Summer: No trainings. June 19th- August 28th CLOSED

Fabrication

CATS has many ways for you to make and alter physical objects from digital tools like 3D printers and laser cutters to hand made methods like sewing machines and hand tools, the majority of which are housed in our Physical Media Lab (PML). You can also add life to your objects by using electronics and embedded computing.

What do you want to do?

Which is the best fabrication tool for my project?

Each project is different and you can use our tools in many ways but here are some pointers for which tool to use when:

Craft cutter* is our easiest tool and is a good place to start before trying a laser cutter. For thin materials like paper and vinyl this is probably the best choice.
Laser cutting* lets you use a varierty of materials. It is easier to learn to design in 2D than 3D, but remember designs don't have to stay in 2D once their cut!
3D printing* offers you the ability to make more complex objects and organics shapes but is limited to plastic. If you want to make complex 3D objects like mechanisms or sculptural forms this might be a good choice.
CNC machine* offers the most versatility but requires more time to learn and use. If you need more variety of materials, complex 3D designs and have the time to learn this tool might be for you.

*All of the above tools require training before you can access them. Please visit their respective pages to learn more about the training requirements.

Where do I get started with making things from digital designs?

We recommend beginners start learning our tools by using pre-existing designs. Not only does this allow you to focus on learning the tool you can see the tricks and techniques experience designers use to get the best results.

3D printing: printables.com, thingiverse.com, makerworld.com and thangs.com are all 3D model repositories where you can find other peoples designs. These sites are all focused on 3D printing.
Laser and craft cutters: You can find some 2D designs on the repositories listed above. atomm.com offers a lot of laser cutter projects. In addition sites like the Noun Project offer vector files you can use for 2D tools.
Other options: Instructables offer all kinds of DIY projects from contributors often with design files. The project can be hand crafted or use digital fabrication tools.

I'm ready to make my own digital designs. What do I do?

There are many ways to design for digital tools and as long as the tool can output the right filetypes for our machines you can use the tool of your choice

3D: For 3D files the two most common formats are STL and STEP files. The options below should allow you to export at least one of these.
- TinkerCAD An easy way to get started designing is by using this free and online platform, which is great for basic design work. Follow along with our tutorial and begin designing in less than an hour!
- Fusion360 is Autodesk's professional 3D CAD tool. While it may take some time to learn its powerful parametric design process make it easy to design precision mechanism for 3D. Try this LinkedIn Larning course to get started with Fusion*
- Blender Is an 3D modeling and animation tool that can be a great way to make objects that are more artistic or organic than CAD designs. Try this LinkedIn Learning course to get started with Blender*
Laser and craft cutters: For 2D fabrication SVG are the most common but other formats like PDF and Illustrator files can be converted or sometimes used directly. To learn more about designing for laser cutting, visit that portion of our laser cutting webpage
everyone at brown can access LinkedIn Learning Courses for Free! Just login with your Brown Credentials

How can I use the space to make handmade objects?

The Physical Media Lab (Rm S310) has a diverse set of hand-tools and more analog equipment that you can use, perfect from prototyping designs, or building small scale pieces. To gain access complete our orientation.

Our sewing machine is available on a first come-first serve basis after the required online training
The PML has big broad desks that you can use to make larger projects. Some previous examples have been:
- - long drapes for theatre productions
  - 8ft cos-play light-up swords
  - Electronic musical instruments house in small tree trunks
We offer a variety of handtools and crafting equipment that you can work with listed towards the bottom of this page

What resources are available for electronics?

The Physical Media Lab (Rm S310) has a variety of resources for building DIY electronics using micro-controllers like Arduinos, or soldering simple circuits like toggleable LED lights. To gain access complete our orientation.

The PML always has at least one soldering stations available, equiped with iron, filter, helping hands, solder, etc. More stations can be made by request.
We sometimes have components such as aduinos, buttons, potentiometers, breadboards, etc that we can offer you, but they aren't readily available. email CATS@brown.edu if you have a question about components, otherwise, you are welcome to bring your own
We often offer workshops on basic electronic projects, keep an eye out for posters throughout the semester.

I need help with my project or idea.

Sign up for a one-on-one help session with one of our Creative Technology Assistants to get help troubleshooting a technical problem or to get feedback on how to improve your work.

Handtools Available

The PML has a variety of hand-tools and more analog equipment that you can use, perfect from prototyping designs, or building small scale pieces.

hammers
clamps
screw drivers
pliers
box cutters
files
wrenches
sand paper
scissors
wire strippers
hot glue guns
paper, cardboard, construction paper
pens, markers, crayons, etc

External Resources

Brown Design Workshop: A much larger maker space on campus for more detailed fabrication work. Trainings at CATS and the BDW are completely independent and separate from each other, so unfortunately no cross-training at this time.
Creative Reuse Center of RI: Less a space for making and more of a place for procuring materials, The CRCRI (not affiliated with Brown) has lots of scrap materials that they save from waste pipelines, and sell back to artists and creatives extremely cheap. Reachable by bus in downtown Providence

Report abuse