GRAPHTEC Cutting Plotter CE6000-40: Vinyl Cutter

GRAPHTEC Cutting Plotter CE6000-40

 Vinyl Cutter

             The Graphtec CE6000-40 Vinyl Cutter is a very interesting and amazing machine that is available here at the AIC Makerspace. With this machine, you are able to express your ideas in vinyl form, as you are able to create your own designs to be printed. The Graphtec Vinyl Cutter can make your dreams a reality!

  

Photo Gallery of the Vinyl Cutter!

A few of  things the vinyl cutter can do are listed below:

Photo By Chris Connors

• Labels! In a classroom or even your own home, vinyl stickers can be used as signage an labels. The signage in a classroom can indicate where things are located and exit signs etc.
•  Decorate projects and walls with a vinyl cutter. The design that comes out in the vinyl sticker paper is in the control of the user, which allows for endless possibilities.
•  T-shirts- A commonly used method of transferring your design onto a t-shirt is called silkscreening. This is simply the transfer of an image onto a t-shirt through areas blocked off in the vinyl. A tutorial on silkscreening with vinyl by maker Chris Connors is listed here: https://makezine.com/projects/make-36-boards/vinyl-silk-screen-printing

What we have already used the vinyl cutter for in the MakerSpace:

The Almost finished Plinko Board
Photo by Chad McGowan

      For Ashland Day, a few mentors (including me) got together to create a game for the kids to play while outside. We came up with the idea of a Plinko board; a game that is based on the luck of a ping-pong ball going through a series of obstacles made of nails to get a prize. To decorate it, we put vinyl stickers on the Plinko board, and it made the game look 100x better. For the sign, we printed out vinyl letters to paste on some cardboard, which looked very neat and complete because of the vinyl. 

         

          The Graphtec Vinyl Cutter here at the AIC Makerspace is one of our most prized possessions. As shown, it has proved to be a very useful machine for the mentors and will continue to prove so, as we start new projects with the Vinyl Cutter. Not only this, but the students that come by to the afterschool Makerspace programs will also be able to use this amazing machine, while the mentors get to watch their ideas come to life.  

Makerspace first impressions

When Mr. McGowan first approached me about this project, I didn't really know what it would entail, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it.  To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what a makerspace was, and as Mr. McGowan explained it to me, all I could see was incredible opportunity and potential.  As I Googled what a makerspace was, I could see the various set ups and uses different schools had and started to think about how flexible the idea was... which is an ideal situation for figuring out how this could work in our community and in our schools.  

In a time where we are constantly using buzzwords such as "Common Core" and "standardized testing," we need to remember to give students time to be kids.  This is what was so appealing to me about the makerspace- the basic concept encouraged kids to invent, be creative, explore.  In the makerspace, they can use their innovation and problem solving skills to literally have a space to just make things.  It's an incredible concept! 

Our first few weeks bringing the mobile makerspace to Ashland Middle School was extremely successful.  I enjoyed seeing the creativity students were using as they learned about circuits and came up with their own project ideas.  I think the most powerful part of our program so far is the collaboration between students across grade levels.  Our high school students, the Makerspace Mentors, took an active approach to working with the middle school students, showing them how parts worked and encouraging their ideas.  It was inspiring to see our high school students turn into teachers through hands on demonstrations and explaining to students how things worked.  I was especially impressed at how the high school students could articulate to the middle school students the technicalities and potential of the kits they were using, instead of merely telling them what to do.  It was a true learning opportunity on both sides!

I don't know what types of projects the Mindess Elementary School students will come up with in our next session, but I know everyone will have fun and will leave wanting more.   Thank you to all of our supporters- we can't wait to continue to show you what fun everyone is having!