Des Moines Mini Maker Faire 2016 was awesome! We got a TON of new visitors on Monday, both at the Maker Faire booth at the Science Center of Iowa and at our Open House on Tuesday! Take a look for yourself: If you didn’t get a chance to make...

Maker Faire’s right around the corner… We wanted to show you a couple of projects our members have been working on that will (hopefully) make an appearance at the 2016 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire! Come check out the Area515 booth at the Science Center this Monday. We promise...

This year’s Des Moines Mini Maker Faire is on Labor Day, September 5, from 9am to 5pm at the Science Center! Come check out makers, tinkerers, and craft and tech enthusiasts from all over Iowa and beyond, featuring: Star Wars-themed exhibits, including Troy Powers (a local  lightsaber builder), and a life-size,...

Tonight we used the spot welder again. We built it several months ago to make the battery pack for Lightning mini-bike. You can see two transformers in the picture. The little one is from a typical microwave oven. The internet was wrong – our milage varied – it was...

To anyone who follows Humble Bundle, they have added the ability to support any charity of your choosing with your Humble Bundle purchase. Area515 is in the list! Please consider supporting the DSM makerspace with your next purchase from humblebundle.com....

We tore it down and cleaned up the gunk. Assessed the bearings – they look ok. But one gear is without one tool, but still operable.  We’ll see about replacing it sooner than later – but probably too late.  The problem finding the original gears. We’ll likely need to...

We’d like to show some gratitude for a recent tool donation to the maker space from Marilyn Warling. She was gladdened to know that her husband’s tools will be getting well used. Thank you, they most certainly will! Several of these do require maintenance before use, so keep an...

Area515, the Des Moines Maker Space is looking for a marketing and social media intern. Position is unpaid but includes membership to the maker space. You’ll gain valuable experience helping a non-profit grow, practice technical writing, gain exposure to a diverse population of makers, and maybe be inspired to...

Sorry, all the Pros are gone. But we have a dozen of the white MacBooks all refurbished and cleaned up so they sparkle! And more to come! $250 and it’s yours. You can swing by the space Sunday from 1-5 or email us at info@area515.org. We were asked for...

Could anyone use a MacBook or a MacBook Pro? Want a second laptop, a computer for your grandparents, or a laptop for your kids? We have early 2011 13″ MacBooks (and a handful of MBP’s). They were donated to the space, and have been refurbished and thoroughly cleaned. They...