SouthWorks MakerLab Park Forest is a non-profit MakerLab serving the Southland and surrounding areas. It’s a collaborative environment for people to explore connections between technology, art and design. People come together at the MakerLab to learn something new, prototype product ideas, work on a passion project or start a business around a product they’ve designed. The MakerLab is a community resource with programs to serve all ages.
It’s a place and community to easily create physical/ electronic items in order to:
Learn new skills
from workshops and from others in the MakerLab.
Sharing is an important aspect of the maker experience.
Meet up with your “tribe”
Discover and connect with others with the same
maker/learning mindset.
Find help to make your idea a reality
Tools, training, and community to guide you through the creation process.
Build something for yourself
Useful (repair something or build something new) or whimsical.
The act of making it yourself is exhilarating.
Take your craft or hobby to the next level
Find tools and help previously not available to you.
Build a business
Build a prototype to test your new product idea.
Kids to seniors, learning comes easier when you use your hands.
Already a builder? Find tools and like-minded individuals. Learn new techniques. Share with others.
All of us are artists in some way. Explore your creativity with new technologies.
Prototype, learn how new technologies can help your business.
Find out what it is all about. Take one of our introductory workshops to learn how easy it is to make.
SouthWorks MakerLab Park Forest is a part of the SouthWorks MakerLab Network, a growing network of MakerLabs supporting south and southwest Chicagoland. The hub and spoke network includes MakerLabs on community college, university, and community partners’ sites.
As part of the SouthWorks MakerLab network, users also have access to the vast array of equipment and resources at our fellow MakerLabs. In particular, the community colleges in the SouthWorks network provide access to their manufacturing and electronics labs as well as other labs and programming related to making.
Consider joining us in this effort to bring a MakerLab network to Chicago Southland
For more information about MakerLabs in general or the SouthWorks
MakerLab Network, got to: tinyurl.com/SouthWorks-MakerLabs
SouthWorks MakerLab Park Forest
210Forest Blvd. - Park Forest, IL 60466
For more information contact Don Brozek, dbrozek@oaiinc.org
Phone Number: 708-283-5020
The SouthWorks MakerLab Park Forest is generously funded by the SBA and by the Village of Park Forest. Located in the OAI, Inc. office upstairs from the Southland Food Co-op. Set your GPS for the Southland Food Co-op in Park Forest for easiest directions.
UNIVERSAL LASER CUTTER/ENGRAVER
Laser cutters are great tools for finely-detailed cutting, scoring and etching of many materials. Uses: Cutting softer materials up to
¼ in thickness. Does not cut metal. But can etch it. Includes a rotary attachment so that round, cylindrical objects can be etched.
STRATASYS MOJO 3D PRINTER
Builds concept models, functional prototypes and end-use parts in ABS plus-standard, engineering-grade and high-performance
thermoplastics. It’s the only professional 3D printing technology that uses production-grade thermoplastics, so parts are unrivaled in mechanical, thermal and chemical strength. 3D printers allow you to create things that could not otherwise be manufacturing without substantial labor. These items are printed in one pass without need for any assembly.
MAKERBOT REPLICATOR 2
ROBO 3D
SHAPEOKO 3 CNC MINI-MILL
nextengine 3d scanner with nextengine multidrive
redsail vinyl cutter
ftm strip heater and ftm heat control
6 design stations
PCs with 2D and 3D design software.
electronics testing and building equipment
Along with hand tools.
mobile lab
With 9 Macbook Pros.
“I was struggling on my own with my product idea for a year and a half. I saw the 3D printer class and decided to try it. The MakerLab and the team were exactly what I needed to move ahead with my idea. They’ve been amazingly helpful and available to help me with design and business issues.”
Jill Glasser, Gardener, Entrepreneur
READY TO BECOME A MAKER?
