Inside Dfab: A Look at dFab’s Resources!
It would not be hard to find a student who has taken a class or workshop in the dFab (Design and Fabrication) Hub, but it would be hard to find students who know the full extent of the resources available. Because the dFab Hub shares a space with the high school’s art room, many of its tools get lost or buried under student artwork and materials. When a resource is hidden for long enough, it goes unused and is forgotten. The other contributor to these tools not being used to their full potential is students’ lack of knowledge about how they work and what they can do.
The dFab Hub has a multitude of different electronics. There are many 3D printers and power tools. The dFab Hub even has its own Cricut, which is a smart cutting machine used to create stickers or cut and draw on many different materials like paper, cardstock, vinyl, and more. Other electronics include a laser cutter, computers, a large scale Epson printer, and a station for welding, which includes all the materials and tools necessary.
The dFab Hub also has an extensive amount of visual art supplies. This includes all colors of acrylic paints, often used for painting in specific art classes. Of course, charcoal, pastels, colored pencils, and watercolors can all be found in the dFab Hub, which is standard for an art room. But, the dFab Hub also has watercolor pens which hold the water inside the pen as you are drawing so you can dispense it as you like. There are also materials needed for printmaking, including sharp tools, rubber carving blocks, brayers (or rollers), ink to transfer the design, and finally, the printing press itself to finish the design.
The fabric-based side of the dFab Hub is rarely used. The dFab Hub not only has multiple bins of assorted scrap fabrics and a wall of threads and yarns, but it also has three sewing machines. Each of the machines have almost 100 different stitches and one of them is even able to embroider. Sadly, the sewing machines often seem to go unnoticed.
Sequoyah students have access to so many cool tools in the Dfab Hub, and so many go unused or forgotten in some corner or on some shelf. It is not difficult to get access to these tools, as they are used in many art classes, and are available after school or during lunch. Whether you are interested in working with fabrics, electronics, visual art supplies, or just crafts and design in general, the dFab Hub has something you would find worth using.