our weekends assembling boxes, carcasses, & installing drawer slides & pulls.
She is absolutely beside herself that she thought up a design & now can physically touch it. She loves the built in speaker (which faces into the space where the chair sits, essentially making a speaker cabinet that amplifies the sound into the entire room) & thinks she’s the coolest kid on the block with her app controlled led undermount lights.
It may not be the most amazing project you’ll see, but I’m proud of how disciplined & dedicated Brooklyn has been to learning the skills & techniques to build her own furniture piece & see her ideas come to life. Not bad for a 12 year old!
She is absolutely beside herself that she thought up a design & now can physically touch it. She loves the built in speaker (which faces into the space where the chair sits, essentially making a speaker cabinet that amplifies the sound into the entire room) & thinks she’s the coolest kid on the block with her app controlled led undermount lights.
It may not be the most amazing project you’ll see, but I’m proud of how disciplined & dedicated Brooklyn has been to learning the skills & techniques to build her own furniture piece & see her ideas come to life. Not bad for a 12 year old!
2. @Elkwoodstudio & @Gehajdukcreations
2 strangers working together to create a beautiful pairing of music and art from scratch. A mix of black walnut inlay, carving spruce & walnut, electronics, epoxy some fir and paduk. Throw in a splash of electronics, a pinch of skill and a whole lot of WTF am I doing? Bake for 60 days. Wait until the last possible moment and you have a guitar and a stool to play it on.
3. @dad_crafted & @thezombiehollow
We needed a spooky project with a music twist, so we went with making our own version of the organ and organ player from The Haunted Mansion. This required almost all of our making skills. We started with an existing organ, but used woodworking to bulk it up with a new topper and side corbels. We made digital files for the decorative trim and cut them on the laser. We molded a head out of clay, and then 3D scanned it and 3D printed it. We also 3D printed the hands of the organ player and did paper mâché for the spooky skin. The organ player's body is made from PVC and spray foam. We cut and shaped foam to make the top sign and the bat that acts as a music rest. And we cut and used a heat gut to shape PVC pipes for the organ pipes, which we then painted with many layers to look like aged brass. We used the same painting technique on our candle holders, and made the candlesticks on our own with PVC and hot glue, and homemade LED wired flickering lights. Oh, and we used motors to make our organ player move his arms up and down, and his head turns from side to side. His costume is also homemade. It all made for one giant haunted Halloween prop!
4.. @raybrentsdesign & @omarbuildsit
Both Omar and I are inspired by music as a whole and we both love several genres of music. We wanted to encompass the different mediums, so Omar found various music items and inlaid them into epoxy along with a beautiful walnut slab. I wanted to incorporate music into every aspect of this build so I decided to make the legs into music notes. We love how everything came together and couldn’t be happier with the outcome!
5. @thepalletchic & @burstofwhimsy
How does music make you feel? Has it ever pulled you out from the depths of depression? Have you felt it race through your veins and shine a light from within?
This piece brings that feeling of music healing you from within, to a visual reality. The figure has been burned by depression but the music is coming from within, fighting to come back to life.
Ashley has beautifully carved this figure from a log of spalted oak. After she shaped the details, then it was time to "break it apart" and hollow out a chamber for the heart. Then the darkness of depression appeared.
Asia lovingly created the vibrant 'stitches' holding the cracks together, by a process called quilling. The instruments and music notes are done in shades of rainbow to represent the vast variations of music. Along with the heart being full of music.
These elements come together even though they are completely different crafts. The figure is carved out of wood, burned, and coming out of the shadows with the vibrancy of paper quilled music notes, instruments, and colors. With all their differences, contrast, and thoughts of not pairing well... The beauty shines through, that at it's core, they're the same, being made from a tree! Music is within each of us, it might be completely different kinds, but music moves us all.
Thank you for joining us on this ride!
This piece brings that feeling of music healing you from within, to a visual reality. The figure has been burned by depression but the music is coming from within, fighting to come back to life.
Ashley has beautifully carved this figure from a log of spalted oak. After she shaped the details, then it was time to "break it apart" and hollow out a chamber for the heart. Then the darkness of depression appeared.
Asia lovingly created the vibrant 'stitches' holding the cracks together, by a process called quilling. The instruments and music notes are done in shades of rainbow to represent the vast variations of music. Along with the heart being full of music.
These elements come together even though they are completely different crafts. The figure is carved out of wood, burned, and coming out of the shadows with the vibrancy of paper quilled music notes, instruments, and colors. With all their differences, contrast, and thoughts of not pairing well... The beauty shines through, that at it's core, they're the same, being made from a tree! Music is within each of us, it might be completely different kinds, but music moves us all.
Thank you for joining us on this ride!
6. @grayhound_goods & @thecorkconnect
Our project is a take on classic phonographs from the 1920’s with our own modern spin. I made the box from some recycled walnut I got out of an old boss’s attic. And I made the deck, the volume knob and the horn from recycled skateboards.i used parts of around 20 used skateboards. I made the horn as large as my little pen turning lathe would allow for. Making the horn was one of the more challenging things I’ve done as a woodworker, it took several attempts to get the math right for the angles of the mitre and bevel to construct the flaring cone shape. I then turned it on the lathe to achieve the flare, then power carved the rest of it with a grinding wheel on an angle grinder. Inside the horn is a rockler Bluetooth speaker so you have more than one option for playing music in your home. When your record is over, you dont even have to get off the couch to put on some more music. Or you can play a record through the phonograph and then live DJ over the top of it with a drum machine app on your phone 😎. I made router templates to cut the shape out of the deck to accept the record player components, and to cut the slots for the record players speaker. Blake burned the border of the deck, the cork mat, the volume knob (that goes to eleven) and the bottom panel with his laser machine, and was in the shop with me every day sanding or filming. We are thrilled with how it came out and ecstatic that everything functions as it should. Thank you!
7. @bossanovawoodworks & @matthew_ableman
This our entry for #themakercollab2024 project “Feed Me.”
@matthew_ableman is a musician that uses a portable turntable called a Vinyl Archiver to digitize records so that he can mix samples into his beats. He asked Malcom (@bossanovawoodworks) to build a box for it.
Given that this device basically consumes records, Malcom sketched out a design concept. It was a tough assignment - his imagination almost wrote a check that his skillset couldn’t cash.
Making the box involved many techniques that he had never tried before. We’ll number them below.
The box is constructed from padauk which was milled down to a final thickness of about 7/8”.
The boards were glued together into large panels, then smoothed out and flattened using a jack plane (1.)
Black grain filler (2) was applied and then sanded through all of the grits before adding three coats of home-made dewaxed shellac to seal the wood so as to cut down on the padauk bleed (3.)
The nine-inch long miters were cut using a track saw and then dialed in with a table saw jig (4.) Rabets were cut at the router table into the top, bottom and each side so that the panels could drop into place during glue-up (5.) All corners and edges were squared up using a block and jack plane.
A jig was made to cut splines into the mitered corners at the table saw. Oversized splines of wenge were glued in and cut flush with a pull saw (6.)
The box was then cut in half over at the table saw using an L fence. (7)
Soss hinges nearly broke the maker and this project. Luckily a video from @almfab showed how to chop the mortises for the hinges (8.)
The teeth were constructed from 8/4 maple, cut into wedges at the table saw, then carved with a little bandsaw cowboy action. A combination of various sanders brought them to their final shape and smoothness (9.)
Stainless steel feet from @campfirewoodworks were added to the bottom and a guitar case handle attached with threaded inserts and machine screws.
The turntable is battery powered. All ports are accessible, and it is attached with Velcro.
Thank you to the judges, @themakercollab, and the community!
Music by Matthew Ableman.
#woodfluencer
@matthew_ableman is a musician that uses a portable turntable called a Vinyl Archiver to digitize records so that he can mix samples into his beats. He asked Malcom (@bossanovawoodworks) to build a box for it.
Given that this device basically consumes records, Malcom sketched out a design concept. It was a tough assignment - his imagination almost wrote a check that his skillset couldn’t cash.
Making the box involved many techniques that he had never tried before. We’ll number them below.
The box is constructed from padauk which was milled down to a final thickness of about 7/8”.
The boards were glued together into large panels, then smoothed out and flattened using a jack plane (1.)
Black grain filler (2) was applied and then sanded through all of the grits before adding three coats of home-made dewaxed shellac to seal the wood so as to cut down on the padauk bleed (3.)
The nine-inch long miters were cut using a track saw and then dialed in with a table saw jig (4.) Rabets were cut at the router table into the top, bottom and each side so that the panels could drop into place during glue-up (5.) All corners and edges were squared up using a block and jack plane.
A jig was made to cut splines into the mitered corners at the table saw. Oversized splines of wenge were glued in and cut flush with a pull saw (6.)
The box was then cut in half over at the table saw using an L fence. (7)
Soss hinges nearly broke the maker and this project. Luckily a video from @almfab showed how to chop the mortises for the hinges (8.)
The teeth were constructed from 8/4 maple, cut into wedges at the table saw, then carved with a little bandsaw cowboy action. A combination of various sanders brought them to their final shape and smoothness (9.)
Stainless steel feet from @campfirewoodworks were added to the bottom and a guitar case handle attached with threaded inserts and machine screws.
The turntable is battery powered. All ports are accessible, and it is attached with Velcro.
Thank you to the judges, @themakercollab, and the community!
Music by Matthew Ableman.
#woodfluencer
8. @joe.makes & @42.pursuit
This guitar is unlike any other guitar in the Free World!
Remember those plastic guitars from Guitar Hero? Well, we decided they needed an upgrade so my buddy and I got to work. We used walnut, maple, and 3D printed parts to create something truly unique
This project pushed our limits to reverse engineer the old guitar buttons and boards to fit into new 3D printed components optimized both for additive and subtractive manufacturing so everything could slot together seamlessly.
Using Autodesk Fusion, we were able to quickly prototype and iterate through many design iterations and bring this idea to life.
Did this take longer than we expected? Absolutely!
Did we question our life choices? Multiple times.
Was there sanding? Of course.
But a deal with the devil couldn’t stop this project and we even added the fiery touch of LED lights inside the clear back panel to give that electric feel.
Keep making and rocking in the free world!
Remember those plastic guitars from Guitar Hero? Well, we decided they needed an upgrade so my buddy and I got to work. We used walnut, maple, and 3D printed parts to create something truly unique
This project pushed our limits to reverse engineer the old guitar buttons and boards to fit into new 3D printed components optimized both for additive and subtractive manufacturing so everything could slot together seamlessly.
Using Autodesk Fusion, we were able to quickly prototype and iterate through many design iterations and bring this idea to life.
Did this take longer than we expected? Absolutely!
Did we question our life choices? Multiple times.
Was there sanding? Of course.
But a deal with the devil couldn’t stop this project and we even added the fiery touch of LED lights inside the clear back panel to give that electric feel.
Keep making and rocking in the free world!
9. @Noco_wood_and_resin & @dmoore7823
I had this piece of maple burl sitting in my garage for at least 2 years and when the theme for the competition came out, I knew it was the perfect piece for our music stand. We definitely had some challenges during the build. Our first challenge was when the piece came out of the epoxy mold. It was too tall for the bandsaw to be resawn. We had to call a friend with a bigger bandsaw to get the job done. Next I had to learn Lightburn so we could make templates for the legs. Dave used a French curve to create the leg design and we both hand shaped each leg. No router bits were used. I got a little happy with the chisel which caused us to have to repair one of the legs. That was a great learning opportunity.
Attaching the legs to the base of the spindle was another big challenge. This took us a lot of time to come up with and make a jig to hold the cylindrical base steady while we drilled the dominoes. Then we discovered that the dominoes were not quite square, which caused the legs that we spent so much time on to not seat correctly and there was a large gap. So we then had to figure out how to modify the dominoes so the legs would fit flush to the base.
The spindle was turned on the lathe as well as all of the walnut knobs. Drilling holes for the height adjustment and the hinge was another challenge. The holes had to line up perfectly. It was a true team effort as Dave had one idea and I had another. We were able to come to a consensus and get the job done. Everything is hand sanded and there always seemed to be just one more area that needed sanding. It felt like it was never ending. We used the laser again to creat some very small musical symbols that we attached to the knobs using UV resin. That was a first for both of us. The stand is finished with a hard was oil from General Finishes.
Attaching the legs to the base of the spindle was another big challenge. This took us a lot of time to come up with and make a jig to hold the cylindrical base steady while we drilled the dominoes. Then we discovered that the dominoes were not quite square, which caused the legs that we spent so much time on to not seat correctly and there was a large gap. So we then had to figure out how to modify the dominoes so the legs would fit flush to the base.
The spindle was turned on the lathe as well as all of the walnut knobs. Drilling holes for the height adjustment and the hinge was another challenge. The holes had to line up perfectly. It was a true team effort as Dave had one idea and I had another. We were able to come to a consensus and get the job done. Everything is hand sanded and there always seemed to be just one more area that needed sanding. It felt like it was never ending. We used the laser again to creat some very small musical symbols that we attached to the knobs using UV resin. That was a first for both of us. The stand is finished with a hard was oil from General Finishes.
10. @frissons_knives & @Fenrisforgeaustralia
For this music themed competition fenris forged and I decided to make something old and yet unique 😁. I built a tagelharpa (the tagelharpa is the first strung musical instrument that uses a bow) and Andrew made a one of a kind seax knife that has a bow worked into the guard.. the end result is something straight out of a D&D campaign. we might be bias but we think its pretty darn cool!
This competition pushed us both out of our comfort zones but it was well worth it!
This competition pushed us both out of our comfort zones but it was well worth it!
11. @wildandfreewooddesigns & @michelepetersondesigns
Here is our final submission for the 2024 Maker Collab music challenge. We have recreated Journey’s cover for the album Freedom.
The beetle was hand scrolled by @michelepetersondesigns and placed upon an epoxied round.
The walnut backer was created by @wildandfreewooddesigns. The frame is white oak with walnut splines. Both “Journey” and “Freedom” are stacked upon white oak hand scrolled letters.
The song titles were laser engraved around the frame.
Both Michele and I strived to push ourselves into growing our skills with this piece, and I think we nailed it 🤘
The beetle was hand scrolled by @michelepetersondesigns and placed upon an epoxied round.
The walnut backer was created by @wildandfreewooddesigns. The frame is white oak with walnut splines. Both “Journey” and “Freedom” are stacked upon white oak hand scrolled letters.
The song titles were laser engraved around the frame.
Both Michele and I strived to push ourselves into growing our skills with this piece, and I think we nailed it 🤘
12. @kurtbloom & @the_phoenix_woodshop
This display box was made in collaboration between Kurt at Three Goose Shoppe RI and Tom at The Phoenix Woodshop located in Long Island NY. The makers would like to thank The Maker Collab for putting this whole contest together and providing them an amazing opportunity to share their work and make new friends and connections. This particular project is inspired by the theme music from EMERGENCY! The fantastic tv series from the seventies. Tom recently retired from the Fire Department and Kurt was a certified first responder in Los Angeles in the nineties so this is a show that’s still near and dear to both of them. They incorporated several different materials using different techniques to create the best results they could possibly achieve. Maple was used for the main box walls which were joined together with tightbond 3 and brass screws. Clear acrylic was used for the front panel where Tom used his cnc machine to etch all the lettering and other design details like the Maltese Cross. Aluminum was used for the back panel and was also etched using the cnc to incorporate both shop logos. The wood elements were primed and sanded in multiple layers to achieve a smooth finish. Kurt then did several paint tests with different stencils until he found the best result before adding the lettering on each side. They wanted to emulate an alarm box you might find in a hallway of a building. More details can be seen on instagram. This build presented certain challenges and those challenges were met with patience and determination as they both really wanted to show off some newfound skills and build not just a great looking piece of work but also a great representation of how making something like this can be looked in many different ways. Thank you again for the opportunity and we look forward to seeing all the other projects that The Maker Collab has brought together!
13. @277creative & @michellethegreat11
“Are you ready for it?” Our submission is a Taylor Swift themed “Rocking” Horse, chock full of Easter eggs for the diehard Swifties. The horse frame was inspired by a hand-me-down design made my Preston’s mom and uncle! We adapted this design for our musical theme. Preston was the main carpenter of the project, while Michelle handled all of the art and design. Every piece is hand cut and features original, hand drawn artwork. The Easter eggs include a nod to every Taylor Swift album, with some of the main artwork inspired by Lover, 1989, Midnights, Folklore, Evermore, and TTPD. Notice also the friendship bracelets and real guitar parts to add some finishing touches to the project.
14. @splinters_66 & @matt_black_furniture
Being in different states of Australia, we decided to both make things that complimented each other. Being quite large, postage was out of the question, and we didn’t want to risk any damage to our work.
As soon as we found out the theme was music, immediately guitar popped in to my head, as I had an oval shaped piece of Rosewood that screamed guitar body.
When I discussed it with Matt, he had the idea for the amp,which was a brilliant idea, and we were off and running.
We’ve both loved the competition and can’t wait to see everyone’s work, and thanks to the makercollab, we both made something that we probably would never have considered making otherwise.
Making some of the parts was quite a challenge, and finding ways to get our work done, was so satisfying, and we’re really happy with what we produced, and thanks to the competition, Matt and I have formed a connection and a friendship.
The making community is such an amazing community,and we’re so pleased to be part of it.
As soon as we found out the theme was music, immediately guitar popped in to my head, as I had an oval shaped piece of Rosewood that screamed guitar body.
When I discussed it with Matt, he had the idea for the amp,which was a brilliant idea, and we were off and running.
We’ve both loved the competition and can’t wait to see everyone’s work, and thanks to the makercollab, we both made something that we probably would never have considered making otherwise.
Making some of the parts was quite a challenge, and finding ways to get our work done, was so satisfying, and we’re really happy with what we produced, and thanks to the competition, Matt and I have formed a connection and a friendship.
The making community is such an amazing community,and we’re so pleased to be part of it.
15. @duffeywoodcraft & @_and_east
Music is a big part of Kara and Alex’s lives, however not everyone gets to experience music the same way, like those who are hearing impaired. Alex and Kara wanted to create a project that would help bring this year’s theme to those normally left out. The project named “Sound of Silence” is a large wall art audio panel music visualizer. Alex built an electronic base for the project that uses a microphone, taking in the sound, and converting it to light on a waveform. Alex and Kara both learned how to power carve for this project, textured into the wood is a visual representation of the waveform of the song sound of silence. This project pushed Kara and Alex both out of their comfort zones, making a large format project, power carving, Reel/Video creation and learning to work with another maker.
Finally, Alex and Kara in the coming months will be auctioning off the project for charity. All donations will go to the World Central Kitchen to help their ongoing support of helping people in need like those in Palestine.
Finally, Alex and Kara in the coming months will be auctioning off the project for charity. All donations will go to the World Central Kitchen to help their ongoing support of helping people in need like those in Palestine.
16. @leah.learning & @makermush
As maker educators, we pride ourselves in designing learning experiences that allow others to explore their creativity. With this project, we decided to emphasize process over product. Since we’re separated by several states and many miles, we hosted a real-time maker session via Instagram Live so we could work together, troubleshooting and problem solving in front of a live studio (Insta) audience. We also had three in-person makers creating along with Leah. The result was a group of five people who created music-inspired pennants with song lyrics that held great meaning to each of us.
Beyond the actual making of “the thing,” we got to practice some of the creation aspects of this community that we’re still pretty new with: we wanted to do this as realtime and collaboratively as possible, so a Live seemed like the natural way to do it. We wound up doing a pair of Lives: one where we announced the project and described the materials needed so folks at home could play along, and one where we actually pulled it off. Along with those came the associated prep and marketing. It was a neat, informative experience.
Planning, sharing, and making were all fantastic, but for us, the best outcome from this experience was a workshop participant who texted us the next morning saying “Last night was a blast! It was so fun to be a part of it. I feel like a real life maker! 💪 I want to learn all of this stuff!” Pretty darned great. And to us, that’s what this community is all about: sharing, teaching, and growing our collective creative confidence.
Beyond the actual making of “the thing,” we got to practice some of the creation aspects of this community that we’re still pretty new with: we wanted to do this as realtime and collaboratively as possible, so a Live seemed like the natural way to do it. We wound up doing a pair of Lives: one where we announced the project and described the materials needed so folks at home could play along, and one where we actually pulled it off. Along with those came the associated prep and marketing. It was a neat, informative experience.
Planning, sharing, and making were all fantastic, but for us, the best outcome from this experience was a workshop participant who texted us the next morning saying “Last night was a blast! It was so fun to be a part of it. I feel like a real life maker! 💪 I want to learn all of this stuff!” Pretty darned great. And to us, that’s what this community is all about: sharing, teaching, and growing our collective creative confidence.
17. @og_shopadventures & Adi
Our project is based on the lyrics in the song Cover me In Sunshine by Pink. It’s a picture of sunflower that will hang in my daughter’s room. My daughter and I listen and sing to music all the time. The picture is a symbolic representation of her as a sunflower and the time we spend together.
18. @3d_diy_Dave & @lukeinthegarage
One of the most Iconic moments in music. As well as a beloved musical instrument of all ages.
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