So, oddly enough, the SD Central library has ended up being a great resource for us as we settled in… The building itself is pretty remarkable, with a huge dome, multiple different levels, lovely architectural details and spaces that accommodate different needs.

As in other places we lived, I signed up to borrow some books (they had an a Jasper Fforde book I hadn’t read, and a few others I wanted to read)… Pretty quickly, beyond databases for researching potential companies, the broad range of things to do was super-interesting: audiobooks, concerts, art shows / exhibitions, presentations etc… so we jumped right in…

One of the resources I came across was just amazing – an Innovation Lab with multiple 3D printers, milling machines, laser cutters and VR googles…! I ended up meeting with the staff, who were very helpful and the lady who oversees similar labs in the library system.

Ever since I saw the IKEA DIY garden and its open-source plans from Space10.com in 2017, I wanted to build it… Unfortunately, back then, it was hard / expensive to find a laser cutting shop that would do what i wanted… So, here was a small laser cutter…. Why don’t i just ‘scale down’ the plans? Great idea! Using Inkscape software, I resized the 12′ globe made of 4×8 plywood sheets into a 12″ globe to be made out of 1/8″ plywood. A quick trip to Home Depot to get a plywood sheet cut up, and we were ready for action!

The library folks helped me get connected to the laser cutter, adjust the parameters for cutting and reconfigured the cutter to accept the plywood sheet feed in from the front. The (very pleasant!) smell of burning wood, somewhat similar to burning books, attracted the attention of library security but, once they knew what we were up to, they were great. With the closed loop fan system on full, I figured out how to get all the 200+ pieces cut, and ferried them back to the apartment to assemble the globe…

Lot of fun – the project was super interesting and I finally got to learn how to use a laser cutter AND build something I’ve wanted to for ages…